The CrowdStrike outage, which knocked broadcasters off the air and grounded airline flights around the world, largely spared private jet flyers. However, even private skies travelers will probably see some impact later today and over the weekend.
As of late morning, FlightAware reports 32,488 flights delayed and 3,732 flights canceled. That’s over 150% more cancelations that yesterday for the full day.
A spokesperson for Wheels Up, fourth-largest U.S. charter and fractional operator, which counts Delta Air Lines as its largest shareholder, says, “Our operations have not been impacted by the issue,” adding, “We are working closely with Delta and supporting them on requests from their impacted customers.”
FlightAware shows 652 cancelations and 913 delayed flights by Delta.
Other private jet flight providers are saying they aren’t seeing delays or cancelations as of midday.
“Flexjet’s flights planned today will be uninterrupted and we have been accommodating our owners who have asked for last-minute flights due to the outage,” says spokesperson for the second-largest private jet operator in the U.S.
FlyExclusive CEO Jim Segrave says the charter and fractional operator, fifth-largest in the U.S., brought in extra staff earlier and has been fine so far.
HondaJet operator Volato has yet to feel an impact, says its CEO Matt Liotta.
Fly Alliance President Christopher Tasca, also one of the 20 largest charter and fractional operators in the U.S., says so far, its flights have remained running without delay.
“So far, our morning flights have not been impacted. We are, of course, getting calls from people whose commercial flights have been canceled,” says Anthony Tivnan, President of Boston-based jet card and charter broker Magellan Jets.
Andrew VanderPloeg, founder of Intrepid Jets, a charter broker, says he is fielding calls from customers who have told him airlines don’t have space to rebook them until tomorrow or Sunday.
“They have to decide if they need to get there and if they are willing to pay the extra cost,” he says.
However, VanderPloeg warns the private skies will be impacted.
One charter flight this morning was nearly canceled when a flight attendant was late due to a delayed airline flight.
Others in the industry expect the problems for private jet users to come later today and over the weekend.
Craig Ross, CEO of consultancy Aviation Portfolio, says private jet floating fleet operators using airlines to fly crews from their homes to the private jets they will be piloting face scheduling challenges.
However, the Flexjet spokesperson says, “Even though our pilots use airlines to reach their Flexjet aircraft when a tour of duty begins, that disruption did not impact our operations. Unlike our competitors, we have implemented a policy that makes the first day of a pilot’s tour of duty as a designated travel day for them to airline from their home domicile to their first city of departure.”
She says internal systems at Flexjet were not effected.
Ross says airplanes waiting for parts to be delivered will end up sitting on the ground a bit longer.
UPS and FedEx have warned customers to expect delays.
Parts needed for maintenance are often shipped as cargo with the airlines or via the express package services.
That could impact airplanes that are expected to be repaired today or over the weekend.
One industry executive says the impact on flight crews will be felt beyond airlines to hotels and rental car agencies. Delays checking in or checking out, picking up and dropping off rental cars, can impact crew rest requirements.
Ross says Aviation Portfolio, which provides oversight of management companies for private jet owners and trip quality control for fractional share customers, has only seen “isolated impacts from the tech outage but not systemic issues.”
However, he says to check with your flight provider. He cautions that changes to itineraries or passenger manifests made last night or earlier could be impacted.