Is there an Uber for private jets?

There is no app that turns private jets into a ride-hail network. Apps that book private flights do exist. What the screen does not show is the legal role of the company behind it, and that role decides who flies the aircraft, what you must be told and how a refund works.

There are three roles: the operator, which holds the FAA certificate and flies; the broker, which sells or arranges a flight on an operator’s aircraft; and the public charter operator, which sells individual seats. An app can be any of them. Lombardi Jet Services is a broker that works by phone and email, so the rules below apply to us in the same way.

The short version

• An app selling someone else’s aircraft is a broker. The definition in 14 CFR 295.5 turns on what a company does, not on how you reach it.
• The operator keeps operational control. The certificate holder decides whether and how the flight goes, whoever sold it.
• Disclosures can arrive on a screen, but they must arrive. 14 CFR 295.24(a) allows them “through electronic transmissions”.
• A single seat is a different product. It is sold as a public charter under 14 CFR Part 380, with its own refund rules.
• The refund rule follows the role. Brokers fall under 295.26, public charters under 380.32, and operators selling direct under their own agreement.

Is a private jet booking app legally a broker?

Yes, when it sells or arranges a charter on an aircraft it does not operate. 14 CFR 295.5(b) defines an air charter broker as:

a person or entity that, as an indirect air carrier, foreign indirect air carrier, or a bona fide agent, holds out, sells, or arranges single entity charter air transportation using a direct air carrier.

Two things about that sentence are worth stopping on. “Holds out, sells, or arranges” covers listing a flight, taking payment for it and booking it, whichever the app does. And nothing in the definition depends on the channel. The rule text does not mention apps by name; reading it to cover them is this office’s reading, and the rule points the same way elsewhere. 295.23(a) applies to “All solicitation materials and advertisements, including internet web pages”, and 295.24(a) says the six disclosures “may be accomplished through electronic transmissions”.

The apps themselves say so. XO’s charter terms page states: “XO Global LLC, an air charter broker, is not a direct air carrier and does not own or operate any aircraft.” Vaunt’s terms, last updated July 16, 2026, state: “Vaunt is an air charter broker acting as an agent for Operators”. Both were read on November 5, 2026.

A company can hold more than one role. The same XO page states that “XO Assets LLC and its sister companies beneficially own or lease XO’s dedicated fleet”, and that “All flights will be operated by properly licensed U.S. or foreign air carriers.” An operator can also sell its own aircraft through its own app, and then it is the operator, not a broker.

Who is in operational control when you book on an app?

The certificate holder that operates the aircraft. 14 CFR 1.1 defines operational control as “the exercise of authority over initiating, conducting or terminating a flight.” Under 14 CFR 119.5, no one may operate as a direct air carrier without an FAA certificate and operations specifications (paragraph (g)) and DOT economic authority (paragraph (i)), and no one may “advertise or otherwise offer to perform an operation” without FAA authorization (paragraph (k)).

A broker, app or otherwise, may arrange flights only with carriers holding both kinds of authority (295.20), and its advertising must say that it is “not a direct air carrier or a direct foreign air carrier in operational control of aircraft” (295.23(a)). The name to check is therefore the operator’s, not the app’s. Part 91 vs Part 135 shows how to find an operator and its aircraft on the FAA’s list.

What must an app tell you before you pay?

The same six things any broker must, under 14 CFR 295.24(a). Always, before you contract:

1. The operator’s corporate name, and any other names it uses.
2. The capacity the app is acting in: as a principal, as your agent, or as the operator’s agent.
3. Whether it holds liability insurance covering you, your passengers and your property, and its limits.

On request, before you contract:

4. Any business relationship with the operator that may affect the choice, if it is acting as your agent.
5. The total cost, including broker and carrier fees and government taxes.
6. Third-party fees you will pay directly, such as fuel, landing or parking, or a good faith estimate.

If any of that changes, 295.24(b) requires the app to tell you within a reasonable time; if it does not, 295.24(c) gives you the right to cancel for a full refund. An operator selling its own flights owes the parallel disclosures in 14 CFR 298.80.

Two of the unfair practices listed in 295.50(b) bear directly on instant booking: misrepresenting “the type of aircraft” (b)(2), and representing that a flight “has been arranged without a binding commitment” from the carrier (b)(8). A price on a screen is not a confirmed flight until the operator has committed to it.

How is a per-seat booking different?

You are buying one seat on a public charter, a different product under different rules. 14 CFR 380.2 defines a public charter as “a one-way or round-trip charter flight to be performed by one or more direct air carriers that is arranged and sponsored by a charter operator.” An ordinary charter is a single entity charter, “a charter for the entire capacity of the aircraft” (295.5(h)).

One example is JSX. Its Club JSX page states that its flights “are public charters sold by JetSuiteX, Inc. as the charter operator and Delux Public Charter, LLC as the direct air carrier”, “subject to DOT Public Charter Regulations at 14 C.F.R. Part 380”, and that Delux “holds an FAA Air Carrier Certificate”.

Part 380 gives a seat buyer protections an on-demand charter does not have:

• Your money is secured. The charter operator must furnish a security agreement or route payments through a depository account at an FDIC-insured bank (380.34).
• Late cancellation is restricted. The operator may not cancel less than 10 days before departure except for circumstances that make the trip physically impossible (380.12).
• Refunds have a deadline. If the charter is cancelled, the refund is due within 14 days (380.32(k)).
• You can hand on your seat. A substitute participant earns you a full refund, less an administrative fee of no more than $25 (380.15).

The FAA has said it may change how these flights are regulated. On June 17, 2024 it announced a rulemaking to amend the Part 110 definitions so that public charters “will be subject to operating rules based on the same safety parameters as other non-public charter operations.” A search of the Federal Register on November 5, 2026 found no proposed rule. Can you buy a single seat on a private jet? covers sharing a whole aircraft among friends.

Does booking through an app change your refund rights?

Not if the app is the broker. 14 CFR 295.26 requires a broker to make “prompt refunds of all monies paid for charter air transportation when such transportation cannot be performed”, within 20 days of a complete request for cash and check purchases and under the card rules for card purchases. The channel does not change the duty.

If the app belongs to the operator and sells its own aircraft, Part 298 applies instead, and it has no 20-day refund rule; the agreement decides. If the app sells public charter seats, the 14-day rule above applies. Private jet cancellation and deposits explains cancellation schedules and card disputes.

What Jake does

Lombardi Jet Services is a broker, so every rule on this page applies to it. Jake uses operators rated ARGUS Gold or Platinum, confirmed before quoting, names the operator and the aircraft in the quote, and deals with the certificate holder.

Whichever way you book, the questions are the same: who operates the aircraft, which aircraft, what is the total, and what happens if it cannot fly. To put them to a trip, call +1 (862) 485-3510 or request a quote.