Some well-heeled, would-be private-jet fliers are being turned away as industry booms

A boom in private flying is helping revive business-jet sales, but it is also challenging charter operators who are scrambling to meet the holiday-travel rush.

After a multiyear slump, flying by private jet is soaring again. The number of flights in the U.S. over the Thanksgiving travel period is forecast to be up as much as 10% from 2019, according to WingX. Private-jet flights were up 60% in the first half of November compared with a year earlier, the data tracker said.

The boom comes after a long, fallow period since the global financial crisis. The more than 495,000 private-jet flights in the first 10 months of the year is up 9% from the same period in 2019, and just ahead of the previous high in 2007, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

Demand has risen during the Covid-19 pandemic thanks in part to fliers’ desire to avoid crowded commercial planes and airports, as well as cuts in airline service to smaller communities. The increased availability of on-demand private-jet services also has helped.

Excerpt from WSJ
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