Netflix jet activity spikes days before Warner Bros. acquisition offer

Global business jet activity climbed in early December with a sharp uptick in flights linked to Netflix. This drew particular attention as the company prepared its bid to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery. Worldwide, business jets recorded 76,800 departures between Dec. 1-7, a 3% increase from the same week last year, according to new data from WINGX. Over the past four weeks, global activity rose 5% year-over-year, matching the year-to-date growth trend. But Netflix stood out. The company made an offer to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery on Dec. 5, and in the days leading up to that announcement, flight operations from Netflix's corporate fleet increased substantially. Since January, Netflix has averaged four flights per day across its owned Gulfstream G550, King Air 350, Embraer Praetor 600, and Dassault Falcon 2000 aircraft. The G550 accounted for 44% of those flights. (Image from WINGX/Map of Netflix corporate aircraft activity YTD (1 Jan - 7 Dec))Between Dec. 1-4, Netflix ramped up to six flights per day, hitting eight on Dec. 2. The most frequent route during the surge connected Burbank and San Jose, the company's headquarters. The elevated activity comes as corporate jet movements among major technology companies have slowed overall, particularly in California, according to WINGX data. San Jose International Airport (SJC) saw a 7% decline in business jet departures in Week 49 compared to last year. Business aviation in North America grew 2% year-over-year in Week 49, led by Texas with a 6% increase. Florida followed with 3% growth, while California declined by 2%. On a rolling four-week basis, Texas and Florida were each 7% ahead of last year. Europe was flat compared to 2024, with Switzerland up 7% and the U.K. up 2%. France and Germany posted declines of 6% and 5%. Activity outside of North America and Europe continued to accelerate. Business jet departures rose 23% in Africa and 21% in South America. The busy São Paulo-Rio de Janeiro corridor saw 125 flights, a 39% increase from last year. The past two months for business aircraft flights have been among the best since late 2021. Last month, North America had an increase of 8% in activity compared to 2024, according to ARGUS, which was the largest non-COVID gain since January 2015.?RELATED STORY: ARGUS, WINGX release aircraft activity reports for November "Two months after setting a record for the largest, non-COVID, monthly gain, we went out and set a new record in November," Travis Kuhn, vice president of software for ARGUS told GlobalAir.com earlier this month. "If there is a bigger story, it is the continued improvement in the Part 91 market and the positive numbers in the Large cabin Part 135 market. Those have been shaky over the last the years so it's good to finally see the numbers in positive territory."? All segments saw gains last month in ARGUS reporting, and the charter sector has remained highly active. Recently, Baker Aviation acquired 20 Bombardier Challenger 300s from Flexjet to expand its super-midsize fleet. The company has more than doubled its total flights this year and plans to have five Challenger 300s operating by Dec. 15 to meet holiday demand. Flexjet continues to modernize its fleet with new Praetor 600s and Challenger 3500s.