Charter 101: The History of Private Jet Travel

Private jet travel is (forgive the pun) on the rise. Restrictions on commercial air travel during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 spurred a record number of people to try out chartering private jets, and at least some of them found it appealing enough to continue.

Photo Credit: Chinnapong, iStock / Getty Images Plus

While business jets and propeller planes flew 11% less in 2020 vs 2019, that number was dwarfed by the fall in commercial airline traffic – 48% year over year. Private jet activity was clearly in the process of bouncing back by the end of 2020, and the trend has continued -- the number of flights in business aircraft worldwide was almost 15 percent higher at the end of 2023 than at the end of pre-pandemic 2019, as per business aviation data firm WingX.

With all the focus on the present and the future of private jet travel, however, the past tends to be overlooked. Private jet travel stretches back more than a century, and once looked very different from how it does now. If you’re interested in a blast from the past that may hold clues to the future, read on.

Wright Brothers National Monument, NC. Photo Credit: Mark Gibson, Corbis Documentary / Getty Images Plus

All Wright

Initially, all flights were private, starting with the Wright Brothers’ flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina in December 1903. “The history of private jets is essentially the story of passenger aviation,” charter broker Air Charter Service points out in a blog discussion. While aviation was quickly adopted by the military, with the Wrights selling their Model A Military Flyer to the U.S. Army in 1909, the end of World War I left a lot of unused military planes around that were purchased by civilians for private use.

Obviously, these planes were very different from the ones we use today – for one, they weren’t jets, but mostly propeller and piston planes. They typically had room for a pilot and a passenger. However, that was enough for the first commercial air service with a regularly scheduled heavier-than-air plane – the St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line, operating for four months in 1914.

Spirit of St. Louis stamp. Photo Credit: the_guitar_mann, iStock / Getty Images Plus

What propelled aviation out of the realm of hobbyists and militaries was The Spirit of St. Louis. In 1927, American aviator and military officer Charles Lindbergh piloted his single-engine, one-seat plane from New York City to Paris nonstop in the longest solo transatlantic flight to date. Winning the $25,000 Orteig Prize for the first flight between the two cities, Lindbergh’s journey sparked widespread interest in air travel around the world.

A couple of years before Lindbergh’s flight, young Texan Howard Hughes had become an instant millionaire when he inherited his father’s business, the Hughes Tool Company, in 1925. However, Hughes was much more interested in aviation, and used his new assets to further his interest. Looking to build planes that could set speed records, he designed the first all-metal plane, the Hughes H-1, and invented retractable landing gear. As Hughes was working on his innovations, airplanes were getting larger, adding extra seats and enclosed cabins to make long flights less of an ordeal.

Howard Hughes with the H-1. Photo Credit: Bettmann, Getty Images

Both Hughes and Lindbergh, however, were still operating in the world of propeller and piston planes as of the 1930s, as were the wealthy businessmen who used private aircraft when still-developing commercial airlines couldn’t get them where they wanted to go. Some executives had aircraft large enough to use as meeting spaces, but they were still limited in how far and fast those aircraft could travel.

Aeolipile 3D rendering. Photo Credit: Love Employee, iStock / Getty Images Plus

Meet the Jet Age

Jet engine technology dates back a few millennia – in the third century BC, Egyptian inventor Ctesibius wrote treatises on using compressed air in pumps. A couple of centuries later, Greek and Roman scientists described the use of aeolipiles, bladeless radial steam turbines that spun when a central water container was heated. Ancient Greek mathematician Archytas reportedly built a self-propelled flying machine driven by a jet of (likely) steam that flew around 200 meters.

However, those looking for more sustained flights would have to wait for the development of the gas turbine, a continuous flow internal combustion engine. While a usable gas turbine was built in Norway in 1903, turbine-driven jet engines were seen as being too expensive and difficult for wide-scale operations.

World War II supercharged the evolution of jet engines. The Axis powers used the first jet-fighter aircraft, the Messerschmitt Me 262, and the first jet-powered bomber, the Arado Ar 234 Blitz. Fortunately for the Allies, both arrived too late to give Germany an advantage in World War II, but their technology remained after Germany’s defeat and could be studied by the Allies (who had been working on jet-engine technology of their own, just less advanced).

Though jet engines still used more fuel than older piston engines, their superior speed and durability soon won out. Virtually all military aircraft used jet engines by the 1950s, with commercial airlines following suit by the 1960s.

