Thanksgiving 2026 by Private Jet: The Two Days That Fill First, and the Palm Beach Question

Thanksgiving falls on Thursday, November 26 this year. Ask most travelers which day of the week is the worst to fly and they will say the Wednesday before. For the airlines that is close to true. For business aviation, the data says something else. Argus counted 12,971 business aircraft flights in North America on Sunday, November 30, 2025, the Sunday after Thanksgiving: the busiest day of the entire year. The second busiest, at 12,965 flights, was Friday, November 21, the Friday before the holiday. Thanksgiving Day itself was the quietest day of 2025, with 4,046.

That pattern is the first thing we plan around, and it is why this guide comes five weeks early. Most of what decides a Thanksgiving trip on a large-cabin jet is settled in October: which days the family flies, where the aircraft lands, how many pilots it carries, and which permits are already in hand.

The two days that fill first

For 2026 the pinch days are Friday, November 20 and Sunday, November 29. Thanksgiving week traffic in the United States has grown by about 3 percent a year, according to WingX, and November 2025 showed the largest year-over-year increase Argus had recorded outside the post-pandemic rebound. The fleets are fuller in general, too: the average jet card now carries about 45 peak days a year, roughly double the 2019 figure, and NetJets restricted new card and lease sales this summer for the second time in five years. When programs tighten, the overflow comes to charter, and it comes on the same days.

Shifting by a day changes the trip. A family that leaves on Saturday the 21st or Monday the 23rd, and comes home on Monday the 30th, usually flies into quieter ramps and shorter queues than on the two peak days. A family that must fly on the Friday or the Sunday should hold a confirmed aircraft and crew now, with the exact type agreed, rather than wait for November to see what is left. On those two days the choice of large-cabin jets narrows quickly.

Palm Beach: plan as if the President is in residence

Palm Beach is our own backyard, and it is the destination most likely to surprise a family this year. The airport itself has a new name: Palm Beach International became President Donald J. Trump International in July, and its codes changed to DJT and KDJT. More important is who spends the holiday nearby. The President was at Mar-a-Lago for Thanksgiving 2025 and opened his 2026 season there on October 16. His Thanksgiving plans are not public, and the restrictions are announced only days ahead, so we plan as if he will be there.

Based on the rules applied in 2025, when he is in residence the FAA raises two rings of temporary flight restrictions: an inner ring of 10 nautical miles and an outer ring of 30. Inside the inner ring, which takes in both Palm Beach and Lantana, scheduled airlines and cargo carriers operate normally. Private aircraft, charter included, arrive only through a gateway airport where passengers and crew are screened by the TSA: Teterboro, Westchester, Washington Dulles, Orlando or Fort Lauderdale. The flight is registered at least 24 hours ahead, and screening runs from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Departures from Palm Beach are screened at the airport’s FBOs within the same hours, and Lantana closes to private aircraft altogether. The effect shows in the airport’s own figures: 630 operations on an ordinary day in March 2025, 338 on a day with the President in residence.

In practice, a family flying down from New York is well placed: Teterboro and Westchester are gateways, so the screening happens at departure. A family coming from Aspen, Vail or the West Coast adds a stop at Orlando or Fort Lauderdale, and that stop counts against the crew’s duty day. Boca Raton sits in the outer ring, where aircraft fly on a flight plan in contact with air traffic control, and is the natural alternate, though it is busy that week. A family returning from the Bahamas should plan to clear customs at Fort Lauderdale Executive or Opa-locka and finish the trip by car, rather than count on Palm Beach, where customs closed for the duration of presidential stays in the first term. Expect the runway to close for a period each time the President arrives or leaves, too.

Teterboro and the largest jets

Teterboro is the private gateway to Manhattan, and it has a hard weight limit that shapes which aircraft a large family can use: no aircraft may operate there above 100,000 pounds. The largest business jets are certified heavier than that. A Gulfstream G700 has a maximum takeoff weight of 107,600 pounds, and a Global 7500 114,850. They can use Teterboro, but they must stay under the limit on each operation, which means less fuel. For Palm Beach, London or Cabo that changes nothing. For a nonstop to the Gulf or to Asia, it can mean a fuel stop, or departing from another New York-area airport. A Boeing Business Jet or an ACJ320neo cannot use Teterboro at all, and a large group belongs at another airport from the start.

