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NetJets Review 2026: Fleet, Programs, Cost Math, and Fit

An independent NetJets review: the 2026 fleet

This NetJets review covers what the company sells in 2026, what the fleet actually looks like, and the arithmetic that decides whether it is good value for you. NetJets is the largest private aviation operator in the world by fleet size. It has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway since 1998.

The short verdict: NetJets is the strongest choice in the market if you fly 75 or more hours a year, on short notice, on peak dates. Below roughly 50 hours a year, its fixed costs work against you and a card or charter usually wins.

What NetJets is, in plain terms

NetJets sells access to aircraft it operates itself, rather than brokering flights onto other people’s jets. The company began as Executive Jet Aviation in 1964 and launched the first fractional ownershipBuying a share of a specific aircraft, typically 1/16 or larger, which entitles you to a set number of flight hours a year plus a monthly management fee. program in 1986. Berkshire Hathaway bought it in 1998 for about $725 million.

That ownership matters more than it sounds. A fractional contract is a five-year commitment with a large prepayment attached. The counterparty’s balance sheet is part of what you are buying.

The NetJets fleet in 2026

NetJets operates the largest privately owned business-jet fleet in the world, and it is still growing fast. Fleet figures for NetJets vary widely by source, and the reason is the denominator rather than disagreement. Parent company Berkshire Hathaway states in its 2025 annual report that NetJets operates nearly 1,100 aircraft across more than 150 countries — a count that includes aircraft it manages, not only the fractional fleet. Trade tracking of the fractional fleet alone put NetJets and NetJets Europe in the mid-800s through 2026. Both numbers are defensible; they measure different things, so check which one a comparison is using before you trust it. Either way no competitor is within roughly two and a half times that size.

For scale, that is roughly two and a half times the fleet of its nearest fractional rival, Flexjet, which operates more than 340 jets and helicopters.

The fleet spans five cabin categories:

• Light jets — short hops, four to six passengers.
• Midsize jets — transcontinental with a fuel stop, six to eight passengers.
• Super-midsize jets — coast to coast nonstop.
• Large-cabin jets — including a deep bench of Gulfstream aircraft.
• Ultra-long-range jets — nonstop intercontinental.

The practical benefit of that breadth is interchange. You can buy a share in a midsize jet and trade up to a large-cabin aircraft for a transatlantic trip, paying a published rate difference. Programs with three or four types cannot offer that.

How the programs are structured

NetJets sells two core products: the NetJets Share and the NetJets Card. Leases sit between them on some aircraft types.

NetJets Share is fractional ownership. You buy a real, titled interest in a specific aircraft, commonly 1/16th and upward. A 1/16 share is normally sold as 50 occupied hours a year over a five-year term. At the end of the term, NetJets remarkets your share and you take the resale proceeds.

NetJets Card is a prepaid block of hours on a single cabin category. There is no equity, no resale, and no five-year term. Callout notice — how far ahead you must book to be guaranteed an aircraft — is generally longer for cardholders than for share owners.

Fractional programs operate under a distinct federal rule set, 14 CFR Part 91 Subpart K, rather than the Part 135 charter rules. The FAA wrote Subpart K specifically for shared-ownership programs. As a share owner you hold operational control on paper, which is why the contract is long and the paperwork is heavy.

What NetJets costs, and the math that decides it

NetJets does not publish a rate card. Its programs page routes every pricing question to a phone consultation, so any specific dollar figure you read online is a third-party estimate, not a quote. What you can do before you call is understand the shape of the bill.

Every fractional quote has three lines:

1. Share price — one-time, partly recovered at remarketing.
2. Monthly management fee — fixed, charged whether you fly or not.
3. Occupied hourly rateWhat a fractional owner pays per hour actually flown, on top of the monthly management fee. It excludes the hours the aircraft flies empty to reach them. — the only line that scales with flying.

Two of the three lines do not care how much you fly. That is the whole game. Here is the arithmetic on a five-year 1/16 midsize share, using round illustration numbers rather than quotes — a $1,000,000 share that resells for half at term end, a $20,000 monthly management fee, and a $6,000 occupied hourly rate.

Plug your own quote into the same three lines and the pattern holds. Doubling your flying from 25 to 50 hours cuts your effective hourly cost by a third. That is why the same program can look like a bargain to one buyer and a waste to another.

