Private-aviation providers are bracing for record levels of travel over Thanksgiving weekend this year. Fractional provider Flexjet says it expects the busiest holiday travel period in its 30-year history, while Magellan, with its on-demand and jet-card programs, says its flight schedules will be 43 percent busier than Thanksgiving 2024.

On Monday, the number of Magellan flights are up 66 percent over last year. “Many of our clients are choosing to extend their travel and fly on Monday to avoid the congestion often seen in the airspace system over the holiday weekend,” Anthony Tivnan, Magellan’s Founder and CEO, tells Robb Report. Magellan’s new private terminal in Bedford, Mass., forecasts a 50 percent increase in activity for this weekend compared to a year ago.

Flexjet reported that flying by its fractional owners is now 20 percent higher year over year. The company says it saw the first growth during the first two weeks of November, when its owner flights jumped 30 percent compared to a year ago. Part of that was due to uncertainties about commercial flight cancellations because of the government shutdown, and its impact on FAA air-traffic control scheduling. The company also points to an appetite for “consistency and dependability” during the holiday season as flyers look for a smoother experience during what is typically the most stressful travel season of the year.

Flexjet has booked 42 percent more flights during the same two-week window leading up to Thanksgiving in 2024. The pattern continues into late December. For the two-week period ending December 28, Flexjet has seen a 40 percent increase in pre-bookings year-over-year. Those kinds of numbers are rare in a sector that has already seen sustained demand since the pandemic and indicate that private flyers, once occasional users, are now treating business-jet travel as a regular part of their holiday plans.

While both Flexjet and Magellan have seen holiday spikes before, the scale of this year’s increases is unusual. Whether this is a seasonal bump, prompted by the government shutdown, or another post-Covid gain in new fliers is unclear. But if current booking trends hold, private aviation could close 2025 with the most active holiday travel period in the industry’s history.