FAA registry · updated October 5, 2026
Who owns private jets: LLCs, corporations and trusts
Most private jets in the US are owned by companies formed to hold them: 56% of the 26,631 business jets and turboprops on the register belong to an LLC, 22% to a corporation and 11% to a trust. Only 2.3% are registered to a person in their own name.
- Registered to an LLC56%14,826 aircraft
- To a corporation22%5,774 aircraft
- To a trust or trustee10.9%2,894 aircraft
- To an individual2.3%600 aircraft
OWNER TYPES
88% belong to a company or a trust
Every US registration names a registrant and says what kind it is. For business jets and turboprops the answer is almost always a company. People registering an aircraft in their own name are rare at this end of the fleet, and most of them fly older turboprops.
1,255 of these have their name and address withheld by the FAA at the owner’s request; they are counted by the registrant type on file. 995 are flagged as fractionally owned.
Source: FAA Releasable Aircraft Database, file of October 5, 2026. Counted by Radar.
Cite this
- Title
- Who US business jets and turboprops are registered to
- Data as of
- October 5, 2026
- URL
- https://www.useradar.com/research/data/who-owns-private-jets#owner-types
Suggested citation
Radar (2026). "Who US business jets and turboprops are registered to." In Who owns private jets: LLCs, corporations and trusts. FAA registry data as of October 5, 2026. https://www.useradar.com/research/data/who-owns-private-jets#owner-types
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Preview the embed| Owner type | Business jets | Turboprops | All | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LLC | 9,922 | 4,904 | 14,826 | 55.7% |
| Corporation | 3,392 | 2,382 | 5,774 | 21.7% |
| Trust or trustee | 2,132 | 762 | 2,894 | 10.9% |
| Co-owners or partnership | 1,736 | 355 | 2,091 | 7.9% |
| Individual | 271 | 329 | 600 | 2.3% |
| Government | 104 | 342 | 446 | 1.7% |
| All | 17,557 | 9,074 | 26,631 | 100% |
WHY
Why owners use a company
- LLC: one company per aircraft14,826 aircraft. The LLC carries the aircraft’s liabilities, contracts a management company and can be sold with the jet. It also keeps the owner’s name off the register.
- Corporation: a business’s own fleet5,774 aircraft. Flight departments, charter operators, manufacturers and dealers. The Gulfstream G700 / G800 has the highest corporate share of the larger fleets, 69%.
- Trust: a trustee holds title2,894 aircraft. A trust company registers the aircraft for an owner who cannot or will not register it directly, often a non-US citizen. See aircraft owner trusts.
- Co-owners: fractional shares2,091 aircraft, 995 flagged as fractionally owned. 59% of the Cessna Citation Latitude fleet is registered to co-owners.
BY CLASS
The bigger the jet, the more likely a trust holds it
Trusts hold 29% of ultra-long-range jets against 8% of very light jets, and 42% of the Gulfstream G650 / G650ER fleet, the highest share of any model with 200 or more aircraft. Individuals are most common among turboprops. Each class links to its models on the most common business jets page.
Very light jets7.6%held in trustLLC 70% · corporation 14% · individual 2.8%. 1,506 aircraft. Pictured: Cirrus Vision Jet SF50, the class's most common model.
Light jets6.7%held in trustLLC 62% · corporation 19% · individual 1.9%. 5,488 aircraft. Pictured: Embraer Phenom 300 / 300E, the class's most common model.
Midsize jets8.8%held in trustLLC 55% · corporation 20% · individual 1.1%. 3,633 aircraft. Pictured: Cessna Citation Excel / XLS / XLS+, the class's most common model.
Super-midsize jets13.1%held in trustLLC 54% · corporation 16% · individual 0.3%. 2,214 aircraft. Pictured: Bombardier Challenger 300 / 350 / 3500, the class's most common model.
Large-cabin jets15.2%held in trustLLC 58% · corporation 18% · individual 0.2%. 2,452 aircraft. Pictured: Dassault Falcon 2000 / 2000EX / LX / LXS / S, the class's most common model.
