If you’ve never booked an emergency AOG charter before, the first quote can feel like sticker shock. A King Air flying a few hundred miles runs several thousand dollars. A jet on a transcon can hit the tens of thousands. These numbers feel enormous compared to a next-day FedEx invoice — but they reflect something FedEx can’t sell you: a dedicated aircraft on the ramp in 2 hours, a hazmat-certified operator awake at 2am, and the difference between an airframe flying revenue tomorrow or sitting grounded another day.
This AOG charter pricing guide is built from millions of dollars in charter flights and the hundreds of AOG missions OnFly Air performs each year for regional airlines, cargo carriers, MRO facilities, and aviation parts distributors. We’ve broken the numbers down three ways — per hour, per mile, and by distance — so you can size your mission before you pick up the phone.
AOG charter cost: per hour vs. per mile
The fastest way to ballpark a charter is by aircraft class. Here’s what a rough hour in the air actually costs across the three categories you’ll see most often on an AOG dispatch, plus what that translates to per mile once you factor in typical block speeds.
| Aircraft class | Cost per hour | Cost per mile | Block speed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Short-haul piston twin C310, Baron, Aerostar, C340 |
~$2,850/hr | ~$15/mi | ~190 mph |
| Light turboprop King Air 90/200, Cheyenne, TBM |
~$5,720/hr | ~$22/mi | ~260 mph |
| Jet Citation, Falcon, Learjet — min ~$12K |
~$11,440/hr | ~$26/mi | ~440 mph |
These rates include the operator fee, fuel, crew, Federal Excise Tax, and our brokerage margin. They assume CONUS flights, a standard 2–4 hour wheels-up window, no hazmat, and typical positioning. Adjust upward for weekend positioning, sub-2-hour wheels-up demands, hazmat paperwork, or international operations.
Most AOG missions are short-haul piston or light turboprop. Jets only come into play when you need speed over ~800 miles or when hazmat/dimensions rule out smaller aircraft.
How far does an hour of charter flight actually get you?
If you’ve never dispatched a charter before, the distance-to-time math isn’t obvious. A 400-mile leg sounds short, but it’s a 2-hour flight in a piston twin and a ~54-minute flight in a light jet. Since aircraft class determines block speed, and block speed determines how much your time actually costs, here’s a feel for real distances anchored in routes we’ve actually flown for our airline and MRO customers.
| Flight time | Piston twin (~190 mph) | Turboprop (~260 mph) | Jet (~440 mph) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 hour | ~190 mi Greenville SC → Birmingham AL |
~260 mi Greenville SC → Huntsville AL |
~440 mi Dayton → Atlanta |
| 2 hours | ~380 mi Akron → White Plains NY |
~520 mi Cincinnati → Kansas City |
~880 mi Charlotte → Dallas |
| 3 hours | ~570 mi Akron → Manchester NH |
~780 mi Greenville SC → Dallas |
~1,320 mi Charlotte → Phoenix |
| 5 hours | ~950 mi Impractical — usually split |
~1,300 mi Dayton → Denver |
~2,200 mi Seattle → Atlanta (transcon) |
That Seattle-to-Atlanta transcon at the bottom? That’s one of our actual flown missions — 2,178 miles, Falcon jet, ~5 hours block time. On a light turboprop the same trip would take 8+ hours; on a piston twin it’s impractical. That’s why long-haul AOG almost always means jet.
AOG charter pricing by distance (from 350+ real flown trips)
The table below shows actual invoice ranges from AOG missions flown over the past 24 months. The “typical range” represents the 25th to 75th percentile of what customers actually paid — meaning half of our trips at each distance came in inside this band. The median is what the middle trip cost, the most honest single number to plan around.
| Distance (flight time) | Typical range | Median | Aircraft you’ll see |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 200 mi (~1 hr) | $5,500 – $8,500 | $7,100 | Piston twin, King Air |
| 200 – 400 mi (~1–2 hrs) | $6,000 – $10,000 | $6,500 | C310, Baron, King Air 90 |
| 400 – 600 mi (~2–3 hrs) | $7,000 – $13,000 | $8,500 | C310, Baron, King Air 90, C340 |
| 600 – 800 mi (~3–4 hrs) | $8,500 – $17,000 | $9,500 | C310, King Air 90, Aerostar |
| 800 – 1,000 mi (~4 hrs) | $11,000 – $16,500 | $13,000 | C310, King Air 90, Baron |
| 1,000 – 1,500 mi (~3–4 hrs jet, 5+ piston) | $11,500 – $26,000 | $16,250 | King Air, light jet |
| Transcon 1,500+ mi (~5 hrs jet) | $40,000 – $65,000+ | $48,000 | Citation, Falcon |
Two things to notice in the spread between the low end and high end of each bucket. First, aircraft selection drives a lot of it — a King Air 200 will quote 30–50% higher than a Cessna 310 on the same route because it carries more and goes faster. Second, positioning distance matters: if an aircraft is already at your pickup airport, you pay close to the low end; if the operator has to ferry the plane in from two states away to make the pickup, you pay closer to the high end.
Six things that push AOG charter costs higher
A charter quote is not a flat rate card. Dispatchers quote based on what the specific mission requires, and there are predictable factors that move the number up.
