Fractional ownership providers
Fractional jet ownership companies: who sells aircraft shares, compared
Seven fractional jet ownership companies sell aircraft shares: Airshare, Flexjet, flyExclusive, Magellan Jets, NetJets, Nicholas Air and PlaneSense. VistaJet, Wheels Up, Sentient Jet and Jet Linx sell access rather than a share, and Clay Lacy now directs charter and aircraft management inquiries to Solairus. Choosing among the seven is less a ranking than a narrowing: the aircraft your trips need, the shares actually for sale in it and the terms attached to them usually leave two or three programs worth a proposal.
Fractional Aviation Advisors forms that shortlist for the buyer and no one else. Our principals are former senior NetJets executives who sold and oversaw these programs from the inside, and we take no operator commissions or referral fees. We compare aircraft suitability for your recurring trips, current share availability, fixed costs, access terms and exit provisions, and we say which two or three programs are worth your time.
How a shortlist is formed
Aircraft first, availability second, terms third
The first cut is the aircraft. A PC-12, a light jet, a super-midsize jet and a large-cabin aircraft serve different missions, and those differences can matter more than differences between providers offering the same aircraft type. Range, payload, baggage and runway performance measured against your recurring routes remove more providers than any price comparison does.
The second cut is availability. A suitable aircraft in a provider's fleet does not establish that a share in it is for sale now, in the size you need, with access starting when you need it. We compare the proposals actually open to you in the required category, including the access and exit terms attached to that interest.
The third cut is the terms. The seven differ in what the smallest share buys, how flying is allocated and how long the commitment runs. Flexjet, flyExclusive and PlaneSense begin at 50 annual hours, while Airshare allocates program days subject to crew-duty limits, so your trip length and number of travel days determine how much use each allowance provides. Magellan Jets lists a three-year term and PlaneSense a term of five to seven years.
Fixed costs differ as well. Traditional programs carry a monthly management fee, flyExclusive replaces it with daily and hourly charges, and leases remove the asset purchase while retaining recurring payments. The lowest quoted rate may come with a larger fixed commitment or less useful access, so each cost is compared over the same holding period before any program makes the shortlist.
Ownership and access
An aircraft interest carries different rights from prepaid access
An aircraft ownership interest gives you equity in a specific aircraft. A card or membership provides prepaid or contracted access without that equity. Fleet access and the operating structure follow the program agreements.
Federal rules define a fractional program: one program manager, two or more aircraft, at least one aircraft with more than one owner, a minimum interest for each owner and a dry-lease exchange among the owners under multi-year agreements. An offer sold as fractional ownership either meets that definition or is a different product, which is why we read the program documents before comparing providers.
PlaneSense states that its program operates under those fractional rules. Airshare and flyExclusive state that an air carrier they own operates their flights, so we confirm their fractional status from the program documents. The management specifications and exchange agreement establish how the particular aircraft and owner participate in the program.
Seven providers compared
Published share terms and flying allocations
The providers are listed alphabetically. These figures describe different program features: a day allocation, an hour allocation and a share percentage are not interchangeable. Published terms are subject to the available aircraft and current agreement, and do not establish a price ranking.
| Provider | Share or annual flying | Term or access detail |
|---|---|---|
| Airshare | 1/16 share: 20 program days a year | Flying within a maximum 14-hour crew duty day |
| Flexjet | 1/16 share: 50 hours a year | Maximum term of 60 months |
| flyExclusive | 6.25% share: 50 hours a year | Five-year term |
| Magellan Jets | 12.5% interest in a Challenger 850 | Three-year term |
| NetJets | Shares sold in 25-hour increments | 36-month minimum commitment |
| Nicholas Air | Over 100 hours a year, as provider guidance | 355 days of guaranteed availability a year |
| PlaneSense | Shares start at 50 hours a year | Term of five to seven years |
Aircraft equity
Aircraft, fee and operating differences behind the share terms
- Airshare
- Airshare shares increase in 10-day increments, and the program lists the Phenom 300 and Challenger 3500. Several legs within a program day can use one day of the allocation, making trip pattern central to the comparison.
- Flexjet
- Flexjet offers additional hours in increments of 50. Leasing provides program access without buying the asset. Red Label, Flexjet's dedicated-crew model, is offered in the super-midsize categories and above.
- flyExclusive
- flyExclusive offers four fractional share sizes, up to 25 percent for 200 or more annual hours. It states that its fractional structure carries no monthly management fee and uses daily and hourly charges instead. Those charges cover the fixed costs, so we compare them with monthly-fee programs using the same travel schedule.
- Magellan Jets
- Magellan Jets states that it does not own or operate aircraft, and that Slate Aviation operates and maintains the Challenger 850 fleet as a fractional program. The company that sells the share and the company that operates the flights are therefore separate parties.
- NetJets
- NetJets offers its Share program through ownership and leasing, with the NetJets Card as a separate prepaid access product. NetJets lists the Share from approximately $360,000 a year for 50 hours plus a one-time capital investment, and the Card from $215,000 for 25 hours, with annual access from 275 to 320 days depending on the Card option. The NetJets Card offers a smaller prepaid commitment with no aircraft interest.
