Empty Legs Explained: How to Best Find Discounted Charter Flights

Are you interested in discounted charter flights? If your travel is flexible, booking an empty leg is the way to go! There are different types of empty legs and they all come with restrictions. However, sometimes those restrictions allow you to reap the benefits of a larger cabin airplane for a much lower cost.

By basic definition, an empty leg in refers to a flight where an aircraft is flying without passengers on board. This situation typically occurs when a private jet has been booked for a one-way trip and needs to return to its home base or another destination empty to pick up the next set of passengers or for its next scheduled flight.

Here’s a breakdown of the different types of empty legs:

1. True “must move” empty: this occurs under two circumstances – one, when an airplane is pre-sold to a particular destination or two, the airplane must get somewhere no matter what and the operator is looking for revenue to cover the cost of the reposition flight.
2. Exact match empty: this occurs when an operator has an exact match flight for what TruNorth Jets clients are looking for. It’s rare that this occurs as dates of travel, preferred departure times, number of passengers and the exact departure and destination airports align. This truly yields the best pricing for clients as there is no extra reposition expense built into the quote.
3. Semi-empty: this is the most common type of empty as it aligns an airplane moving in a general direction with a TruNorth Jets client’s needs. For example, an airplane might be going from Oakland to Dallas and the client might need Fresno to Austin, that airplane will still be less than an airplane quoted as a full roundtrip but there is reposition built into the quote at both ends.
4. Floating fleet empty: there are a number of operators that float their fleets meaning that their airplanes do not have a home base. These operators often have “hubs” such as Van Nuys or Teterboro for example, but they often quote their airplanes from A to B with little reposition built into the quote. There are fewer operators with this business model operating light jets but when you get into the super-midsize and heavy market it’s more common. If you’re looking to go from Los Angeles to Miami for example, and have a week’s stay planned in Miami, it’s typically cost effective to book an empty leg with a floating fleet operator

Here’s a breakdown of the restrictions surrounding empty legs:

1. Cancellation Policy: empty legs are typically 100% nonrefundable upon booking. This is the biggest risk with booking an empty leg because if something comes up for the client and they have to cancel, the penalty involves paying for the flight regardless.
2. Flexibility: empty legs often require flexibility from the clients. Departure times might be limited with empty legs due to the operator’s schedule and crew duty. Additionally, for best pricing clients may need to be flexible on their departure or arrival airport. If an airplane is advertised from Albuquerque to Los Angeles and the client’s original request was Santa Fe to San Jose, best pricing would require the client to depart from Albuquerque to avoid additional reposition expenses
3. Availability: it’s possible an empty leg might be available a day before or a day after a client’s preferred date of travel. If the client is able to change his or her schedule, that empty leg might yield significant price savings in comparison to aircraft available on their preferred date of travel

In summary, an empty leg is a flight representing a cost-effective opportunity for clients to experience private jet travel at a reduced cost, provided they can align their travel needs with the available empty leg flights. TruNorth Jets is well versed in this area of the market and books empty legs often for clients! Please contact us today if you have upcoming travel we can quote for you!