Fly Alliance adopts FlyExclusive's AI flight management system

Fly Alliance has signed on to use FlyExclusive's Contrails flight management system, replacing its existing FMS across its entire operation, Private Jet Card Comparisons reported on Tuesday.

The AI-powered system is free. Contrails is designed to let participating operators and brokers see authorized, real-time aircraft availability across participating fleets, making it easier to book flights on one another's aircraft. The move was announced at NBAA-BACE 2026 in Las Vegas.

How the system works

Contrails combines aircraft scheduling, crew compliance, dispatch, maintenance visibility, disruption recovery, fleet optimization, and AI-assisted workflows in one operating platform. The system includes a patent-pending scheduling optimizer aimed at reducing empty legs, improving aircraft utilization, increasing yields, and generating additional revenue.

Based aircraft can have more than 50% of their flights flown without revenue passengers. Floating fleet operators, like FlyExclusive and Fly Alliance, see repositioning flights make up around 30% of their flying.

Operators retain ownership and control of their data. The system is designed with tenant isolation and controlled information sharing, meaning operators do not need to share customer identities, customer relationships, proprietary pricing, or other commercially sensitive information to participate. FlyExclusive intends to share the same aircraft scheduling and availability information it asks participating operators to share.

Why the deal matters

For Fly Alliance, the system eliminates software costs while opening new revenue opportunities. Chris Tasca, Fly Alliance's CEO, said "the real opportunity isn't just reducing software costs," but rather "improving aircraft utilization, eliminating unnecessary inefficiencies, and creating more opportunities to generate revenue."

FlyExclusive Chairman and CEO Jim Segrave framed the arrangement as mutually beneficial: "We don't want your customers or your proprietary information. We want to know when your airplanes are available so we can book flights on them, and we want you to know when ours are available so you can book flights on ours."

According to the press release, "Operators manage their own fleets and schedules independently, often leaving aircraft underutilized, repositioning opportunities unrealized, and customer demand unfulfilled." Contrails is intended to address these gaps across participating operators.