Where to Buy Your Flight Hours Now

This story is a sneek peak into our upcoming 2026-2027 BJT Buyers' Guide. Make sure you are signed up to receive a free copy!

A new fractional or jet card provider seems to launch every week. Enough to make you wonder: is the grass greener somewhere you haven’t looked?

Fortunately, the top companies stay relatively stable year after year, joined by a small handful of up-and-coming prospects worth a look. We surveyed the landscape for you, using data based on Argus tracking for North American flight hours analyzed by Private Jet Card Comparisons’ Doug Gollan. Here, we review the steadfast market leaders and a few alternative options. 

NetJets

Once again, NetJets has topped the list as the largest private aviation operator, with 55,737 hours posted in 2025 via Argus TraqPak (including NetJets’ Executive Jet Aviation charter division). NetJets also saw nearly 12% revenue growth in Q1 2026. That size brings strength in its ability to provide the lift you signed up for, with fewer concerns about downtime for its fleet. The company continues to expand and upgrade its fleet as well: NetJets has taken delivery of its first of many Cessna Citation Ascends from Textron Aviation—the newest of the XLS series began arriving on the scene on May 5. The official number of NetJets airplanes actively flying stands at 858, and that includes three of those new Ascends. The installation of SpaceX’s Starlink satellite communications is in progress on roughly 600 aircraft in the NetJets fleet, including U.S.-based Cessna Citation Latitudes and Longitudes, Embraer Praetor 500s, and Bombardier Challenger 350s, 650s, and Globals, as well as its Europe-based Challenger 650s and Globals. The company expects completion of these installations by the end of 2026.

NetJets also offers its NetJets card program, with the ability to purchase up to 320 days of annual access in increments of 25 flight hours. However, in late July the company confirmed that it is restricting card sales in order to balance high demand with service delivery. It has also reportedly curtailed lease sales. 

Flexjet

Flexjet distinguishes itself in several key areas, including the nod to fly into Saudi Arabia (along with competitor Vista). Based in Cleveland, Ohio, with its global command center at Cuyahoga County Airport, Flexjet operates a fleet of roughly 340 aircraft. And it’s about to get bigger: Flexjet has plans to expand that fleet significantly with an order for 50 aircraft from Gulfstream, including the G500 and G700 ultra-long-range models. This comes in addition to a deal announced with Embraer in 2025, committing to 182 aircraft, with an option for 30 additional models, in a blend of Phenom 300Es, Praetor 500s, and Praetor 600s. That $7 billion order, combined with the latest Gulfstream contract, will bring the total Flexjet fleet to more than 600 aircraft by 2031. Flexjet caters to those who plan to fly more than 50 hours annually with fractional and lease programs. The company also offers jet card options to either supplement the main own/lease contract or serve those flying less. Flexjet also provides a helicopter option in the Sikorsky S-76, which seats up to eight passengers in an executive interior for trips up to 2.5 hours. 

Vista

Vista recently took delivery of its new flagship, the Bombardier Global 8000, so if your goal is getting there faster than anyone else, take note: The Global 8000 reached a supersonic milestone of Mach 1.015 during its flight testing campaign. While you’ll need to settle for a cruise of Mach 0.95 to avoid sonic booms, that’s still a speedy ride in the ultra-long-range, large-cabin segment. The 8000 joins a fleet of Globals and Challengers—nine models in the Bombardier segment—along with the Gulfstream G450 and IV-SP, Embraer Lineage 1000E, Legacy 600/650, and Praetor 600, Cessna Citation XLS/XLS+, and Dassault Falcon 7X. That fleet supports three membership categories. The program membership requires no investment in a fractional; you’re paying only for the hours you fly, at a fixed hourly rate. The VistaJet VJ25 offering requires prepayment of 25 hours up front, and up to 49 hours on a pay-as-you-go basis, with guaranteed availability on non-peak (and most peak) days. A Corporate membership is much like the Program tier, but open across a business.

XO, Vista’s on-demand digital charter platform, runs on an app/platform model with three main ways to fly: instant online charter booking, by-the-seat jet sharing on existing flights, and a deposit-based membership. It sells dynamic pricing membership in the U.S., Europe, and the Middle East, plus on-demand charter with instant online booking and jet-sharing options. XO also recently expanded into Asia in order to give the region more flexible, transparent flight options. 

Wheels Up

Wheels Up is still striving to achieve a net profit on its private flight services as it implements a restructuring plan with support from its majority shareholder Delta Air Lines. The turnaround is in part based on expansion of market share from its Air Partner charter broker division, which arranges flights for Wheels Up and Delta first-class travelers beyond North America. The Atlanta-based publicly traded company recently retired its legacy fleet in favor of transitioning to a new lineup. The slimmed-down fleet features just the Bombardier Challenger 300s and Embraer Phenom 300, based on customer feedback and aimed toward efficiency of operations. The restructured Signature Membership program, rolled out in late 2025, is tailored to those who fly frequently but don’t wish to have the capital investment of a traditional fractional program. The Charter Up program targets those who fly a bit less and need more flexibility. Both offerings leverage Wheels Up’s deep ties to Delta, with logistics in place to connect both Signature and Charter members into commercial travel on the U.S. airline and its partners. 