Use our private jet cost per hour guide for market rate benchmarks, and the fractional jet ownership guide for how share terms work in general.

What the price premium actually buys

NetJets prices at or near the top of the market for a comparable cabin. What that premium buys is peak-day availability from an owned fleet.

On Thanksgiving Sunday or the Friday before the Super Bowl, brokered programs run out of their own aircraft and source from third-party operators. You get a different tail, a different cabin, and sometimes a different service standard. With a mid-800s owned fleet and guaranteed-availability contract language, NetJets absorbs those days internally far more often.

This is the tradeoff most reviews skip: you are buying peak-day insurance. If you fly Tuesday mornings on flexible dates, you are paying a premium for coverage you will rarely use. A card from a smaller operator, or straight charter, will serve you for less.

Safety and operational record

NetJets holds top-tier ratings from the two independent auditors buyers actually check, ARGUS and Wyvern. Both audit operators against standards stricter than the FAA minimum, covering pilot experience, training, and maintenance controls.

Ask any operator for its current ARGUS and Wyvern status in writing. Ratings expire and have to be renewed, and a lapsed certificate is a real signal.

NetJets also runs its own pilot training program rather than outsourcing it entirely, and staffs two pilots on every flight across all categories. Smaller operators sometimes fly single-pilot light jets legally. Many buyers care about that distinction and never think to ask.

Where NetJets is genuinely weaker

Three areas where a rival will serve you better.

Cabin interiors. Flexjet’s Red Label program assigns a flight crew to one specific aircraft and fits bespoke LXi interiors. NetJets standardizes cabins across the fleet. Standardization is the point, but it means the aircraft feels the same rather than special.

Low-hour buyers. Below about 50 hours a year, the fixed management fee dominates your bill. A jet card, an empty leg, or on-demand charter will beat it on total cost.

Single-route flyers. If you fly the same city pair 30 times a year, a regional operator with aircraft based at your home field can often price under NetJets and position faster.

NetJets compared with the main alternatives

For the full head-to-head, see NetJets vs. Flexjet and Wheels Up vs. NetJets. VistaJet is a fourth option worth pricing if your flying is mostly international; see our VistaJet cost breakdown.

Who should buy NetJets

Buy NetJets if you fly 75 or more hours a year, book inside 48 hours, travel on holiday weekends, and need more than one cabin size across the year. Nothing else in the market covers all four at once.

Skip NetJets if you fly under 50 hours, plan trips weeks ahead, and stay in one cabin category. You will pay for availability you are not using. Start with our jet card comparison or the best jet card guide instead.

Whichever way you lean, ask for the quote broken into the three lines above and run your own hours through it. A program that looks expensive at 25 hours can be the cheapest option you have at 100.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is NetJets the biggest private jet company?

Yes. NetJets is the largest private aviation operator in the world by fleet size, with an estimated mid-800s fleet across NetJets and NetJets Europe through 2026, roughly two and a half times the fleet of its nearest fractional competitor, Flexjet.

Is NetJets worth it?

NetJets is worth it above roughly 75 flight hours a year, especially if you book on short notice or fly on peak holiday dates. Below about 50 hours a year, the fixed monthly management fee dominates your total cost and a jet cardA prepaid block of flight hours on a set aircraft category, bought at a fixed or capped hourly rate. No aircraft ownership is involved. or on-demand charter is normally cheaper.

How much does NetJets cost per hour?

NetJets does not publish rates, so any figure you see online is a third-party estimate rather than a quote. Your true cost per hour depends on three lines in the contract: the share price net of resale, the fixed monthly management fee, and the occupied hourly rate. Divide the annual total by the hours you actually fly.

Who owns NetJets?

Berkshire Hathaway owns NetJets outright. It acquired the parent company, Executive Jet, in 1998 for approximately $725 million, and NetJets has operated as a wholly owned Berkshire subsidiary since.

Is NetJets safer than a charter operator?

NetJets holds top-tier ARGUS and Wyvern ratings and staffs two pilots on every flight in every cabin category, which many smaller charter operators do not do on light jets. Safety still varies operator by operator, so ask any provider for current, unexpired third-party audit certificates in writing before you book.

We update this guide as aircraft, program, and route pricing changes. Spotted something out of date? Tell us and we'll check it.