Lear Jet 23. Photo Credit: Heritage Images, Hulton Archive / Getty Images Plus

Obviously, private air travelers didn’t want to be left out. The first private jet trip could be said to occur in 1957, when the Lockheed JetStar soared into the sky with 10 passengers and two crew members. However, the first line of business aircraft was the Learjet 23, first taking flight in 1963 with six to eight seats. Dassault’s Mystere 20 took off for the first time later that same year. In 1966, the Gulfstream II provided business travelers with the first large-cabin private jet.

High in the Sky

In 1965, Frank Sinatra purchased a Learjet 23, and offered a ride in it to his then-girlfriend, actress Mia Farrow. Though their subsequent marriage didn’t last long, Sinatra loaned the plane to Elvis Presley in 1967 to facilitate his elopement with Priscilla Beaulieu. (Elvis liked the experience so much, he bought two private jets of his own.)

Sinatra also let Marlon Brando and Sammy Davis Jr. fly the Learjet to Mississippi for a civil rights march with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. These and many more celebrities helped raise the profile of private jet travel.

While the Learjet 23 offered a rather cramped and spartan environment, the 1970s and 80s saw the steady evolution of more room and more comfort in private jets (not to mention technological improvements that increased private jet fuel efficiency to match that of propeller and piston engines).

For many private jet travelers, however, owning aircraft was financially out of reach (especially as planes became larger and more expensive). Instead, they turned to charter brokers and operators who could offer them planes just long enough to get from point A to B.

Charter Smarter

Air charter companies date back to the 1910s, when commercial flights were few and far between. The growth of commercial aviation in the 1920s and 1930s caused charter operators to struggle – commercial tickets were more cost-effective for most travelers. World War II, ironically, provided the industry with a life raft – the U.S. military needed charter planes to move people and equipment, and the consistent business ensured the survival of the industry.

After World War II, rapid innovation in air transit technology made air travel faster, more affordable and more common for the population at large. While commercial airlines offered many options for the average traveler, business travelers and others looking to expand their travel horizons made use of the flexibility and freedom offered by charter jet travel.

In 1986, NetJets introduced the concept of “fractional ownership” to the private jet travel market. Using computer-based models, founder Richard Santulli was able to offer customers the ability to purchase part of a private jet, offering a step in between total ownership and traditional charter. Iconic investor Warren Buffett took his NetJets membership one step further in 1998, purchasing the entire company.

Today, those wishing to fly private without the resources of Warren Buffett or Frank Sinatra have multiple options – traditional charters, fractional ownership, jet cards/membership programs, or even private-style air carriers that offer scheduled flights. The explosion of multiple levels of private jet travel has raised its profile and normalized it even more for the population at large.

World Affairs

Private jet travel has been boosted – and the reverse – by global events. After the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, commercial air travel became more time-consuming and difficult as new safety measures were implemented. Business travelers sought more private jet options to minimize their time spent in transit. The financial crisis of 2008, however, caused demand to tank in the private aviation market, with Warren Buffett writing in his 2010 annual letter to shareholders that, absent Berkshire Hathaway’s support, “NetJets would have been out of business.”

The COVID-19 pandemic was no exception. Travel fell to historic lows as governments imposed shutdowns and individuals tried to avoid getting sick, but those needing to travel for business or just to get away soon sought alternatives. “The crisis brought commercial traffic to a standstill, but provided a silver lining to business aviation,” said Holger Ostheimer of DC Aviation Al-Futtaim. “Passengers who generally travel in first and business class are now looking to charter aircraft to avoid busy airports and being stuck on an aircraft with other people.”

From the Past to the Future?

Long-term trends in private jet travel can be hard to forecast. Global business jet and turboprop flights were down by almost 3% in 2023 vs 2022. Concerns about the environmental impacts of business jet flights continue to proliferate. Private jet travel will continue to have ups and downs.

Lilium eVTOL full scale model on display during the Farnborough International Airshow 2024. Photo Credit: John Keeble, Getty Images Europe

However, the innovation that made air travel possible in the first place isn’t stopping. Earlier this year, the world’s first completely electric jet, the Lilium Jet, was introduced in Houston, Texas. While the Lilium currently is limited to a range of about 110 miles, the first fossil fuel-powered planes couldn’t fly very far, either. Private jets are likely to continue to evolve in ways that make them more appealing and feasible.

In the week ended October 27, global business jet flight departures were up almost 2% vs a year ago and more than 3% vs two years ago. If history is any indication, the path ahead goes upward. As American poet and novelist James Dickey once said, “Flight is the only truly new sensation than men have achieved in modern history.”