Private Jet Travelers Show Optimism About Immediate and Summer Travel
Private Jet Card Comparisons, the only independent buyer’s guide to private aviation solutions, released the results of a new subscriber survey finding that most respondents were optimistic about both short- and long-term private jet travel. Private Jet Travelers
The survey was conducted from March 17 to 19, 2020 among individuals who traveled an average of 111 private jet flight hours in 2019. According to the survey, given the current health and economic crisis, 33% of respondents still expect private flying to increase compared to last year, with 30% believing flight hours are likely to remain flat and 37% anticipating a decrease.
“The outlook for business aviation may not be as rosy as many reports about big increases in call volume, however, core private jet travelers expect to keep flying, even if the reasons are changing,” said Doug Gollan, Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Private Jet Card Comparisons. “The results of the survey demonstrate the critical role private jet travel plays in both relocating family members and completing critical business trips during this time of uncertainty.”
Key findings from the survey include:
- 77% of respondents said that reducing potential exposure to Coronavirus is the most likely reason that will influence private travel in the next six months
- Respondents reported being most likely to use private aviation to either relocate family members as needed (46%) or visit a second home (45%) within the next 90-120 days
- 35% of respondents will still use private jet access for critical business trips
- 36% of respondents said they have made additional trips privately because of COVID-19, although 39% have also canceled trips
- 97% expect to take vacations this summer, even if plans end up changing
In addition to reducing COVID-19 exposure, relocating family and employees and attending necessary business meetings, several subscribers reported using private aviation solutions as a result of commercial airlines reducing flights.
General aviation is responsible for over 1.2 million jobs and $247 billion in economic input in the U.S. alone. Ultra-High Net Worth (UHNW) and High Net Worth (HNW) consumers are a critical segment for the travel market, with private jet users spending an average of over $80,000 dollars in the destinations they visit, excluding aviation and airport services.
Private Jet Card Comparisons, which has over 1,250 paid subscribers, conducted the survey from March 17 to 19, 2020 via Survey Monkey and has a margin of error of +/- 5%. Many Private Jet Card Comparisons subscribers have multiple private aviation solutions, with the majority (70%) using jet cards, followed by on-demand private jet charter (44%), full aircraft ownership (24%), friends’ private planes (16%), fractional ownership (13%) and aircraft owned by companies where respondents work (6%).