Which direction do empty legs fly? 28.4% head west

• ✓ 28.4% of distinct US domestic empty leg listings headed west, the largest compass direction.
• ✓ 22.3% headed south, the smallest.
• ✓ Eastbound and westbound legs together made up 54.1% of listings.
• ✓ No single operator supplied more than 20.8% of the legs in any direction.
• ✓ Every figure is a share of distinct listings shown to customers of SkyAccess, the empty leg marketplace, and no total is quoted.

Which direction do empty legs fly? On SkyAccess, the empty leg marketplace, 28.4% of distinct empty leg listings between two airports in the 50 states and Washington DC, with departures from November 1, 2025 through October 31, 2026, headed west, the largest of the four compass directions, and 22.3% headed south, the smallest. Eastbound and westbound legs together made up 54.1% of listings, and northbound and southbound legs the rest. All figures are shares of distinct empty leg listings shown to customers of the marketplace, so they measure supply, the repositioning flights operators list for sale, and not passenger numbers or bookings.

This is a compass-direction analysis, not a route ranking. For the busiest routes, see the Empty Leg Index for November 2026, which ranks corridors every month.

Contents

1. Which direction do empty legs fly?
2. Why do empty legs fly in every direction?
3. What do these direction shares measure?
4. What does direction mean for a search?
5. How were these figures calculated?
6. What do people get wrong about the direction empty legs fly?
7. Where can you go deeper on empty leg data?
8. Frequently asked questions

Which direction do empty legs fly?

No single direction dominates. Legs heading west took 28.4% of distinct empty leg listings between two airports in the 50 states and DC, the largest share, and legs heading south took 22.3%, the smallest. Northbound legs held 23.6%, eastbound 25.7%, southbound 22.3% and westbound 28.4%. The shares use the legs between two airports with different stored coordinates; 0.2% of US domestic legs had the same coordinates at both ends, such as a leg back to its own airport, and are left out.

The table gives each compass direction as a share of all distinct US domestic empty legs with a bearing in the window. The direction is the initial compass bearing from the departure airport to the arrival airport, in four 90 degree quadrants around north, east, south and west.

Direction	Share of US domestic listings
Northbound	23.6%
Eastbound	25.7%
Southbound	22.3%
Westbound	28.4%

Why do empty legs fly in every direction?

An empty leg is a repositioning flight: the aircraft flies back to its base or on to its next pickup. Every trip out from a base needs a way back, so flows in opposite directions partly offset each other, and the gaps between the shares come from where aircraft are based and where trips end. Ranked by share, the directions ran westbound, eastbound, northbound and southbound.

What do these direction shares measure?

The direction is the initial great-circle bearing from the departure airport to the arrival airport, from the stored coordinates of each, in degrees from true north. North covers bearings from 315 to 45 degrees, east 45 to 135, south 135 to 225 and west 225 to 315. A leg from Florida to Maine counts as northbound, and a leg from Texas to California as westbound. A share is the number of distinct empty legs heading that way divided by all distinct empty legs between two airports in the 50 states and DC with a bearing. The figures also do not show how many legs were booked: a listing counts whether it sold or not. Each listing is the whole aircraft, offered by the operator that flies it under an FAA Part 135 certificate or its international equivalent, and the operator confirms every booking.

What does direction mean for a search?

Plan a round trip as two one-way legs. Every direction carried between 22.3% and 28.4% of US domestic listings, so the leg out and the leg back each come from their own pool of listings.

Note which way the most legs head. Legs heading west took 28.4% of listings, the largest share, so a trip that way has the most legs to choose from.

Check the board through the day. New legs are added to the board throughout the day and others are booked.

Price the whole aircraft. Empty legs are priced for the whole aircraft, not by the seat, and taxes and fees are shown at checkout. Prices are often 25 to 75% below a comparable full charter, a range sourced from Avinode marketplace data.

How were these figures calculated?

Source: the database of SkyAccess, the empty leg marketplace, read-only queries run on November 4, 2026: one checking the mix of listing sources, one producing the figures, and one repeating them without the listing sources whose monthly volume changed sharply during the window. Window: departures from November 1, 2025 through October 31, 2026, the twelve full months before this analysis. Only listings shown to SkyAccess customers on the empty leg marketplace are counted. Each empty leg is counted once: listings that share origin airport, destination airport, departure time, tail number and aircraft model are one leg, and deleted, cancelled and internal-only listings are excluded. A leg is US domestic when both airports are in the 50 states or Washington DC; the direction is the initial great-circle bearing from the stored coordinates of the departure airport to those of the arrival airport, in four 90 degree quadrants around north, east, south and west; 0.2% of US domestic legs had the same stored coordinates at both ends and are left out. Every figure is a share of distinct legs, and no total is quoted. Concentration check from the same query: in every direction, no single operator supplied more than 20.8% of the legs. Recomputed without the listing sources whose monthly volume changed sharply during the window, no share in this post moved by more than 0.2 percentage points and no ranking changed. Counts reflect listings on the marketplace, not flights flown, bookings or passengers.

