Empty leg flights have long been a fairly invisible instrument of private travel. Really, they represent logistical necessity.

When a private chartered flight reaches its final destination, it can’t remain there. It needs to be repositioned for the next charter.

Many of these repositioning flights remain empty, save for the pilot and crew. Not only is this financially inefficient, but it’s needlessly wasteful.

Empty leg flights provide a solution. Consequently, many chartering services provide discounted tickets for repositioning flights at steeply discounted rates.

For private flyers who can be flexible, they are the most affordable way to travel privately.

Nearly 40% of All Private Jets Fly Empty

For decades, the private aviation industry operated inefficiently, with nearly half of all flights being completely empty due to repositioning requirements.

When a plane goes from New York to Miami for a charter, it then needs to get back to the East Coast for the next flight.

Prior to empty leg flights, these repositioning routes were executed at a net loss for the jet service operator.

By chartering these empty flights, private aviation companies recuperate losses or even make a slight profit on what would otherwise be a financially inefficient route.

Category	Standard Charter (per hr)	Empty Leg (estimated per hr)	Typical First Class (per person, one-way)	Notes / Passenger Context
Light Jet (6–8 pax)	$3,000–$5,000	~$1,500–$2,200	~$300–$1,200	Empty leg is whole plane cost; first class is per seat on airline. $1,500–$2,200 ÷ 6 people ≈ $250–$370 each.
Midsize Jet (8–10 pax)	$4,000–$7,000	~$2,000–$3,200	~$500–$1,200	Per-person cost on empty leg can be lower than six first-class tickets on many routes.
Heavy Jet (12–16 pax)	$8,000–$14,000	~$3,500–$6,000	~$700–$2,000+	Heavy jets give more space; empty leg total ≈ ~$290–$500 each with 12 people.
Short Domestic Empty Leg	n/a	~$1,500–$5,000 total	~$300–$1,000	Often very cheap empty legs over short hops like LA↔Vegas.
Transcontinental Empty Leg	n/a	~$8,000–$25,000+ total	~$600–$2,000+	On coast-to-coast routes, empty legs can be competitive with multiple first class tickets.

Empty Leg Flights Allow Passengers to Save Up to 75%

Empty leg flights are typically at least 50 percent cheaper than regularly chartered alternatives, with some being as much as 80 percent more affordable.
A typical empty leg flight from New York to Miami will cost $7,000 compared to the $15,000 plus it would cost conventionally.
Shorter, more common routes such as Los Angeles to Las Vegas are even more affordable, often costing as little as $3,000.
Empty leg flights do still come with necessary add-ons, including fuel surcharges, catering fees, and passenger excise taxes.
Passengers are also required to be more flexible and have little to no say over when the plane departs.

Booking Windows Can Be Very Short

Empty leg flights can generally only be booked between 24 to 48 hours in advance.
For this reason, travelers need to carefully monitor their options when searching for available flights.
These short booking windows make it marginally more difficult to plan trips around empty leg flights.
It is hard to predict what options will be available to you during your desired travel window.

Seasonality Influences Opportunity

On the East Coast, the winter months have the highest volume for empty leg travel.
60% of empty leg runs on the East Coast go southbound towards Florida during winter.
In the summer, there is a higher concentration of empty leg flights in seasonal spots like the Hamptons, Nantucket, and Martha’s Vineyard.
During summer, Sunday evening is the most common empty leg flight opportunity window.
On the West Coast, the highest volume of empty leg opportunities are between Los Angeles and Las Vegas.

Busiest Empty Leg Corridors in North America

New York to Miami is the busiest empty leg corridor in North America.
New York to Boston is the second busiest empty leg corridor, a short but high-traffic route.
Teterboro to Palm Beach is a high-volume corridor during winter periods.

How Often Do Empty Leg Flights Occur

At any given moment, experts estimate there could be as many as 3,000 empty leg flights available worldwide.
Approximately 30% of available empty leg flights go unfilled.
Some estimates put the number of unfilled empty leg flights as high as 50%.
Although empty leg windows are less flexible than standard charters, the opportunities are abundant enough to find options.

Who Uses Empty Leg Flights the Most

Businesses account for nearly 50% of empty leg flight customers.
Individual travelers are the second largest segment of empty leg customers.
Government and public sector organizations are the third and smallest category of empty leg users.
Government and public sector organizations use empty leg travel for emergency or diplomatic purposes.
Individual net worth can vary dramatically for empty leg travelers.
The primary customer demographic still trends wealthy.
There is a wider range of economic backgrounds using empty legs due to the lower cost compared to other forms of private aviation.

Commercial First Class Comparison

An empty leg flight from New York to Miami can cost approximately $2,000 per person, assuming 6 travelers.
A first-class plane ticket on the same route can amount to up to $5,000 per person during peak season.
Savings can be considerably better than the figures described above due to the dynamic pricing structure of empty leg flights.
Typically, the best prices are available 24 hours prior to departure when providers are eager to fill the plane.

Empty Leg Flights Are On The Rise

Surveys have shown that interest in empty leg flights has increased by 120% since 2023. Not only does this show a keen and growing interest in the post-Covid economy, but it also suggests that attention toward empty leg flights extends beyond the traditional private aviation market.

It is still a high-net-worth purchase. However, the actual costs can, for certain flights (and depending on the number of passengers boarding) be comparable to the cost of first-class plane tickets. Higher, yes, but close enough to potentially appeal to some of the same customers.

Is There a Point When Chartering When Empty Leg Flights Are Not Cost-Effective?

Arguably, the price per hour for empty leg flights is unmatched, even when scaled up to the 200 to 400 hours of travel per year that are frequently completed by private plane owners. That said, there are logistical costs that are harder to calculate in terms of numeric value.

As described above, coordinating empty leg flights requires a lot of research and flexibility, something that a business executive or just a very busy high-net-worth individual won’t necessarily be able to commit to. In cases where the effort that empty leg flights require is disproportionate to the savings, even if that congruous value is subjective, it may be worthwhile to consider other methods of private travel.

For many people, chartering options or jet cards are the next most obvious option. That said, there are other methods worth considering.

Fractional jet ownership programs are actually the fastest-growing method of private transportation. They provide high levels of access and flexibility, and they can be financially worthwhile in certain contexts as well.

Craft’s Unique Take on Fractional Ownership

If the high flexibility and coordination requirements of empty leg flights don’t make sense for you, or if you simply fly privately too frequently to consider making empty leg flights your primary method of transportation, Craft’s take on fractional ownership may be a good next step.

It’s ideal for people who travel 50 or more hours per year and resembles the financial structure of a fractional arrangement with a key difference.

You do make an upfront cash deposit that buys you access to a plane proportionate to the amount of money you put in. However, the money is not going into the plane specifically, but rather into an investment pod that owns the plane alongside other assets.

This distinction is important because the diversification helps protect your money from the risk of depreciation.

Though traditional private plane ownership creates considerable equity, it’s a rapidly depreciating asset that can lose up to 15% of its value in the first year, with subsequent losses to follow.

Because the other assets within our investment pods have a potential upside, it’s possible to see the value of your deposit increase.

If you’re interested in learning more about how Craft’s investment structure works, or if you’d like to hear about our fleet options, lead time requirements, and cabin classifications, reach out today for a consultation.