Kerry Lynch stepped into the role of editor of the&nbsp;Aviation International News&nbsp;monthly magazine in May 2022 after serving with&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;for eight years. She joined&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;in December 2014 as a senior editor covering Washington and business aviation news. She has also served on Convention News teams, including as editor of&nbsp;HAI Convention News. Lynch previously spent 25 years with Aviation Week. During her time there, she reported for and later steered&nbsp;The Weekly of Business Aviation, oversaw business aviation content on the&nbsp;Aviation Week Intelligence Network, served on the&nbsp;Show News&nbsp;staff, and held roles as the Washington columnist for&nbsp;Business &amp; Commercial Aviation&nbsp;and&nbsp;Overhaul &amp; Maintenance&nbsp;monthly magazines. In 2021 she was honored with the National Business Aviation Association Platinum Wing Award for lifetime achievement in journalism and was the 2004 recipient of the National Air Transportation Association’s Aviation Journalism Excellence Award. She also has been a recipient of an Aerospace Media Award for business aviation (2022) and NBAA Gold Wing Award (2003, 2024). Lynch graduated from The Ohio State University with a bachelor of arts in journalism.

Editor, AIN monthly magazine

Kerry Lynch

Business aircraft activity in North America is expected to inch up slightly this year, with Argus International estimating a 0.2% gain. In its just-released 2024 Business Aviation Review, the industry analyst and safety expert forecast that North America will see 3.4 million business aircraft flights in 2025, up from 3.1 million flights in 2024. Globally, business aircraft accounted for 4.8 million flights last year.
Argus anticipates that most months—seven out of 12—will see improved numbers with the first half of the year culminating in a 0.1% gain and the second half a 0.3% uptick. However, Argus predicted that January may see the biggest surge, with a 5.2% improvement, followed by the biggest dip of 3.8% in February.
These predictions come as Argus believes that business aviation appears to have “finally settled into its normal following all the peaks and valleys from Covid.” Looking into 2025, some of the largest questions surround the continuing shrinking of Part 91 operations. Part 91 operations in North America dipped 4.8% in 2024.
“It raises the question of where did that flying go,” Argus added in its review. Part 91 accounted for 50.6% of all flight activity in North America in 2019. In 2024, business aviation flew 300,000 more flights, but Part 91 had 30,000 fewer flights than in 2019.
“As a result, the industry segment that always made up slightly more than half of our industry now makes up 45% of overall activity,” Argus noted.
Part 135 operations have accounted for about the same percentage of business aviation flights in North America in 2019 and 2024. But fractional operations have taken a bigger chunk of the pie, going from 13.1% to 18.5%, and saw a 225,000-flight gain in 2024, when compared with 2019.
“As we move through 2025, we will continue to monitor this, but, on the surface, it looks like the move away from owner-flown aircraft into managed fleets or fractional ownership is certainly a reality,” Argus said.
It further pointed to questions about the large-cabin market, which experienced 6.9% fewer flights in North America in 2024, the biggest drop of any of the aircraft categories. At first glance, that market looks stagnant at best and declining at worst. But, Argus added, the hours flown—versus total operations—tell a different story: they actually increased by 2.4% and were up across Part 91, fractional, and Part 135 flying. “The airplanes themselves are flying more, even though their number of cycles went down.”
Other uncertainties surround whether the new U.S. administration will help or discourage business aircraft operations in the U.S. and abroad.
While Argus plans to release its forecast for European operations shortly, the analyst added that questions surround whether operations there will continue to slide or whether the rest of the world—except for the Middle East—will continue to see improvements.
“All these questions and observations do point to one obvious point: Business aviation overall is doing well,” Argus concluded. “The entire global industry declined about 1.4% in 2024, thanks in large part to the areas outside of North America and Europe remaining positive. As we move into 2025, perhaps we will see some much-appreciated tailwinds.”

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