Empty Leg Aggregator Comparison: Which Platforms List the Most Flights

Which empty leg aggregator lists the most flights?

XO lists the most empty legs of any consumer-facing platform, with 80 to 200 legs visible in the app at any given moment across its operator network and Vista-owned fleet. JetASAP is second in raw count because it aggregates from roughly 700 Part 135 operators on the broker side, though the consumer-facing inventory it surfaces is thinner. Stratos Jet Charters publishes a broker-curated list that runs 40-100 legs depending on the season. Beyond that, every serious empty leg buyer is also on three or four operator-direct mailing lists, because a meaningful share of legs — particularly on owner-flown fractional and managed aircraft — never reaches the public apps.

The honest answer: no single platform sees the whole market. The brokers who place these flights every week run parallel searches across XO, JetASAP, a dozen operator mailing lists, and direct phone calls to dispatch desks at Solairus, Jet Linx, Clay Lacy, Executive Jet Management, and the regional Part 135s.

How does XO compare to JetSmarter and the legacy apps?

XO absorbed JetSmarter in 2019 and consolidated the inventory under the XO brand, so JetSmarter as a standalone product no longer exists. The combined platform pulls from Vista Global's owned fleet — VistaJet and XOJET Aviation — plus a network of approved third-party operators. That gives XO structural advantages: it can post repositioning legs from its own metal hours after a one-way charter books, before a broker would even see the flight.

In practice that means XO is strongest on the dense corridors Vista flies most: TEB-PBI, TEB-OPF, VNY-ASE, BED-PBI, and the West Coast triangle of VNY-SFO-LAS. On long-tail routes — say, BNA to BZN, or APA to HPN — XO's coverage thins and operator-direct lists or a broker who knows the regional operators will surface legs XO never lists.

What does JetASAP actually show buyers?

JetASAP is a subscription marketplace that connects buyers directly with Part 135 operators, and its empty leg feed reflects what those operators choose to broadcast. Inventory volume is real — the operator network is large — but freshness varies. Legs posted on JetASAP that are more than 48 hours old should be treated as stale; the good ones get picked off within hours by brokers running the same feed. JetASAP charges a flat monthly subscription rather than a per-trip commission, which appeals to frequent flyers but doesn't change the underlying inventory.

The pricing on JetASAP tends to be more transparent than XO because you're seeing operator quotes rather than a marketplace-marked price. The trade-off is you do more of the work: contract review, insurance verification, payment terms.

Where do Stratos Jet Charters and broker mailing lists fit?

Stratos publishes a public empty leg list that's curated by their brokers, which means the legs shown are real, recently confirmed, and priced. The volume is lower than XO — 40 to 100 legs typically — but the conversion rate is higher because Stratos isn't padding the list with phantom inventory to drive app downloads.

The same logic applies to broker mailing lists from shops like Magellan Jets, PrivateFly, Air Charter Service, and the regional brokers. Get on three or four of these and you'll see legs in your inbox the morning they're posted, often before they hit any aggregator. Brokers send these lists because empty legs are perishable — every hour the leg goes unsold, the operator's margin evaporates — so the incentive is to push them to qualified buyers fast.

How do operator-direct lists beat the apps?

Operator-direct lists carry legs that never hit aggregators because the operator wants to fill the leg with a known customer at a price the operator controls. Solairus, Jet Linx, Clay Lacy, Executive Jet Management, Jet Aviation, and Pentastar all run their own empty leg notification systems. Sign up directly with the operators flying the corridors you actually use.

The catch: operator-direct lists assume you already know which operators fly your routes. If you live in Aspen and fly to LA, you want VNY-based operators. If you're in Palm Beach in winter, the TEB and HPN-based operators repositioning back north are your inventory. A broker who places empty legs every week has this map memorized; building it yourself takes a season of watching the apps.

Which platform has the freshest inventory?

Freshness — how recently the leg was confirmed and how likely it is to still be available — is where the platforms differ most. XO updates in near-real-time on Vista-owned aircraft because the dispatch system feeds the app directly. Third-party operator legs on XO are slower, sometimes posted hours after the leg was actually confirmed. JetASAP freshness depends on the individual operator's posting discipline, which varies widely. Stratos and broker mailing lists are curated, so what you see is what's actually for sale.

A practical test: if a leg has been visible on an app for more than 24 hours on a popular corridor (TEB-PBI in November, VNY-ASE on a Sunday in February), assume something is wrong with it — the operator's quote is too high, the aircraft has a maintenance flag, or the timing is unworkable. Real empty legs on dense corridors get picked off fast.

What's the right stack for a serious empty leg buyer?

The working stack for someone who flies empty legs more than four or five times a year is XO for marketplace breadth, JetASAP or a paid broker relationship for operator-direct depth, and three to five operator mailing lists in the regions you actually fly. Check the apps in the morning, again at midday, and once before close of business — operators post legs as inbound charters confirm, which happens throughout the day.

The aggregators are a starting point, not the finish line. Every empty leg that closes goes through a contract, a deposit, and a dispatch confirmation. The platform that listed it is incidental to whether the flight actually operates the way you need it to.