Empty-leg flights and private charter
When a private jet repositions one way with no one aboard, the operator will often sell that flight for 25–75% less than a regular charter (estimate). Tell us your routes and dates. We’ll alert you when an empty leg fits, and quote a regular charter when it doesn’t.
Federal excise tax and standard fees are in the price. Variable costs, such as winter de-icing, are listed up front.
Every flight is operated by an FAA Part 135 air carrier, or its foreign equivalent outside the US.
The person who sends your options confirms the details and follows the trip until you land.
Alerts and quotes cost nothing to request. You commit only when you sign a charter agreement.
How empty legs happen
A client flies from Teterboro to Palm Beach and stays for the week. The aircraft lives in New York, so it flies home that afternoon with nobody aboard. That return flight is an empty leg, and the operator would rather sell it than fly it empty.
Because the original client has already covered much of the cost, empty legs are usually priced well below a regular one-way charter. You get the whole aircraft and the same operating standards. What you give up is control: the route, the timing and sometimes the flight itself belong to someone else’s trip.
The trade-offs
An empty leg uses the same kind of aircraft under the same rules, at a lower price, on someone else’s schedule. Here is what that means in practice.
| What matters | Empty leg | On-demand charter |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Often 25–75% below a comparable one-way charter (estimate) | Full charter rate, including any repositioning the aircraft needs |
| Route | Set by where the aircraft has to go next. Small changes are sometimes possible at extra cost. | Any airports the aircraft can use |
| Departure time | A fixed window with little room to move | Your schedule |
| Certainty | Can be cancelled if the original trip changes | Confirmed once the charter agreement is signed |
| Aircraft | Whatever happens to be repositioning | Your choice of category and cabin |
| Return flight | Not included; book it separately | Round trip or multi-city in one agreement |
| Best for | Flexible plans, one-way trips, short notice | Fixed dates, events, trips with several stops |
Discounts are estimates. Every option is confirmed by the operating carrier before you book.
How it works
No app, membership or deposit. One advisor handles your request from the first email to the moment you land.
Tell us where you fly from, where you’d like to go (or anywhere), your earliest date, how flexible you are and how many are travelling.
When a repositioning flight fits, your advisor emails the aircraft, the departure window, the operator and an all-in price.
Empty legs rarely stay open for long. You confirm by signing a charter agreement that names the operating carrier, before any payment.
Drive to the private terminal, meet your crew and board. Your advisor stays on the trip until you land.
Aircraft
Empty legs come up in every size class. The category sets how many can travel, how far you can fly without a stop and what a regular charter would cost.
Compare all categories
PC-12, King Air 350
Phenom 300E, Citation CJ4
Citation XLS+
Challenger 350, Praetor 600
G450, Falcon 2000LXS
Hourly figures are estimated US charter rates before tax and fees. Empty legs are priced per flight, usually well below a regular one-way charter in the same aircraft.
An empty leg is flown by the same operator, under the same rules, in the same cabin as the paid trip before it. Only the schedule belongs to someone else.
Routes to watch
Seasonal traffic leaves aircraft out of position, especially around holidays and at the start and end of a season. A few corridors worth an alert:
Winter season
Weekends
Ski season
Summer
Spring
Winter sunSafety and standards
In the United States, a charter flight must be operated by an air carrier certificated under FAA Part 135. The operator, not the broker, holds operational control: it employs the crew, maintains the aircraft and decides whether a flight goes.
Empty legs are flown under exactly the same rules as any other charter. Every option we send names the operating carrier, and your advisor can share its audit standing before you book.
Read the Part 135 rules on eCFRThe certificate that allows an operator to fly paying passengers on demand. Outside the US the local equivalent applies, such as an air operator certificate issued under EASA or UK rules.
Rates charter operators Gold, Gold+ or Platinum after reviewing safety history, pilot records and, at the higher levels, on-site audits.
Audits operators against its own safety standard. Operators that meet it are recognised as Wyvern Wingman.
Business aviation’s international code of practice. Operators register at stage 1, 2 or 3 as their safety management matures.
Pilots work within legal duty and rest limits. A late change of plan can mean a fresh crew or a later departure.
Questions
The short answers are here. For pricing, safety and what happens on the day, see the full FAQ.
All questionsA one-way flight an aircraft has to make with no passengers aboard, usually to return to base or to reach the start of its next trip. Operators sell these flights at a discount rather than fly them empty.
Often 25–75% below a comparable one-way charter. That range is an estimate: the price depends on the aircraft, how soon it leaves and how much demand there is on the route. Our quotes are all-in, with federal excise tax and fees included.
Yes. If the original paying trip changes or is cancelled, the empty leg can move or disappear. If that happens, your advisor will tell you and can quote a regular charter for the same trip. Your charter agreement sets out what is refunded.
Sometimes, within limits. An operator may move a departure slightly or accept a nearby airport, usually for an added cost, but the aircraft still has to reach its next job. Ask before you book, not after.
The whole aircraft. The price covers the jet, the crew and everyone on your passenger list, up to the seats available.
Tell us a departure airport or city, a destination (or anywhere), your earliest date, your flexibility and the number of passengers. When a repositioning flight matches, your advisor emails you options with an all-in price. There is no membership, deposit or sign-up fee.
Plenty of aircraft take pets; the operator has the final say. Mention them in your request so we only send aircraft that accept them.
No. It is the same aircraft, the same operator and the same rules. Every flight is operated by an FAA Part 135 carrier, or a foreign equivalent, in operational control of the aircraft.
Insights
Short, practical reading on how empty legs are priced, how to decide quickly and what to do when plans change.
All insights
Where repositioning flights come from, how operators price them and what the discount does and doesn’t include.
Read
The questions that matter when an option lands in your inbox, and the ones you can skip.
Read
Empty legs run on someone else’s schedule. What changes when that schedule does, and how to plan for it.
ReadFixed dates
Some trips can’t wait for the right empty leg. Send the details and an advisor will come back with aircraft options and an all-in price. If an empty leg happens to fit, you’ll see that too.
Takes about a minute. No account needed.
Your advisor will reply by email with aircraft options, an all-in price and any empty legs that fit.