Chartered Air Passenger Services
Industry Profile Report
Dive Deep into the industry with a 25+ page industry report (pdf format) including the following chapters
Industry Overview Current Conditions, Industry Structure, How Firms Operate, Industry Trends, Credit Underwriting & Risks, and Industry Forecast.
Call Preparation Call Prep Questions, Industry Terms, and Weblinks.
Financial Insights Working Capital, Capital Financing, Business Valuation, and Financial Benchmarks.
Industry Profile Excerpts
Industry Overview
The 1,300 chartered air passenger service companies in the US provide air transportation for passengers and related cargo with no regular routes or schedules. Firms may also offer aircraft maintenance and repair services. Chartered air passenger operators generally fly aircraft with 30 seats or less and a payload capacity of 7,500 pounds or less, according to the FAA. Fractional aircraft ownership allows travelers to purchase “shares” of a plane and a set number of flight hours, depending on the investment.
Variability in Jet Fuel Costs
Chartered air passenger travel providers struggle with variable jet fuel costs, which fluctuate according to global market conditions.
New Business Models
Entrepreneurs are leveraging new business models and disrupting the chartered air travel industry.
Industry size & Structure
The average chartered air passenger services provider operates out of a single location, employs fewer than 20 workers, and generates $14-15 million annually.
- The chartered air passenger services industry consists of about 1,300 companies that employ about 32,000 workers and generate $19 billion annually.
- The industry is concentrated; the top 50 companies account for over 70% of industry revenue.
- Large traditional chartered air passenger services firms include Executive Jet Management, XOJet, and Travel Management Company. Large fractional ownership firms include NetJets, FlexJet, and FlightOptions.
Industry Forecast
Chartered Air Passenger Services Industry Growth
Recent Developments
Nov 14, 2023 - Industry Prices, Labor Costs Increase
- Chartered air passenger services slightly raised their prices in the first eight months of 2023 to match rising demand for their services. Employment levels and average wages for nonsupervisory employees increased moderately during the period.
- The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has determined that lead emitted from airplanes is a danger to public health. Some experts say that the finding opens the door for the agency’s first limits on lead fuel in aviation. More than 170,000 smaller planes, known as piston-engine aircraft, still use leaded gasoline, according to the EPA, and there is an ongoing dispute about how quickly this form of fuel can be phased out at thousands of US airports. The Federal Aviation Administration said in October that it will move forward with rulemaking aimed at controlling or eliminating aviation lead emissions from piston-engine aircraft.
- The Federal Aviation Administration said that it plans new rules to address public charter operations “in light of recent high-volume operations” that make these flights “essentially indistinguishable” from scheduled carriers. Operators like JSX and Aero, which merge the distinction between scheduled and charter airline operations, have caught the attention of US regulators after aviation labor unions and other groups said that the companies are skirting air safety and labor rules. Among the changes could be requirements for how many hours of flying pilots need, which would make hiring more difficult given the competition for pilots with the major carriers and regional airlines. Passengers and crews would also likely face the same longer queues for security screening at large passenger terminals, potentially moving flights from private terminals at the same airports.
- Illegal charter operations spiked during the coronavirus pandemic, according to FAA safety inspectors. Illegal operators can offer lower prices to passengers while skirting the maintenance, crew training, pilot duty time, insurance costs, federal excise tax, and other requirements of charter operators who comply with the law. The FAA investigated 231 cases of illegal charter operations in the two years before the pandemic, equating to 115 per year. It investigated 460 cases, or 153 per year during the three years of the pandemic, from 2020-22. Don Riley, operations safety instructor with the FAA’s Special Emphasis Investigations Team, notes that passengers are unlikely to be aviation savvy for the most part and they don’t even know that they’re supposed to ask questions regarding illegal charter flights by aircraft operators that do not hold certificates as Part 135 air carriers.
Get A Demo
Vertical IQ’s Industry Intelligence Platform
See for yourself why over 60,000 users trust Vertical IQ for their industry research and call preparation needs. Our easy-to-digest industry insights save call preparation time and help differentiate you from the competition.
Build valuable, lasting relationships by having smarter conversations -
check out Vertical IQ today.