Private jet flights are down 15% in two years as Covid-era demand wanes

Private jet flights fell 15% in the first half of the year compared with their peak in 2022, as the industry grapples with waning demand and a new competitive landscape for high-end travel. Despite a short boost from the Summer Olympics, with a record 713 private jet flights to Paris the last week of July, the private jet industry continues to lose altitude this travel season. Private jet charter flights dropped to 610,000 in the first half of the year, down from 645,000 last year and 716,000 in 2022, according to data from Argus International. The two-year decline highlights the ongoing correction in the world of private aviation, as the surge of new jet card members and charter fliers who started traveling private for the first time during Covid pulls back. Even ultra-wealthy travelers are showing signs of spending fatigue. “During the peak, everyone was saying, ‘People who fly private for the first time will never go back to commercial,’” said Rob Wiesenthal, CEO of Blade Air Mobility, the air charter and helicopter company. “Well guess what? Many went back. And they’re still going back.” The industry is still ahead of 2019 levels, and experts say if you take out the aberrational spike in 2021 and 2022, business has been rising along its usual growth path. Yet the boom times of the post-Covid era created a wave of euphoria in the industry, ushering in a burst of IPOs and startups, and a mad scramble for jets and pilots. Now, many say, all that expansion is setting the stage for a shakeout. <br/>