Ultra-long-range jets29.4%held in trustLLC 38% · corporation 26% · individual 0.0%. 2,264 aircraft. Pictured: Bombardier Global Express / 5000 / 6000 / 6500, the class's most common model.
PC-12/47 reference. Other variants differ.Single-engine turboprops9.1%held in trustLLC 57% · corporation 22% · individual 3.9%. 4,541 aircraft. Pictured: Pilatus PC-12 (all variants), the class's most common model.
C90-series reference. Individual King Air 90 variants differ.Twin turboprops7.7%held in trustLLC 51% · corporation 31% · individual 3.3%. 4,533 aircraft. Pictured: Beechcraft King Air 90 series, the class's most common model.
| Class | Aircraft | LLC | Corporation | Trust or trustee | Co-owners or partnership | Individual | Government |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Very light jets | 1,506 | 69.7% | 14.3% | 7.6% | 5.0% | 2.8% | 0.3% |
| Light jets | 5,488 | 62.3% | 19.0% | 6.7% | 9.1% | 1.9% | 0.6% |
| Midsize jets | 3,633 | 54.7% | 20.4% | 8.8% | 13.8% | 1.1% | 0.5% |
| Super-midsize jets | 2,214 | 54.3% | 16.2% | 13.1% | 15.4% | 0.3% | 0.1% |
| Large-cabin jets | 2,452 | 57.5% | 17.9% | 15.2% | 7.2% | 0.2% | 1.0% |
| Ultra-long-range jets | 2,264 | 37.8% | 26.2% | 29.4% | 5.0% | 0.0% | 0.9% |
| Single-engine turboprops | 4,541 | 57.4% | 22.0% | 9.1% | 4.9% | 3.9% | 2.6% |
| Twin turboprops | 4,533 | 50.7% | 30.5% | 7.7% | 2.7% | 3.3% | 5.0% |
LAST 12 MONTHS
Who registered aircraft this year
Of the 4,753 registration certificates issued in the 12 months to October 5, 2026, 52% went to LLCs, 19% to co-owners and 14% to trusts. Co-owners and trusts take a bigger share of new certificates than of the fleet, because fractional programs and trust companies change aircraft often. Month by month: new business jet registrations.
| Owner type | Share of fleet | Certificates, 12 months | Share of certificates |
|---|---|---|---|
| LLC | 55.7% | 2,471 | 52.0% |
| Corporation | 21.7% | 621 | 13.1% |
| Trust or trustee | 10.9% | 669 | 14.1% |
| Co-owners or partnership | 7.9% | 892 | 18.8% |
| Individual | 2.3% | 52 | 1.1% |
| Government | 1.7% | 48 | 1.0% |
QUESTIONS
Private jet ownership questions
Who owns most private jets in the US?
Limited liability companies. 57% of the 17,557 business jets on the FAA register belong to an LLC, 19% to a corporation and 12% to a trust or trustee (FAA file of October 5, 2026).
Why are private jets owned by LLCs?
A company formed to hold one aircraft keeps the aircraft's liabilities apart from the owner's other assets, can hire a management company to run the jet, and can be sold or refinanced without re-registering a person. It also keeps the owner's own name off the public register.
How many private jets are owned by individuals?
271 business jets and 329 turboprops are registered to a person in their own name, 2.3% of the fleet. Owner-flown types such as the Cessna Citation I / I/SP have the highest share, 11%.
The full picture, with trust companies, registered agents and states: who owns America’s business jets.
METHOD
How this is counted
- Owner type. The registrant type on the FAA registration. A registrant whose name includes “trust” or “trustee” counts as a trust. Co-owners and partnerships are one group.
- Withheld records. 1,255 registrations have no name or address in the public file at the owner’s request. They count here by the registrant type the FAA still publishes.
- By class. Summed from the model family counts; a family’s individual or co-owner count under five is withheld and counts as zero, so those shares can read slightly low.
Source: FAA Releasable Aircraft Database, file of October 5, 2026, recounted with each site update. Aggregates and company names only: no N-number, serial number or person’s name. Counts of individually owned or co-owned aircraft under five are shown as “<5”. The full rules are in the ownership report’s method and on the open data page.