How much does it really cost to fly private? From jet cards to fractional ownership, we break down the business model behind NetJets — the world's largest private jet operator. With demand for private aviation booming post-pandemic, here’s what it takes to fly like a Fortune 500 CEO — and why it’s becoming more popular than ever.


The Economics of Flying Private: How NetJets Became the Timeshare of Private Jets

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How much does it really cost to fly private? From jet cards to fractional ownership, we break down the business model behind NetJets — the world's largest private jet operator. 

What does it actually cost to fly private, and why are more people doing it than ever before? Private aviation is a multi-billion dollar business and companies like Netjets are changing how the ultra wealthy move. Even in the smallest aircraft type in our program, you're talking today about an initial capital investment of more than $800,000 to buy a piece of an airplane. We have something like 40% of the Fortune 500 that are not just customers. And as major commercial airlines are trying to win back premium customers, can commercial aviation companies successfully keep them? NetJets doesn't sell private jets. It sells fractions of jets. Customers buy a share as little as 1/16 of a specific aircraft model. That idea, splitting jet ownership like a timeshare, unlocked a new market. Today we operate nearly 1100 aircraft which if you were comparing us to a commercial airline would make us the 2nd or 3rd largest on the planet. Unlike charter services, it owns and controls its fleet, allowing tighter control over quality, scheduling, and safety. The average Net customer flies with us for about 75 to 100 hours per year. Our typical customer will be. Somebody who is a principal of a privately held company, we have something like 40% of the Fortune 500 that are our Netjet's customers. Flying with Netjets doesn't come cheap. A fractional ownership share on a light jet like the Penom 300 starts at around $850,000 upfront, plus about $325,000 per year in operating costs for 50 flight hours. For those who want a more affordable and flexible option, the NetJet's card starts at $215,000 for 25 hours annually. That $215,000 jet card, that's the cost of 4 down payments on the average American home. Within the shared ownership model, we really have three cost components for the customer. You have the initial capital investment, which is a one-time investment where somebody's buying a piece of the airplane, and then they pay a monthly management fee. If you owned your own airplane, you'd have pilot salaries and you'd have mechanics salaries, and you'd have hanger rent. So in our model, you're sharing that across the other members of the program. And then every time you fly we bill you the variable hourly costs associated with flying that trip from A to B, which covers things like the fuel expense of the aircraft, the ground charges, and the handling fees and the things that would go into operating an airplane from A to B. That business model caught the attention of Warren Buffett, and in 1998, Berkshire Hathaway bought Netjets and has held on to it since. You see in the luxury travel segment overall people are making more of an investment in experiences than in things that certainly has been a tailwind for us, you know, if I'm being honest, the commercial experience has not gotten any better over the last several years, and that has driven more people to want to fly Net jets. During the pandemic, demand for private air travel soared as people feared crowded airports and packed planes. In the US, business aviation traffic in 2021 hit record highs, surpassing the 2019 levels, and in 2021 saw over 3.3 million private jets worldwide, a 7% increase over pre-pandemic levels. Only about 10% of the people who met the financial norms or averages of private aviation were actually flying privately, and COVID certainly unlocked some portion of that addressable market. And then the big question was would they go back to the airlines when the pandemic subsided and masks came off and vaccines went in arms. After the initial COVID boom, many private airline companies saw slumps in profits, but in Q1 of 2025, Berkshire Hathaway reported a profit bump in its service division, which had contributed to its aviation services. For Netjets, we're operating at 40-45% larger than we were in 2019, so we've maintained record retention rates. Major commercial airlines are trying to claw back premium travelers by rolling out redesigned business class cabins, faster boarding, and high-end lounges. But for some flyers, the best perks aren't enough. Anonymity is key to our business. One of the appeals of flying net jets versus owning your own airplane is that you're virtually untraceable. Whether you have concerns about appearances or whether you have concerns about safety. Netjets can provide that in a way that. You can't get owning your own airplane. As the demand for private flights increases, so does the visibility of their impact. Each trip emits many times more carbon emissions per passenger than a commercial trip, and that's drawn growing scrutiny, especially as more celebrities and CEOs are called out for frequent short haul trips. When Taylor Swift's private jet usage was tracked online in 2023, it sparked a wave of backlash and highlighted the growing divide between convenience and climate responsibility. Now with the business booming, even the industry's biggest players are under pressure to address the carbon footprint. Sustainability is at the forefront for our industry right now, and the way that we're addressing it at Netchets is we are the largest buyer of sustainable aviation fuel in the industry. We offer carbon offset programs for our customers. We offset all of our own internal company flying, so anything that we do for maintenance flights or training flights or anything like that, we buy the carbon credits to offset. As commercial travel faces continued pressure from rising costs to growing delays, demand for more efficient discrete options isn't likely to vanish. Private aviation remains a niche but profitable business fueled by clients who value control more than cost.