flyExclusive Posts Second Straight Profit Quarter as Margins Expand
The charter operator's adjusted EBITDA reached $200,000 in Q1, marking its first consecutive profitable quarters ever.
flyExclusive (FLYX), the private aviation charter operator, reported first-quarter 2026 revenue of $96 million, a 9% increase from a year earlier, as the company posted its second consecutive quarter of positive adjusted EBITDA. The result marked a milestone for a business that had never recorded back-to-back profitable quarters, though the pace of top-line growth slowed from 15% in the fourth quarter and 20% in the third quarter of 2025.
The deceleration was broad-based across the company's revenue streams. Flight revenue, the largest segment, rose 9% year over year, down from 13% growth in the prior quarter. Fractional revenue grew just 5%, a sharp pullback from 21% in the fourth quarter and 84% in the third quarter. Maintenance, repair and overhaul revenue — a key growth engine through much of 2025 — climbed 14%, well below the 48% and 103% gains recorded in the two preceding quarters.
Profitability, however, continued to improve. Gross margin reached 20%, up nearly 700 basis points year over year, extending a margin expansion trend that began in mid-2025. Adjusted EBITDA came in at $0.2 million, following $6.6 million in the fourth quarter, and the company's adjusted EBITDA margin widened 740 basis points from a year earlier. The gains came even as flyExclusive reduced its fleet by 7%, a rationalization strategy that has seen 31 non-performing aircraft eliminated cumulatively, including three disposed of in the first quarter.
With fewer aircraft in the air, the company squeezed more from each one. Flight hours rose 7% and core fleet utilization climbed 15%, continuing a pattern from the fourth quarter when a 14% fleet reduction coincided with a 23% jump in utilization. Dispatch availability improved 760 basis points year over year, the strongest gain in at least three quarters, while operating losses on non-performing aircraft fell to less than $300,000 a month, down from more than $500,000 a month in the third quarter.
Retail demand showed signs of cooling. Jet Club sales grew just 1% year over year, compared with 8% in the fourth quarter and 51% in the third. Retail member growth also slowed to 1%. Fractional retail sales offered a bright spot, rising 27%, though that compared with 91% growth two quarters earlier. Contractually committed demand hours expanded 22% versus the year-ago period, decelerating from 30% growth in the third quarter.
The company completed its acquisition of Jet.AI's aviation assets during the quarter, adding two HondaJet aircraft, one Citation CJ4, three future Citation CJ3 delivery positions scheduled for 2027, roughly $6.1 million in SPCX marketable securities, approximately $5.3 million in cash, and Jet Card members. The deal marked flyExclusive's first major strategic transaction in recent quarters and broadened its fleet mix and customer base.
Operational efficiency gains continued to filter through the cost structure. Revenue per SG&A headcount improved 9% and flight hours per SG&A headcount rose 7%, building on double-digit efficiency gains in the fourth quarter. The company expanded its Mobile Service Unit truck fleet to 13 deployed units, up from 10 in the fourth quarter, with plans to grow to more than 30 trucks. Long-term notes payable were reduced by an additional $10 million in the first quarter, bringing cumulative debt reduction to roughly $94 million since the start of 2025.
flyExclusive's ranking among U.S. private aviation operators improved to third largest by Argus, up from fifth in the prior two quarters. The company did not provide specific financial guidance for the remainder of 2026.