What do people get wrong about the direction empty legs fly?

✗ Myth: “Almost every empty leg flies the same way.”

✓ Reality: Across distinct US domestic empty leg listings with departures from November 1, 2025 through October 31, 2026, every compass direction took between 22.3% and 28.4% of listings.

✗ Myth: “Empty legs mostly run north and south along the coasts.”

✓ Reality: Eastbound and westbound legs together made up 54.1% of distinct US domestic listings in the same window.

✗ Myth: “Empty legs are sold by the seat.”

✓ Reality: Every empty leg on SkyAccess, the empty leg marketplace, is the whole aircraft at one listed price; taxes and fees are shown at checkout, and prices are often 25 to 75% below a comparable full charter.

✗ Myth: “The marketplace flies the aircraft.”

✓ Reality: No. The marketplace lists the leg; the certified charter operator that flies the aircraft offers it and confirms every booking.

Where can you go deeper on empty leg data?

Each page below measures the same listing supply from another angle, with its own window and method.

• the Empty Leg Index for November 2026: ranks the busiest corridors every month, the route view this post leaves out.
• private jet routes and destinations: lists the route pages for city pairs with empty legs.
• domestic versus international empty legs: covers what changes when a leg crosses a border.
• the private jet airport directory: lists departure airports and their empty leg pages.
• the live empty leg board: lists current departures, each one the whole aircraft at one listed price.

Frequently asked questions

Which direction do empty legs fly most often?

Legs heading west took 28.4% of distinct empty leg listings between two airports in the 50 states and Washington DC from November 1, 2025 through October 31, 2026, the largest of the four compass directions. Legs heading south took 22.3%, the smallest.

Do more empty legs fly east or west than north or south?

Eastbound and westbound legs together made up 54.1% of distinct US domestic empty leg listings. Northbound legs held 23.6% and southbound legs 22.3%.

How is the direction of an empty leg measured?

The direction is the initial compass bearing from the departure airport to the arrival airport, from the stored coordinates of each. Bearings from 315 to 45 degrees count as north, 45 to 135 as east, 135 to 225 as south and 225 to 315 as west.

What counts as one empty leg in these figures?

Each empty leg is counted once: listings that share origin airport, destination airport, departure time, tail number and aircraft model are one leg, and deleted, cancelled and internal-only listings are left out. Only listings shown to customers of SkyAccess, the empty leg marketplace, are counted.

Do these figures count bookings or passengers?

These figures do not count bookings or passengers. A listing counts whether it sold or not, so the figures describe supply, the repositioning flights operators list for sale, and not passenger numbers.

Is an empty leg priced by the seat?

Empty legs are not priced by the seat. Every empty leg on SkyAccess, the empty leg marketplace, is priced for the whole aircraft; taxes and fees are shown at checkout, and prices are often 25 to 75% below a comparable full charter.

Which period do these figures cover?

The figures cover departures from November 1, 2025 through October 31, 2026, the twelve full months before this analysis. The read-only queries behind them ran on November 4, 2026.

Did leaving out the listing sources that changed sharply move the figures?

The figures held when those sources were left out. Recomputed without the listing sources whose monthly volume changed sharply during the window, no share in this post moved by more than 0.2 percentage points and no ranking changed.

Where can I see which routes carry the most empty legs?

The Empty Leg Index for November 2026 ranks corridors every month and names the busiest routes. This post is a compass-direction analysis, not a route ranking.

Which direction do empty legs fly? Of distinct empty leg listings between two airports in the 50 states and Washington DC from November 1, 2025 through October 31, 2026, 28.4% headed west, the largest compass direction, and 22.3% headed south, the smallest. Eastbound and westbound legs together made up 54.1%. On SkyAccess, the empty leg marketplace, every listing is the whole aircraft, offered by the certified charter operator that flies it, and new legs are added throughout the day.

Browse current departures on the SkyAccess empty leg flights page.