Empty leg flights from San Francisco

San Francisco's private aviation market runs on technology and venture capital. Salesforce, Google, Apple, Meta, and NVIDIA are headquartered in the Bay Area, and the Sand Hill Road venture capital corridor in Menlo Park generates constant partner-level travel for deal sourcing and portfolio company visits. The primary routes run to Los Angeles (two to three times per week per major operator), to Seattle for Amazon and Microsoft meetings, and to New York for banking and investor relations work.

The VC travel pattern creates a specific empty leg dynamic. Sand Hill Road investors fly to meetings in Los Angeles, Austin, and New York, returning the same day or the next morning. Aircraft dropped in those cities need to reposition north, and those Tuesday-and-Thursday return legs from Los Angeles or Teterboro to Oakland or San Jose appear reliably at 40-55% below charter rates.

Bay Area weekend leisure generates a secondary stream. Tahoe (KTVL, KSQI) draws winter ski trips and summer lake visitors from Oakland and San Jose. Napa's private aviation use is lighter than its reputation suggests; most wine country visitors drive rather than charter the 60-mile trip.. Carmel and Monterey routes generate occasional weekend legs that reposition Monday morning.

Oakland International Airport (KOAK) is the primary private aviation airport for the Bay Area, sitting across the bay from San Francisco with ground time of 30-35 minutes to downtown SF. KaiserAir and Signature both operate FBOs at Oakland. KaiserAir has been on the field since 1982 and handles heavy jets up to ultra-long-range. Oakland's runway length and infrastructure make it the preference for large-cabin jets that San Jose's facilities cannot accommodate. For East Bay and South Bay destinations, KOAK cuts 15-20 minutes off the drive compared to routing through SFO.

San Jose Mineta International Airport (KSJC) serves the South Bay tech corridor directly. Atlantic Aviation and Signature both operate FBOs. The airport is 10 minutes from Apple's Cupertino campus and 15 minutes from Google in Mountain View, which makes it the first choice for meetings in the Peninsula and South Bay. Most corporate jets serving Apple, Google, and the Palo Alto VC community use KSJC over KOAK.

San Carlos Airport (KSQL) on the Peninsula handles light jets and turboprops. At 2,600 feet of runway, larger jets cannot operate there. For Sand Hill Road meetings in Menlo Park, KSQL's location directly off Highway 101 makes it the fastest ground option for light aircraft. Operated by San Mateo County, the field has a single FBO with straightforward service.

Empty legs departing from San Francisco currently range from $4,000 to $19,500. The average listed price sits around $10,088. Broken down by aircraft: midsize jets averaging $11,825, heavy jets averaging $10,833, light jets averaging $5,000.

Popular routes with current pricing: Las Vegas, NV at $4,000-$12,500; Las Cruces, NM at $11,400-$12,400; Dallas, TX at $19,500. Route availability rotates as operators reposition aircraft, so today's routes may differ from next week's.

We track 132 active legs from this area. 9 have published prices; the rest are quote-on-request. Operators often add pricing closer to the departure date, so checking back frequently or setting an alert catches deals as they appear.