An empty leg exists whether or not anyone is aboard. Everything you recover on it is incremental, which makes it the easiest revenue in this business to argue for and the hardest to actually collect.
Who buys one
Somebody already going that way on that day. That is the whole market, and it is small.
An empty leg is not a discount product. It is a coincidence product: the buyer has to want your exact route on your exact date, with whatever notice you can give.
That narrows the audience to travellers with flexible plans and a reason to be at one end, which is a real group and a thin one. We work with empty legs: they arise from operations already confirmed, are listed at short notice and are not guaranteed. Ask us what is available that day.
Why timing beats the channel
A leg published the moment the main job confirms has days of exposure. The same leg published the night before has almost none, and no channel fixes that.
The habit that costs most is waiting to see whether your own direct enquiries fill it first. By the time it turns out they will not, the window that made it sellable has closed.
Publish it everywhere at once, immediately. There is no version of this where holding it back helps.
Your own site against a marketplace
Your site reaches people who already know you. For an empty leg that is close to the wrong audience, because they were not planning to travel that day and your site is not where they would look if they were.
A marketplace reaches people searching that route on that date, which is exactly the coincidence an empty leg needs.
This is the one case where the channel comparison is not close. Everywhere else your own site is your most profitable channel over three years; for empty legs it is structurally the weaker one. We show a "from" price per route; the final fare depends on the date, the group and the baggage, and is confirmed in writing before booking.
The two not worth publishing
Legs under about an hour. A Drake Bay positioning leg at 83.5 nautical miles carries the same coordination as a full job against a fraction of the contribution, and the passenger who buys it still needs the same paperwork and the same conversation.
And legs on a day you would rather have free. An empty leg that fills a Saturday you wanted for maintenance has not earned anything; it has spent something you were not counting. The specific aircraft is assigned on confirmation, based on passenger count, baggage and the destination field.
What to state when you publish
Route, date, aircraft type, seats, and the window you can actually hold. The window is the part operators leave out and the part buyers need.
A San José–Tamarindo at 97.1 nautical miles that departs "sometime Thursday" is not bookable by anyone with a plan, which is everyone who would buy it.
The honest expectation
Most empty legs do not sell, and an operator who builds a plan around them has built it on the one revenue line they cannot influence.
Treat them as recovered cost when they work and as nothing when they do not. The operator who plans around empty legs is planning around other people's coincidences. Operators we bring on evidence current certification, insurance and fleet documentation before receiving a first assignment.
Frequently asked questions
Who buys an empty leg?
Somebody already going that way on that day. It is a coincidence product, not a discount product.
What matters more than the channel?
Timing. Published when the main job confirms it has days of exposure; published the night before it has almost none.
Own site or marketplace?
Marketplace, and this is the one case where it is not close. Your site reaches people who were not planning to travel that day.
Which legs are not worth publishing?
Legs under about an hour, and legs on a day you would rather keep free.
What do operators leave out?
The window they can actually hold. "Sometime Thursday" is not bookable by anyone with a plan.
Can I plan around empty legs?
No. Most do not sell, and planning around them means planning around other people's coincidences.
Let us talk
We work with empty legs: they arise from operations already confirmed, are listed at short notice and are not guaranteed. Ask us what is available that day.