Intelligence

State of the charter register.

Name: Bravo, State of the Charter Register
Creator: Bravo

What 9,209 tracked aircraft, 2,387 operators, and 9,881 indexed Google reviews say about the US private charter market. Every figure below is computed from the register itself, nothing modeled, nothing extrapolated.

44% audited4.21 avg Google rating414 priced routes

2,387

Charter operators

1,009

Charter brokers

9,209

Aircraft tracked

9,881

Google reviews indexed

ARGUS / WYVERN audited

44%

1055 of 2,387 operators carry a current third-party safety audit, 841 ARGUS rated, 658 WYVERN.

Average Google rating

4.21

Weighted across 48,951 Google ratings of 739 rated operators.

Operators with reviews

739

31% of the register carries at least one indexed Google review.

Flight-verified reviews

First-party reviews checked against ADS-B flight records. The verification pipeline is live; this count builds as fliers file reviews.

What the fleet is made of.

Fleet composition

Category mix · 9,241 tracked airframes

Airframes by manufacturer · top 8

01Cessna2,428
02Bombardier1,761
03Beechcraft1,413
04Gulfstream755
05Embraer666
06Pilatus483
07Dassault464
08Piper173

Largest tracked fleets · top 10 operators

Median airframe age by category

Build year is on file for 9,139 of 9,241 tracked airframes (99%). Categories with fewer than 30 dated airframes are omitted.

Category	Dated airframes	Median build year	Median age
Super-Midsize Jet	1,503	2008	18 yrs
Heavy Jet	2,341	2007	19 yrs
Light Jet	1,909	2006	20 yrs
Midsize Jet	1,213	2005	21 yrs
Turboprop	2,173	1997	29 yrs

Where the register lives.

55 states and territories host at least one tracked operator; 35 states clear the three-operator bar for a dedicated directory page.

Geography

Operators by state · top 15

Busiest operator bases · top 8 airports

Base counts reflect each operator's registered home field. Browse every field on the airport register or the live coverage map.

The ratings landscape.

Google ratings across the 739 operators with indexed reviews. Median rating 4.8, median review volume 11, most of the register is rated high on thin volume, which is exactly why per-review verification matters.

Reviews & ratings

Rating distribution · rated operators

45Under 3.5

393.5–3.9

1354.0–4.4

2704.5–4.9

2505.0

Review-volume distribution

3341–9 reviews

29010–49

9150–199

24200+

Audited operators

4.54

avg rating · n=414

Unaudited operators

4.54

avg rating · n=325

The straight read: an ARGUS or WYVERN audit does not buy rating points. The gap is 0.01 stars, negligible, and confounded by volume, since audited operators tend to be larger and accumulate more mixed reviews. Audits measure operational safety; ratings measure service. Read them together, not as substitutes.

What charter costs.

Ballpark bands from the shared rate card, applied to the 414 routes on the register. Median estimate across all routes: $17.6k–$24.6k per leg. Estimates, never quotes, firm pricing comes from operator quotes.

Pricing reference

Hourly rate card · by aircraft class

Class	Typical seats	Hourly band
TurbopropKing Air 350, Pilatus PC-12	6–9	$3,000–$4,200/hr
Light JetCitation CJ3, Phenom 300	4–7	$7,000–$9,800/hr
Midsize JetCitation XLS+, Learjet 60XR	7–9	$10,000–$14,000/hr
Super-Midsize JetCitation Longitude, Challenger 350	8–12	$12,000–$16,800/hr
Heavy JetGulfstream G550, Global 6000	12–19	$17,000–$23,800/hr

Median leg estimate · 414 register routes

Leg length	Routes	Typical lift	Median estimate
Under 300 nm	86	Light Jet	$5.6k–$7.9k
300–900 nm	220	Midsize Jet	$16.9k–$23.7k
900–1,600 nm	83	Super-Midsize Jet	$30.8k–$43.2k
1,600 nm and up	25	Heavy Jet	$81.3k–$113.8k

Rate card × block time (distance / cruise + 0.35 h allowance), priced at each band's typical class. Work a specific trip in the cost estimator or browse all 414 routes.

Demand signals , the honest version.

The register went live in August 2026. Marketplace series publish here once they carry at least two weeks of data, until then, each instrument shows its true state. No trend line on this page is ever modeled or backfilled.

Marketplace telemetry

Empty legs live right now

Repositioning flights posted by register operators, counted live. Watch the board or set an alert on the empty-legs page.

Quote-request series

Collection in progress

Trip requests routed to operators through the register. The series publishes once volume clears the two-week bar.

Search telemetry

Collection in progress

Directory search impressions, instrumented 2026-08-08. Publishing begins when the series carries two weeks of data.

Browse live empty legs →

Methodology & sources

How this page is computed

Every figure is derived at page-build time from the Bravo register: the operator and broker catalog, the tail-level fleet registry (seeded from FAA registry data and operator disclosures), Google review aggregates, published ARGUS and WYVERN audit registries, the shared charter rate card, and live platform activity. Where a series is too young to be meaningful, it is shown as collecting, never simulated. Figures refresh at most hourly.

Last computed 2026-09-29 01:01 UTC · cite as “Bravo, State of the Charter Register” · link https://www.checkbravo.com/intelligence

Sources on file

FAA aircraft registry & operator disclosures (fleet data)
Google Business Profile review aggregates
ARGUS TripCHEQ / CHEQ operator ratings (published registry)
WYVERN Wingman & Registered operator lists
Bravo rate card & route catalog
Bravo marketplace activity (live counts)

Corrections and press inquiries: contact the team