The airspace around the field is under strain as well. New York’s approach control, which still handles Westchester and the airline hubs, is staffed at 57 percent of its target, and the FAA does not expect 70 percent before the end of 2027. Teterboro’s arrivals have been handled from Philadelphia since 2024. One of the main FBOs at Teterboro introduced a reservation for every arrival in February 2025, and we confirm ramp space with the FBO for every Thanksgiving arrival. In late November, a winter storm is the other variable: on the Sunday after Thanksgiving 2025, snow near Lake Michigan alone produced hundreds of cancellations at Chicago O’Hare, and de-icing queues at a crowded airport delay arrivals as well as departures.

The crew clock on a holiday Sunday

The constraint nobody sees on the itinerary is the crew’s duty day. Under the FAA’s Part 135 rules, a two-pilot charter crew may fly up to 10 hours within a duty period of no more than 14, and then needs at least 10 hours of rest. If weather or delays push the crew over its limits, the next rest grows to as much as 16 hours. A return on the Sunday after Thanksgiving, with a ground delay, a de-icing queue and perhaps a gateway stop, is exactly the day that can run a crew out of time halfway home.

The answer is decided at booking. For a long leg or a tight same-day return, we ask for an augmented crew: three pilots allow a duty day of up to 18 hours, four pilots up to 20, provided the aircraft has a proper rest area. And we write a Monday fallback into the plan before anyone needs it, so the family is not negotiating a hotel at the FBO on Sunday night.

The mountains, and further abroad

Thanksgiving week is also opening week in the mountains. Vail is scheduled to open on November 13, Beaver Creek on the 25th, Aspen Mountain and Snowmass on Thanksgiving Day, and Jackson Hole on Friday the 27th. Mountain ramps are generally first come, first served, and when they fill, air traffic control can hold flights bound for them. Jackson Hole requires prior permission for overnight parking and asks private aircraft not to operate between 9:30 p.m. and 7 a.m. Eagle County, for Vail, publishes longer winter hours only from December, so a late arrival in November deserves a check. Our Aspen holiday guide covers Aspen’s own rules.

Abroad, three things are best started now:

• Cabo. Mexico no longer issues single-trip landing permits for charter. The operator needs a standing permit, and a new one can take up to 90 business days, so only operators that already hold one are realistic for Los Cabos this Thanksgiving. Overnight parking at the busiest Mexican airports is limited from late November.
• London. Since February 25, 2026, the UK has strictly enforced its Electronic Travel Authorisation: an American passenger without a British or Irish passport or a UK visa cannot board without one, and the operator checks it before departure. The crew’s status is handled by the operator; the family’s applications are not.
• The Bahamas. A charter landing permit for Nassau takes four business days, and the customs office for private aircraft closes earlier at weekends.

One worry can be set aside: the federal government is funded through December 11, so no shutdown can touch Thanksgiving week. The next deadline falls on December 12, which matters for Christmas trips, not this one.

What we tell our own clients

• Leave on Saturday the 21st or Monday the 23rd and return on Monday the 30th if the family can. If it cannot, confirm the Friday and the Sunday now.
• For Palm Beach, depart from a gateway, land between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., and keep Boca Raton as the alternate.
• For a nonstop to the Gulf or Asia on the largest jets, ask whether Teterboro’s weight limit means a stop, or another departure airport.
• Book three pilots for any long leg, and keep Monday as the fallback for Sunday.
• Start the UK authorizations and the Mexican and Bahamian permits this month.

Trans World Jets arranges trips like these for the executive assistants and family offices who plan them, from a single heavy jet to Palm Beach to a whole family on a VIP airliner. If the holidays continue to the islands, our St. Barths guide covers Christmas and New Year. Write to sales@transworldjets.com or send the dates through our quote form.