Companies large and small have turned increasingly to company-owned, chartered, or leased aircraft to fly their personnel around the country or overseas. The main reasons: time savings and flexibility. Business aircraft can fly into smaller, more convenient airports and avoid congested commercial hubs. Flight schedules can be tailored to the traveler's needs.

Business aviation began to take root after the first world war and grew substantially after the second, using both war surplus aircraft and new models designed expressly for business travel. Today, business aircraft range from small, propeller-driven airplanes for shorter hops to fast, well-appointed "bizjets" that can fly internationally nonstop.