1. Hazmat shipments
Batteries (lithium especially), pyrotechnic devices like slide inflators and oxygen generators, flammable fluids, compressed gases. These require an operator with hazmat authorization on their Part 135 Operations Specifications, plus shipper-of-record paperwork and sometimes special packaging. Plan on a 10–25% premium over a comparable non-hazmat mission, and expect a slightly longer wheels-up time while the paperwork is prepared.
2. Weekend, holiday, or overnight positioning
Charter operators base aircraft somewhere specific. If the nearest hazmat-capable Caravan is in Memphis and your part is in Boston, we pay for the plane to fly empty from Memphis to Boston before it picks up your freight. That positioning leg — called a ferry flight — costs real money and shows up in your quote. Weekends and holidays often mean fewer aircraft are pre-positioned for work, widening the ferry distance.
3. Remote airports or short runways
Not every aircraft can land everywhere. A Cessna 310 needs about 2,000 feet of runway; a Citation CJ needs 3,200; a Falcon needs 5,000+. If your destination is a small field or a runway under 4,000 feet, your aircraft options narrow and your price may go up because of it. Sometimes the closest feasible airport is 30 miles from where you actually want the part, and you’ll need a ground leg on the other end.
4. Oversize cargo
Most piston twins max out around 900 lbs of cargo. A Baron can fit a landing gear assembly through its cabin door, but not a wheel-and-brake set-up. Anything over ~1,000 lbs or unusually dimensioned (engine modules, APUs, elevator surfaces) starts ruling out piston aircraft and bumps you into turboprop or jet territory — a different price tier.
5. Sub-2-hour wheels up
When you need the plane airborne in under two hours, the pool of available aircraft shrinks. Crews need duty-day margin, planes need to be positioned, and any conflict against another scheduled flight has to be resolved. Expect a premium on very short wheels-up demands, and be prepared for us to steer you to the plane that can actually make the window rather than the cheapest option on paper.
6. International or customs-involved
International AOG — Canada, Caribbean, Mexico, farther afield — is a different game. You’re dealing with overflight and landing permits, customs clearance on both ends, crew passport and visa requirements, and often CBP overtime if it’s outside business hours. We quote these individually because a “400-mile trip” from Miami to Nassau and a 400-mile trip from Miami to Jacksonville are in entirely different cost structures.
Four real AOG charter missions from our book
These are rounded to the nearest $100 but are representative of what each customer paid.
Regional airline AOG — Greenville SC to Birmingham AL
~210 miles, ~1 hour block, King Air 90, 100 lbs of cargo (APU battery), wheels up in 90 minutes. Customer paid approximately $6,800. This is the most common mission shape in our book — a regional carrier down at a small southeastern station needing a part yesterday.
Windshield replacement — Dayton OH to Dallas TX
~860 miles, ~3.3 hours block, King Air 90, 2 mechanics plus a windshield as cargo. Customer paid approximately $13,000. A pax-plus-cargo mission like this is where the King Air shines — enough cabin to fit the humans and the hardware, pressurization for comfort on a 3-hour-plus flight.
Hazmat cargo — Norfolk VA to Little Rock AR
~850 miles, ~4.1 hours block, Caravan with Dangerous Goods authorization. Customer paid approximately $15,750. Note the ~20% premium over the comparable non-hazmat mission at similar distance — that’s the hazmat capability and paperwork surcharge in action.
Transcon engine module — Seattle WA to Atlanta GA
~2,200 miles, ~5 hours block, Falcon jet, 800-lb engine module. Customer paid approximately $48,000. Transcon AOG missions are rare but real — when a mainline carrier’s engine swap shop has the right module in Seattle and the grounded aircraft is in Atlanta, a jet is the only way to make same-day delivery feasible.
When does AOG charter make financial sense?
The honest answer: most of the time, it doesn’t. FedEx Priority Overnight is cheaper, handles 90% of AOG parts well under 150 lbs, and gets there by 10:30am. The math on charter only works when:
- The cost of the aircraft being grounded one more day exceeds the charter price. For a Part 121 airline, this is often true — a grounded plane costs tens of thousands per day in lost revenue, crew rebooking, and passenger rebooking.
- The shipment is hazmat or oversize and FedEx/UPS won’t touch it same-day.
- The FedEx/UPS cutoff window has already passed and the part needs to arrive before their next delivery.
- You need a mechanic, a part, or both delivered to the exact airfield where the broken airplane is sitting — not an FBO 45 minutes away.
When those conditions hit, charter isn’t expensive — it’s cheap compared to the alternative of a grounded airframe burning revenue.
How to get a real AOG charter quote
The numbers above are typical ranges, but your actual quote depends on the specific mission: exact pickup and drop-off airports, weight, dimensions, hazmat status, needed-by time, and what aircraft are available in your region when you call. The fastest path to a firm number is to call our 24/7 dispatch line at (858) 529-7860 or submit details on our Request AOG Charter page. We typically quote back within 10 minutes.
If the mission doesn’t make sense for charter, we’ll tell you. The whole point of knowing the numbers before you call is that you can make the call confidently — not stuck wondering whether you’re about to waste a dispatcher’s time at 2am. You’re not. Emergencies are what we do.
Related: Visit our AOG & Logistics page to learn more about our 24/7 dispatch capabilities, or head to the Request AOG Charter page for the full pricing reference and to submit mission details. Dispatch is available 24/7 at (858) 529-7860.