Business aircraft flights in North America and the Caribbean last month dipped 0.5 percent year-over-year, as gains in jet flying were more than offset by turboprop activity, according to TraqPak data released yesterday by Argus. This fell well short of the company’s prediction of a 5.8 percent gain last month; it has forecast a 3.8 percent increase in flying this month.

Looking at operating segments, only fractional activity was in the black last month, up 6.6 percent from a year ago. Part 91 flying was down 0.4 percent, while the Part 135 segment slipped by 3 percent.

All business jet categories logged modest year-over-year increases last month, with large-cabin and midsize jet activity each up by 0.9 percent from last January. Light jets were not far behind with a 0.8 percent gain. Turboprop flying fell 3.6 percent last month, according to the Argus data.

There was just one double-digit increase last month in individual categories as fractional light jet activity climbed 12.1 percent year-over-year. Fractional midsize flying gets an honorable mention, rising 8 percent from a year ago.

Once again, the Southeast was the leader by U.S. region, at 59,750 departures, with the top-three rounded out by the Southwest Coast (36,161 departures) and Central South (29,087 departures).