- Nicholas Air
- Nicholas Air offers shares priced on current inventory. Its annual-hour guidance describes the clients the program is intended to serve rather than a firm purchase cutoff.
- PlaneSense
- PlaneSense builds its fractional program around the Pilatus PC-12 turboprop and the PC-24 jet, and positions it for those flying 25 to 300 hours a year. The program can be particularly relevant for regional missions, shorter or unimproved runways and travel that fits those aircraft rather than a conventional light-jet profile.
These are published starting terms rather than a proposal. The terms you are offered depend on the aircraft category and on the shares available in it at the time, which is why we build the shortlist from live proposals rather than from this table.
We compare providers against your routes, aircraft requirements and expected use, with attention to the terms behind each proposal. Speak with us for an independent view of your options.
Discuss your provider optionsStructures
Five ways to own or access private aircraft
A fractional share is an aircraft ownership interest plus access rights governed by the program agreements. The share is eventually repurchased or remarketed, and its value at exit affects your total cost.
A fractional lease buys contractual access to the same program for a fixed term without buying the underlying asset. There is no aircraft interest to sell, while termination, return and renewal obligations follow the agreement.
A prepaid card or membership buys a right to draw down prepaid or contracted hours at agreed terms, and those flights are commonly fulfilled by charter operators. Any unused balance is settled under the membership terms. Charter brokerage arranges a flight on a third party's aircraft, trip by trip, without an ongoing program commitment.
Joint ownership is a direct co-ownership interest in one aircraft shared with a small number of owners, under a separate management agreement. It ends when the aircraft is sold or one owner buys out the other. Federal fractional rules also recognize qualifying multi-year leasehold interests. The proposal's documents, not its label, establish which structure is being offered to you.
Access without equity
Five companies offering alternatives to fractional ownership
These companies are often considered alongside fractional ownership. Their access products convey no fractional aircraft interest, so the capital, tax and exit considerations differ.
- Clay Lacy
- Clay Lacy previously offered Preferred, a refundable-deposit charter membership that conveyed no aircraft interest. Clay Lacy now directs aircraft management and charter inquiries to Solairus; historical Preferred terms may differ from current offers.
- Jet Linx
- Jet Linx's consumer access product is its Jet Card Membership. The company also runs a separate aircraft management business and a joint ownership program, in which it sells a 50 percent interest in one aircraft to each of two owners based in the same city. Joint ownership is a direct co-ownership structure rather than a fractional program.
- Sentient Jet
- Sentient identifies itself as an air charter broker under DOT regulations and states that it contracts for transportation with direct air carriers that hold operational control of the flights. Its consumer products are 25-hour jet cards.
- VistaJet
- VistaJet sells memberships and on-demand access rather than aircraft equity, currently through its Program membership and the VJ25 membership. VistaJet members buy contracted access and service standards, not a share.
- Wheels Up
- Wheels Up describes its current consumer offering, the Signature Membership, as a fund-based access program with Dynamic, Fixed and Custom Access Plans and fund tiers from $200,000 for 12 months of access. It is a membership, not an aircraft share.
Where one of these programs is in your comparison alongside a fractional share, we compare the capital required, the access terms and the value or unused balance remaining at exit using the same travel schedule, so a membership and a share are judged on the same trips.
What we do to form the shortlist
From the full list to two or three proposals
We establish the aircraft first, comparing range, payload, baggage capacity and runway performance with your recurring trips, and then establish which shares are open in that category at each provider that flies it and when access would begin. For each proposal we build the full-term cost: acquisition capital, escalating fees, flight charges on your actual leg lengths and a range of exit proceeds under the agreement's formula. Where a lease, a card or charter serves part of your flying better, it goes into the same comparison on the same trips.
We distinguish the company that sells the share from the company that operates the flights, because the proposal identifies the contractual counterparty while the operating documents identify the carrier or program manager responsible for the flight and the entity receiving your funds. The result is two or three programs that fit your recurring missions and your intended holding period, with the differences that matter to your travel and costs explained.
Our fee is agreed before the engagement begins, we are not a party to the transaction, and we take no operator commissions or referral fees.
We compare providers against your routes, aircraft requirements and expected use, with attention to the terms behind each proposal. Speak with us for an independent view of your options.
Discuss your provider optionsCommon questions
Frequently asked questions
Share programs, terms and starting prices reflect each provider's own program pages, read September 29, 2026, and the membership, card and charter descriptions reflect those operators' own pages read the same day. The seven-provider table was checked against the linked program pages October 14, 2026. Listings are alphabetical. Provider programs, rates and terms change, so current provider documents govern. The leasehold definition, NetJets Card access range, Airshare crew-duty limit and Clay Lacy referral were checked October 8, 2026. Preferred terms describe the former offer, not a current Solairus quote.
Sources: FAA fractional-program definitions · Clay Lacy current charter and management referral · NetJets current program comparison · Airshare fractional terms · Flexjet ownership terms · flyExclusive fractional terms · Magellan Jets fractional terms · NetJets Share increments · Nicholas Air fractional terms · PlaneSense fractional terms
Prepared by Fractional Aviation Advisors. About our principals. Last updated October 2026.