Ohio’s business aviation market is built on a foundation few other states can match: a genuine cluster of Fortune 500 corporate flight departments. Procter & Gamble and Kroger in Cincinnati, Cardinal Health and Nationwide in Columbus, Goodyear in Akron, Sherwin-Williams and Progressive in the Cleveland area, Marathon Petroleum in Findlay — and, in Columbus, the corporate headquarters of NetJets, the world’s largest fractional ownership operator. Based on the current in-state fleet, 577 turboprops and business jets call Ohio home, spread across 63 airports from Toledo to the Ohio River.

Here’s a look at the Ohio business aviation market by the numbers, part of a series breaking down what’s actually flying in each state.

A YOUNGER FLEET, OWNED MORE THAN IT’S SHARED

Ohio’s fleet has an average manufacture year of 2007, with a median of 2008 — a few years newer than what shows up in some neighboring Southeast markets. About 35 percent of the fleet (200 aircraft) was built in 2015 or later, while roughly 14 percent (82 aircraft) dates back before 1990.

Ownership skews heavily direct, even with NetJets headquartered in the state:

• Wholly owned: 523 aircraft (91 percent)
• Shared ownership: 40 aircraft (7 percent)
• Fractional program: 14 aircraft (2 percent)

That’s a striking split. NetJets may run its business out of Columbus, but its program aircraft are scattered across the country to meet demand wherever it arises — very few of them are actually based in-state. Ohio’s fleet, in other words, is overwhelmingly corporate- and owner-flown rather than fractional, a pattern that lines up with the concentration of headquarters-based flight departments around the state.

WHERE THE FLEET LIVES

Ohio’s aircraft are based across 63 airports statewide, with the fleet concentrated around four metro areas:

• Lunken Field Airport (Cincinnati): 73 aircraft
• John Glenn Columbus International Airport: 51 aircraft
• Akron Canton Regional Airport: 45 aircraft
• Cleveland Hopkins International Airport: 39 aircraft
• Cuyahoga County Airport: 27 aircraft
• Ohio State University Airport: 25 aircraft
• Dayton International Airport: 18 aircraft
• Toledo Express Airport: 14 aircraft
• Lake County Executive Airport: 12 aircraft
• Dayton Wright Brothers Airport: 12 aircraft

Lunken Field, Columbus International, and Akron Canton together account for about 29 percent of the entire statewide fleet. Lunken’s lead is no accident: it’s the reliever airport of choice for Cincinnati’s headquarters crowd, with flight departments for Procter & Gamble, Kroger, Fifth Third Bank, Cintas, and American Financial Group all basing aircraft there rather than at the larger Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International.

Columbus tells its own story once you add up the metro area’s airports — John Glenn Columbus International, Ohio State University Airport, Rickenbacker International, and Bolton Field combine for around 90 aircraft, split across four fields rather than concentrated at one. That’s central Ohio’s corporate base (Cardinal Health, Nationwide, and others), plus the maintenance, delivery, and support activity that naturally clusters around a headquarters city for an operator the size of NetJets.

WHAT OHIO FLIES

Citation remains the single most common manufacturer in Ohio, but the gap to the rest of the field is much tighter than in states with a lighter corporate footprint. By manufacturer: Citation (134 aircraft), Challenger (65), Gulfstream (59), King Air (43), Learjet (40), Embraer (39), Falcon (32), Socata/TBM (26), Caravan (20), Pilatus (18), Cirrus (17), and Piper (17).

By specific model:

• Challenger 350: 23
• Challenger 300: 21
• Gulfstream G450: 15
• Citation II: 13
• Citation CJ3: 12
• Caravan 208B: 11
• Embraer Phenom 300: 11
• King Air B200: 11
• Learjet 35A: 10
• Pilatus PC-12 NG: 10

The model mix leans noticeably toward the super-mid and large-cabin end of the market — Challenger 350s and 300s alone outnumber every other single model in the state, and Gulfstream’s G450 rounds out the top three. That’s the signature of a market where large, established companies fly their own mid-size and long-range jets for executive travel, rather than a market dominated by light jets and personal aircraft. Citation still holds the top manufacturer spot, but it’s the older, mixed-generation Citation II and CJ3 fleet doing the work rather than one dominant current-production model.

WHAT’S ON THE MARKET RIGHT NOW

Of the 577 aircraft based in Ohio, 20 are currently listed for sale, or about 3 percent of the total fleet — notably tighter than the for-sale share you’ll find in some other states, consistent with a market anchored by flight departments that tend to hold aircraft longer. The for-sale list is led by the state’s most common manufacturer:

• Citation II: 2 for sale
• Cirrus Vision SF50 G2+: 2 for sale
• Citation Bravo, Citation CJ3, Citation II/SP, Citation Ultra: 1 each

The remainder is spread one-off across the fleet, from a Gulfstream G200 and a Falcon 900C down to a Learjet 35A — turnover touching nearly every segment rather than clustering in one corner of the market.

THE OPERATORS BEHIND THE FLEET

Ohio’s charter and management landscape has one operator with real scale, then a long, fragmented tail:

• Flexjet, LLC: 38 aircraft
• Sky Quest, LLC: 17 aircraft
• JetSelect, LLC: 7 aircraft
• Newman Aviation Services, Inc.: 7 aircraft
• Woodbine Aviation, LLC: 7 aircraft
• Griffing Flying Service, Inc.: 6 aircraft
• Midwest Jet Management, LLC: 5 aircraft
• NetJets: 5 aircraft
• Kalitta Charters, LLC: 5 aircraft

Flexjet and Sky Quest combined account for about 10 percent of the statewide fleet — more concentrated at the top than markets where the largest operator barely clears low single digits, but still a long way from dominant. NetJets’ own footprint in its home state is modest by comparison: just 5 aircraft carry the name directly, a reminder that a company’s headquarters location doesn’t necessarily reflect where its fleet actually lives day to day.

FLEET ACTIVITY

Among the aircraft with recorded flight-hour data, the average airframe in Ohio’s fleet has logged just under 4,710 total flight hours, with a median of about 3,450. Combined with a median manufacture year of 2008, that points to a fleet that’s meaningfully younger and, on average, somewhat less heavily flown than what shows up in more mature Southeast markets — consistent with a base of corporate flight departments that fly on a scheduled, lower-utilization cadence rather than round-the-clock charter or cargo work.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Ohio’s business aviation market is a genuinely multi-hub state, and the story underneath the numbers is corporate depth rather than any single dominant segment. Cincinnati’s Fortune 500 flight departments anchor Lunken Field as the state’s busiest general aviation airport; Columbus splits its fleet across four airports while hosting NetJets’ corporate headquarters; Akron Canton reflects Goodyear’s presence; and Cleveland and Dayton round out a fleet that skews toward mid-size and large-cabin jets more than most states its size. Ownership is overwhelmingly direct, the for-sale inventory is tight relative to the size of the fleet, and no single charter or management operator controls more than about 7 percent of the market. For owners and buyers trying to understand where they fit into this market, or brokers trying to figure out where the next deal is likely to come from, the fleet data is clear: Ohio’s business aviation activity follows its corporate headquarters map, city by city.

Contact Holstein Aviation to talk through where your aircraft fits into the Ohio market, whether you’re buying, selling, or reevaluating how it’s managed.