Story ID: 
N. American Bizav Flying Continues Post-Covid Climbout
By: Chad Trautvetter
Caption: North American business aircraft flight activity gained back another one-third of Covid-19-related losses in June, as flying increased 40 percent from May.
Word Count: 208
North American business aircraft flight activity gained back another one-third of Covid-19-related losses last month, as flying increased 40 percent from May, according to TraqPak data released yesterday by Argus International. And while activity was still off 25.7 percent from last June, the company is forecasting further recovery this month, predicting July will be 17 percent below year-ago levels.

By operator type, Part 135 continues to lead this recovery, with charter flying down 19.3 percent year-over-year. Meanwhile, fractional and Part 91 activity slid 25.2 percent and 30.3 percent, respectively, the Argus data shows.

Looking at aircraft categories, light jets are weathering the Covid storm the best, with flying in this segment decreasing 18.7 percent year-over-year last month. This was followed by midsize jets, -25.4 percent; turboprops, -29.4 percent; and large-cabin jets, -38.2 percent.

The best showings in individual segments last month were in Part 135 light and midsize jets, which dropped 12.2 percent and 10 percent, respectively. On the other end of the scale were Part 91 and fractional large-cabin jet flying, which plummeted 41.1 percent and 38.2 percent, respectively.

Activity in the U.S. Southeast was the highest at 47,977 departures, followed by the southern West Coast at 24,946; South Central, 23,169; and Northwest, 23,074.