FlyExclusive

With an eye toward profitability, FlyExclusive spent the first three months of 2026 working on its goal of having 12 Bombardier Challenger 350s in its fleet and operational by the end of the first quarter. The dispatch reliability of the 350 is a key reason why the Kinston, North Carolina-­based company has homed in on this aircraft as it positions its 100-aircraft-strong fleet for future success. FlyExclusive will grow again once it completes the transaction to acquire Jet AI’s legacy aviation operating business, including Jet AI’s existing customer base and fleet of Citations and HondaJets.

FlyExclusive recently joined the ranks of authorized Starlink Aviation dealers and is moving to equip its fleet with the popular satellite communications system, starting with its Challenger 350s. Because FlyExclusive delivers a full palette of private aviation products and services, with charter, aircraft management, fractional options, and a jet card program, the company aims to serve every need of its private aviation customers. 

PlaneSense

Few fractional providers put all their chips behind one manufacturer, but Portsmouth, New Hampshire-based PlaneSense has bet on Pilatus for more than 30 years. It’s certainly paid off. The company launched with the multipurpose Pilatus PC-12 turboprop and, in 2015, was named the launch customer for the Pilatus PC-24. In 2018, PlaneSense added the versatile PC-24 to its fractional and CobaltPass jet card programs. By the end of 2026, the company's fleet will include 52 PC-12s and 22 PC-24s, serving throughout North America, the Caribbean, and into Central America.

A partnership with Jetfly, based in Luxembourg, allows PlaneSense members to use the Jetfly Pilatus fleet within Europe and into North Africa. Charter options abroad expand further with PlaneSense’s agreement with CaptainJet, also based in Europe. With the ability of both the PC-12 and PC-24 to access relatively short and unimproved airstrips, PlaneSense can take its clients to remote and limited locations where other providers simply cannot go. 

Solairus Aviation

Solairus, which was founded in 2009, has grown to encompass a fleet of more than 360 aircraft and employ more than 2,300 team members at more than 100 bases across the U.S. In early August it announced plans to acquire aircraft management and charter group Clay Lacy Aviation in a move that would take its fleet to more than 500 aircraft.

The company, with headquarters in Purchase, New York, and Petaluma, California, focuses on aircraft management. Solairus clients have the ability to charter from the company’s managed fleet, which offers a range of flexible solutions. Solairus assigns a dedicated team member to each client in its aircraft management program for completely personalized attention. It has recently added a similar light jet and turboprop management program as well.

Our Watch List

While the top of the list attracts much of the attention, we’re keeping our eye on a handful of both new and expanding operators worth noting. 

Nicholas Air

Building on a core of light jets—including the popular Embraer Phenom 100—Nicholas Air began up-sizing its fleet in earnest when it took delivery of its first Gulfstream G600 in December 2023. And it’s been leveraging those larger jets ever since. The privately-owned Oxford, Mississippi-based company offers a mix of jet cards, jet leasing, fractional programs, and aircraft management, so it can truly be a one-stop shop for a client who needs a variety of lift options. Nicholas Air owns and operates its own fleet and crews, as opposed to leasing either one, which gives them the ability to provide exceptionally personal service. The Nicholas fleet also features the Pilatus PC-12, Cessna Citation CJ3+, Embraer Phenom 300E, Cessna Citation Latitude, and Bombardier Challenger 350. 

Tradewind Aviation/Fly Epic

We’ve been on the lookout for programs that leverage smaller aircraft, which are often more efficient and/or sustainable than their large-jet brethren. Operators using single-engine turboprops such as the Daher TBM 900 series or the Pilatus PC-12 can provide significant value for the right customer. Tradewind Aviation, based in Oxford, Connecticut, has paved the way with its PC-12 fleet in both luxury airline-style and private charter operations—much like PlaneSense has with its fractional offerings.

New on the scene: FlyEpic, which launched in May, flies fractional customers in its Epic E1000. The Epic turboprop is a rocket, moving along at more than 330 knots, and flies high enough to avoid raindrops and bumps. Both the Epic and the PC-12 hold more cargo than you’d think, so for both short hops and small groups, they are worth a look. These nimble aircraft can get you in and out of airfields that larger jets are not capable of using, including destinations around the Caribbean. 

Hera Flight

One company on Gollan’s PJCC radar is the growing Hera Flight, co-headquartered in Clearwater and West Palm Beach, Florida. The company focuses on super-midsize and large-cabin aircraft, including nine Cessna Citation Xs with coast-to-coast legs and speed, five Gulfstream GIVs and a GIV-SP, a classic Cessna Citation I, and two Bombardier Learjet 60s.

Hera is adding five additional aircraft onto its charter certificate this year, bringing the fleet to 25 aircraft, according to Gollan. The company launched a jet card three years ago, and it also conducts transactions in the wholesale market. All five aircraft will be immediately available for on-demand charter, jet card redemption, and charter management programs.     BJT