What the number includes.

Charter pricing is not mysterious, but it is assembled from parts that different brokers include at different stages. Here is the whole assembly, in the order it is built.

The parts

Flight hours

The aircraft's hourly rate multiplied by block time — engine start to engine shutdown, not time in the air. Block time is longer than a great-circle calculation suggests, because airways are not straight lines and because taxi, climb and approach all consume time. On this site we apply a 1.06 routing allowance to the great-circle distance and add 24 minutes of ground time.

The daily minimum

Most operators will not release an aircraft and crew for less than a minimum number of hours per day — commonly around 1.5 to 2. A 40-minute hop is billed at the minimum. This is why very short legs look disproportionately expensive per mile.

Repositioning

If the aircraft is not already where you are, someone pays for it to get there and, often, to go home afterwards. On a popular route with local aircraft this can be nothing. On an unusual pairing it can be the largest single line in the quote. Always ask where the aircraft is based.

Federal excise tax

Domestic US air transportation carries a 7.5% federal excise tax, plus a per-passenger segment fee. It applies to the transportation charge. A quote that looks 7.5% cheaper than the others is sometimes just a quote with the tax not yet added.

Landing, handling and airport fees

Landing fees, FBO handling, ramp and parking. Modest at most fields, meaningful at slot-controlled or premium ones, and occasionally startling at peak-event airports.

Crew expenses

Overnights, hotels and per-diem when the trip keeps the crew away from base. Usually folded in, sometimes itemised.

What is normally not included

• De-icing. Charged as used, in winter, and it is not small.
• Catering beyond the standard tray.
• Ground transport, unless you asked for it.
• Wi-Fi on some aircraft.
• Waiting time beyond the agreed schedule.
• Diversions and weather delays, which are billed at the hourly rate.

Reading a quote well

• Get the tail number, or at least the exact type and year. "Midsize jet" is not an aircraft.
• Confirm the operator holds the Part 135 certificate for that aircraft.
• Ask what is excluded, explicitly, in writing.
• Check the aircraft can use both runways at your loads. See why runway beats range.
• Ask when the price becomes firm and what moves it.

What the prices on this site are

Every figure here is an indicative estimate: an indicative market hourly band applied to computed block time, with per-leg fees and the 7.5% excise tax added. They carry a low-to-high range because the same aircraft prices differently by operator, by age and by season. They are useful for deciding what class of aircraft your trip needs and roughly what it costs. They are not offers, and they become real only when a contracted operator confirms a rate in writing.