Do empty leg flights cross time zones? 32.0% of US legs change the clock
- ✓ 32.0% of distinct US domestic empty leg listings flew between airports on different local clock times.
- ✓ 25.4% changed the clock by 1 hour.
- ✓ 2.0% changed it by 3 hours or more.
- ✓ No single operator supplied more than 32.0% of the legs in any band.
- ✓ Every figure is a share of distinct listings shown to customers of SkyAccess, the empty leg marketplace, and no total is quoted.
Do empty leg flights cross time zones? On SkyAccess, the empty leg marketplace, 32.0% 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, flew between airports whose local clocks differed at departure time. 25.4% changed the clock by 1 hour, 4.6% by 2 hours and 2.0% by 3 hours or more, while 68.0% stayed on the same clock time. 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 time-zone analysis, not a route ranking. For the busiest routes, see the Empty Leg Index for October 2026, which ranks corridors every month.
Contents
- Do empty leg flights cross time zones?
- Why do many empty legs cross time zones?
- What do these clock-change shares measure?
- What does a time zone change mean for a search?
- How were these figures calculated?
- What do people get wrong about empty legs and time zones?
- Where can you go deeper on empty leg data?
- Frequently asked questions
Do empty leg flights cross time zones?
Many do: 32.0% of distinct empty leg listings between two airports in the 50 states and DC flew between airports whose local clocks differed at departure time, and 68.0% stayed on the same clock time. 25.4% changed the clock by 1 hour, 4.6% by 2 hours and 2.0% by 3 hours or more. The shares use the legs whose two airports both carry a time zone, which is almost every US domestic leg.
The table gives each band as a share of all distinct US domestic empty legs with a known time zone at both ends in the window. The clock change is measured at the moment of departure, so daylight saving time follows the rules of each zone.
| Clock change | Share of US domestic listings |
|---|---|
| Same clock time | 68.0% |
| 1 hour of clock change | 25.4% |
| 2 hours of clock change | 4.6% |
| 3 hours or more of clock change | 2.0% |
Why do many empty legs cross time zones?
An empty leg is a repositioning flight: the aircraft flies back to its base or on to its next pickup, so it covers the same ground as the trip before it. After a trip within a region, the hop that follows usually stays inside one zone; after a trip across the country, it changes the clock by 3 hours, as any leg between the Eastern zone and the Pacific zone does. Ranked by share, the bands ran same clock time, 1 hour of clock change, 2 hours of clock change and 3 hours or more of clock change.
What do these clock-change shares measure?
The clock change is the gap between the local times at the two airports at the moment the leg departs. It is not the flight time: a 1 hour flight east into the next zone lands 2 hours later by the local clock. A share is the number of distinct empty legs in that band divided by all distinct empty legs between two airports in the 50 states and DC with a known time zone at both ends. 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 a time zone change mean for a search?
Convert the arrival to local time. 32.0% of US domestic listings changed the clock between departure and arrival, so work out the local arrival time before you plan the ground transfer.
Plan the day around the clock change. Legs that changed the clock by 2 hours took 4.6% of listings and by 3 hours or more 2.0%, and flying east on those loses part of the day.
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 1, 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 clock change compares the local times of the two airports at departure, from the time zone stored for each, in four bands; almost every US domestic leg had a time zone at both ends, and the few without one are left out. Every figure is a share of distinct legs, and no total is quoted. Concentration check from the same query: in every band, no single operator supplied more than 32.0% 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 0.3 percentage points and no ranking changed. Counts reflect listings on the marketplace, not flights flown, bookings or passengers.
What do people get wrong about empty legs and time zones?
✗ Myth: “Empty legs never leave their own time zone.”
✓ Reality: 32.0% of distinct US domestic empty leg listings with departures from November 1, 2025 through October 31, 2026 flew between airports on different local clock times, and 25.4% changed the clock by 1 hour.
✗ Myth: “Empty legs only make short hops inside one time zone.”
✓ Reality: Legs that changed the clock by 3 hours or more made up 2.0% of distinct US domestic listings in the same window, and legs that changed it by 2 hours 4.6%.
✗ 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 October 2026: ranks the busiest corridors every month, the route view this post leaves out.
- how long empty leg flights are: breaks listings down by listed flight time, the duration view of the same supply.
- empty leg departure times and what Time TBD means: explains how operators set and adjust the departure time of a listed leg.
- private jet routes and destinations: lists the route pages for city pairs with empty legs.
- the live empty leg board: lists current departures, each one the whole aircraft at one listed price.
Frequently asked questions
Do empty leg flights cross time zones in the US?
Many do: 32.0% of distinct empty leg listings between two airports in the 50 states and Washington DC from November 1, 2025 through October 31, 2026 flew between airports on different local clock times. 68.0% stayed on the same clock time.
How many hours does the clock change on an empty leg?
On 25.4% of distinct US domestic empty leg listings the clock changed by 1 hour. 4.6% changed it by 2 hours and 2.0% by 3 hours or more.
Does a flight between Arizona and California change the clock?
In summer it does not: most of Arizona stays on standard time all year, so its clock matches California during daylight saving time. In winter the two clocks differ by 1 hour, and each leg here is measured at its own departure time.
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 1, 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 0.3 percentage points and no ranking changed.
Where can I see which routes carry the most empty legs?
The Empty Leg Index for October 2026 ranks corridors every month and names the busiest routes. This post is a time-zone analysis, not a route ranking.
Do empty leg flights cross time zones? Of distinct empty leg listings between two airports in the 50 states and Washington DC from November 1, 2025 through October 31, 2026, 32.0% flew between airports on different local clock times and 68.0% stayed on the same clock. 25.4% changed the clock by 1 hour. 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.
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