After nearly a decade in operation, JSX is going all in on loyalty. The semi-private air carrier first launched in 2016 with a single route between Burbank and Concord, California. Now, the company operates up to 140 public charter flights daily to 28 destinations throughout the West, South, and East Coast.
With this gradual expansion and widespread scale, it was time to invest in a proprietary loyalty program, Ben Kaufman, senior director of customer experience, loyalty, and partnerships for JSX, said in an interview exclusively with Afar.
JSX has been working on developing a program since April 2024. “To make a loyalty program successful, there needs to be enough scale in the network to support it,” Kaufman said. “We feel like we’re now at that place where there are enough routes and aircraft to really make it work.”
The straightforward scheme, dubbed Club JSX, is entirely based on spending, so there are no loopholes or varying award availability. All passengers receive 5 percent back as future flight credit on a ticket’s base fare, along with seat and pet fees. Travelers can pool rewards with up to five people, allowing for more flexibility when redeeming. However, flight credits expire after a 12-month period.
Previously, JSX customers had the option to accrue miles with two major airline partner programs: United MileagePlus or JetBlue TrueBlue. Now, travelers will have an additional option with Club JSX. (They can still choose to use their miles with the United or JetBlue programs if they prefer.)
“One of our findings in our customer surveys was that almost 75 percent of people would prefer for loyalty accrual to come to JSX, versus a partner,” Kaufman noted.
While the idea of a public charter jet service was thrown into question a few years ago when American Airlines asked the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to prohibit JSX and other semi-private carriers from operating, JSX survived the challenge and now its popularity is soaring.
JSX primarily operates out of private air terminals, which means major time savings for fliers. In fact, the real luxury of flying JSX is the ability to check in just 20 minutes ahead of a domestic flight without having to deal with long check-in procedures, security lines, and terminal crowds. In addition to the time and comfort benefit, the carrier also provides Starlink in-flight Wi-Fi and has offered the service free of charge on all flights since May 2023.
Current JSX destinations include Burbank, Orange County, and Oakland, in California; Scottsdale, Arizona; Las Vegas, Nevada; Salt Lake City, Utah; Boulder, Colorado; Taos and Sante Fe, New Mexico; Dallas and Austin, Texas; Westchester, New York; Miami and Naples, Florida; and Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.
The air carrier operates a fleet of 48 Embraer ERJ-145 aircraft, each equipped with 30 seats (arranged in a 1-2 configuration). Earlier this summer, company officials said they plan to lease two turboprop aircraft—ATR 42-600s—before the end of 2025, which can also carry up to 30 passengers. The carrier has signed a “letter of intent” to purchase 15 new ATR aircraft in 2026.
While turboprop aircraft aren’t as fast as commercial jets, they can facilitate a major expansion for JSX—and provide tangible benefits to the flying public. “We’ll be able to use these planes to get into smaller airports that don’t have service, so we see this as opening up a new kind of market,” Kaufman said.
While officials remained mum on exactly which cities JSX may serve next, the company has already been expanding its network this summer with existing aircraft. A new nonstop service connecting Orange County, California (SNA) and Salt Lake City, Utah (SLC) began in mid-June, while flights between California’s Napa County Airport (APC), Burbank (BUR), and Orange County (SNA) started earlier this month.
