Private Jets Are Filling the Void as Airlines Cut Flights to Small Airports

As airlines cut flights to regional airports, private jets are filling the gap, according to data tracking business jet routings, as well as anecdotal reports from industry executives.

An analysis by WingX highlights the pure numbers. At Ithaca, New York, where American Airlines recently stopped flying, private jets, excluding turboprops, piston aircraft and helicopters, now make up 40% of departures, up 3% from 2019, while airline scheduled operations are down 34%. Compared to 2020, private flights are up 84%, while scheduled flights increased just 4%. In Toledo, Ohio, it’s a similar story. Private jet flights are now 62% of arrivals, up 20% from a year ago, while scheduled operations dropped 12%. Compared to 2019, private jet flights are up 21% and scheduled airline flights are down 25%. At Iowa’s Dubuque Regional Airport, private jets now make up 83% of arrivals, up 48% from a year ago and 49% before the pandemic. Compared to 2019, scheduled airline flights are down 51%.

According to No Plane, No Gain, an advocacy group for the industry, 80% of all business airplane flights are into airports in small towns and communities.

“We have several corporate customers that have fully transitioned to flying private due to reduced or limited commercial service in their area. With a private flight, they leave after a meeting on a direct flight and land within minutes of their ultimate destination, saving them over 10 hours of flight time on a round trip, not to mention additional travel time on the ground.”

Reduced airline service to regional airports is absolutely driving people to fly privately and more often. Where we are seeing this manifest itself to the greatest extent is in wallet share – people who were flying a mix of commercial and private are leaning further into flying privately.

No Plane No Gain data shows 42% of business aviation missions involve multiple destinations.

When airports lose service altogether, and the airlines trim frequency of flights on certain routes, private aviation opens up all those options and more.

President Voyage Jet CEO says “I would say we have always attracted those types of customers because of the considerable benefit in flexibility for customers who live in or fly to these smaller markets. But we are seeing more customers coming to us due to reduced airline schedules making it increasingly difficult to get to where they need to go. It’s not specific to the regional airports either.”

“Private aviation becomes more important to keep those smaller markets connected economically. There might not be a population density there, but there are still businesses and families that need to be connected to those larger hubs to access people, or financing or attend meetings.”

“Private aviation has always had access to more than 5,000 airports nationwide, many of which are small regional airports. And those smaller airports have always been underserved by commercial airlines. The reduction in routes and dissatisfied customers have allowed us to move in and take advantage of some of that – for those who have the means and have previously used a hybrid travel solution of some commercial travel and some private travel.”

“While we haven’t yet seen an increase in customers from recent route cutbacks, we are seeing our existing hybrid customers shifting more and more to private travel from commercial.”

Airlines are focused on the mass market, causing the premium aspect of that market to shrink relative to everything else. Even with a first-class airline ticket, you are still exposed to the same airport experience, the same security experience. Therefore, private aviation will increasingly be differentiated by its wholistic approach that isn’t limited to the seat on the airplane.

Source: Forbes