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The Complete Guide to Empty Leg Flights

Everything you need to know about empty leg private jet flights, how they work, what they cost, and how to get on one.

What Is an Empty Leg Flight?

An empty leg flight, also known as a ferry flight or deadhead flight, occurs when a private jet needs to reposition without any passengers on board. This happens constantly across the private aviation industry. When a client books a one-way charter from New York to Miami, the aircraft still needs to fly back to its home base or travel to pick up its next client. That return or repositioning journey is the empty leg.

Because the operator is flying the aircraft regardless, they have a strong incentive to sell those seats at a significantly reduced rate rather than fly completely empty. The result is one of the best deals in all of travel: a private jet experience at a fraction of the standard charter price.

How Much Do Empty Leg Flights Cost?

Empty leg flights typically cost between 25 and 75 percent less than a standard private jet charter on the same route. The exact discount depends on how urgently the operator needs to fill the flight, the route, the aircraft type, and how close the departure date is.

For example, a standard charter from Los Angeles to Las Vegas on a light jet might cost $8,000 to $12,000. An empty leg on the same route could be available for as little as $2,000 to $4,000 for the entire aircraft. Split among four to six passengers, the per-person cost becomes genuinely competitive with premium commercial options.

Some operators, especially when departure is imminent and seats remain unsold, will discount empty legs by as much as 90 percent off standard charter rates. These are the deals that CharterAlert is built to surface instantly.

The Catch: Why Empty Legs Are Hard to Find

Empty legs have historically been available only to those with direct relationships with charter operators or brokers. If you knew the right people, you got the call. Everyone else missed out entirely.

The other challenge is timing. Empty leg deals appear and disappear quickly. A flight listed on Monday morning may be fully booked or cancelled entirely by Tuesday afternoon. Without a real-time alert system, most travellers find out too late to act.

This is precisely the problem CharterAlert was built to solve. We monitor the market continuously and alert members the moment a relevant empty leg appears for their preferred routes.

How to Book an Empty Leg Flight

Booking an empty leg flight involves a few steps that differ from standard commercial travel:

What Routes Have the Most Empty Legs?

Empty legs are most common on popular private aviation routes where one-way charters are frequently booked. In the United States, the highest volume routes include New York to Miami, Los Angeles to Las Vegas, Los Angeles to San Francisco, New York to Chicago, and Aspen to various major cities during ski season.

In Europe, common empty leg routes run between London and the French Riviera, London and Ibiza, Paris and Geneva, and Zurich and various Mediterranean destinations during summer.

Charter hubs like Teterboro (New York), Van Nuys (Los Angeles), Farnborough (London), and Geneva airport generate a disproportionately high number of empty leg opportunities throughout the year.

Tips for Getting the Best Empty Leg Deals

A few habits will dramatically improve your success rate with empty leg flights:

Be flexible on timing. Empty legs are scheduled around the primary client, not you. If you can work around a departure window of a few hours, your options multiply substantially.

Think in regions, not just airports. If you can depart from any of three or four airports within driving distance, you will see far more available flights.

Travel with a group. Since empty leg pricing is per aircraft rather than per seat, splitting the cost with three to six people makes the per-person price extremely competitive.

Get alerts, not search results. Browsing listings manually means you will always be behind. Real-time alerts mean you are first in line.