US, says one in four flights now includes children. “We’re seeing a trend of clients flying farther to remote locations and bringing their families with them,” she says., describes a recent customer: a Swedish hedge-fund manager who spent an extended period working remotely in Florida—family in tow. “At the other end,” he says, “a CEO of a UK firm traveled to Malaga for a few days to scout investment opportunities.
, says 43 percent of his clients fly for both business and pleasure, often departing from a primary home for business during the week en route to a second home for the weekend. Then, Gollan says, “their spouse or partner uses a jet card to fly to that second home, and then they both fly back together on the original jet.”Destinations have also shifted. While Teterboro and White Plains remain the most-used private airports, second-home locations Naples and Scottsdale are now in the top 10.
As it turns out, even luxurious second homes can become tiresome if one feels trapped there. “Work-from-home fatigue has set in,” says Suzanne Neufang, CEO of. “So when [owners] travel for business now, they want a change of scenery and some connection.” Meeting clients before carrying on to visit colleges with high-school-aged kids is now common, as is taking the plane to game day, according to Flexjet’s Hanlon. “People are getting more adventurous, with different levels of Covid comfort,” he says, with “many looking to outdoor events.” The most recent Formula 1 race in Austin attracted dozens of private jets. “It was insane organizing the flights,” Hanlon says.
Some think b-leisure, like partially remote work, is here to stay. “We’ve never seen holiday travel patterns like last Thanksgiving,” says NetJet’s Gallagher. “We saw more people than ever flying the Saturday before Thanksgiving and returning the following Sunday. That tells me many people not only wanted to make it a whole week, but are comfortable working remotely.”