How to avoid paying for empty hours

When you charter a private jet you pay for the aircraft's time, not just the hours you spend on board. The hours it spends flying to collect you, flying home afterwards and sitting on the ground waiting can add up to a large share of the bill. They are the "empty hours", and with a little planning many of them can be avoided.

This article explains where empty hours come from, shows when it is cheaper to keep the aircraft waiting and when to send it home, and lists the questions that keep them off your invoice.

Where empty hours come from

Repositioning. Every aircraft has a home base. If it is based somewhere other than your departure airport, it has to fly to you first, and after a one-way trip it usually has to fly home empty. Those positioning flights are billed, normally at the same hourly rate as your own.

Daily minimums. When an aircraft stays away from base with you, many operators bill a minimum number of flight hours for each day, often one to two hours, whether it flies or not. On a long stay, those minimums add up.

Crew overnights. If the aircraft waits for you, so does the crew. Their hotel and daily expenses are billed for every night away.

Waiting on the day. Long gaps between legs on the same day can push crews close to their legal duty limits, which may force an overnight or an extra crew member.

Wait or send it home? A worked example

Take a round trip from Teterboro to Palm Beach, about 2h30 each way in a light jet, with an aircraft based at Teterboro. Assume a daily minimum of two billed hours on days without flying. There are two ways to run it:

• The aircraft waits in Palm Beach until you return. You pay for the two flights, the daily minimums and the crew's nights away.
• The aircraft goes home after dropping you off and comes back to collect you. You pay for four flights, two of them empty, but no minimums or overnights.

The pattern holds for most routes: for short stays, keeping the aircraft is cheaper; once the stay passes three or four nights, sending it home usually wins, and crew costs bring that point forward. At an estimated $3,500–5,500 an hour for a light jet, the 13-hour gap on a ten-night stay is worth roughly $45,000–70,000 before tax. Daily minimums vary by operator, so your quote will use the real figures.

One-ways and the return leg

A one-way charter normally includes the aircraft's flight home, which is why a one-way can cost close to a round trip. There are three ways to soften that:

• Use an aircraft based at the other end. If you are flying from New York to Florida, an aircraft based in Florida that is heading home anyway has no empty leg to charge for on the way back.
• Look for empty legs. Operators sell repositioning flights at a discount, often 25–75% below a normal one-way. The route and time are fixed, and the leg can be cancelled if the original trip changes, so they suit flexible plans.
• Book two one-ways on different aircraft. For long stays, an aircraft based near your departure for the outbound and one based near your destination for the return can beat a single round trip.

Small changes that cut empty hours

1. Ask where the aircraft is based. It is the single most useful question about any quote.
2. Give a window, not a minute. A few hours of flexibility lets your advisor pair your trip with an aircraft already moving in your direction.
3. Keep same-day gaps short. A day trip with a long afternoon gap can stretch the crew's duty day; ask your advisor how to time it.
4. Order multi-city legs sensibly. A route that finishes near the aircraft's base needs less repositioning than one that ends far away.
5. Tell us how long you are staying. It decides whether waiting or sending the aircraft home is cheaper.

Questions to ask in every quote

• Does this price include repositioning to and from the aircraft's base?
• Is there a daily minimum while the aircraft waits, and how many hours is it?
• How many crew overnights are included?
• Would two one-ways on different aircraft be cheaper for my dates?
• Is there an empty leg near my route and time?

Empty legs from the other side

Every empty leg exists because someone else paid for a one-way trip, and the aircraft has to go home. That is why empty legs are cheap, and also why they are unpredictable: if the original customer changes plans, the empty leg moves or disappears. If your dates are firm, treat an empty leg as a welcome bonus rather than the plan. If you are flexible, tell your advisor which days would work; repositioning flights that match a route are often only known a few days ahead, and a flexible traveller is the one who can use them.

The short version

Empty hours are not a hidden fee; they are part of how charter works. But they are also the most controllable part of the price. Choose aircraft based near where your trip starts or ends, match the plan to the length of your stay, and stay a little flexible on timing. You will pay for the flying you do, and far less for the flying you do not.