Private jet charter from Flint and Bishop International (FNT)
For Flint, Grand Blanc, Fenton and the rest of Genesee County, the closest jet runway is not in Pontiac. Bishop has longer runways than Pontiac and a private FBO away from the airline terminal, and it is twenty minutes from where I live.
No cost, no obligation. Send the trip and you will get aircraft options, the operating carrier named, and all-in pricing before you decide.
See your estimate first. Nothing is sent until you choose to send it.
What Bishop actually is
Locals call it Flint Bishop. The FAA calls it KFNT. It is an airline airport with a private side, and for private flying the private side is all you see.
Bishop International sits on the southwest side of Flint, just off I-69 and I-75, and is run by the Bishop International Airport Authority. It has scheduled airline service, mostly Allegiant to Florida plus regional flights to Chicago, and a FedEx cargo operation. None of that touches a private trip: charter passengers use the fixed base operator, in its own building on West Bristol Road, and never go through the airline terminal or TSA.
The airport is open around the clock and the FBO is staffed 24 hours. The control tower runs from 5:45am to 11:30pm, and the field sits in Class C airspace while the tower is open.
What Bishop does not have is a big population of charter jets. Pontiac has more than 200 jets based on the field; Bishop has a handful. That is the whole trade-off with Flint, and it is covered in plain numbers below.
Longer runways than Pontiac
Runway length is the first thing that rules an aircraft in or out. At Bishop it rules nothing out.
| Runway | Length | Width | What it means |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18 / 36 | 7,852 ft | 150 ft | The longer of the two. Any business jet, including large-cabin aircraft leaving heavy with full fuel. |
| 9 / 27 | 7,201 ft | 150 ft | Also longer than anything at Pontiac, and full width. |
Both runways are longer than PTK’s 6,521 feet. For most trips that makes no difference. It does matter for a large-cabin jet leaving with a full cabin and full tanks for the West Coast or Europe, and on a hot summer afternoon, which is when takeoff distances grow. The aircraft-by-aircraft numbers are in the runway and baggage comparison.
When Flint is worth it, and what it costs
The two airports are 23 nautical miles apart. The right one is usually whichever is nearer your door, and the rest is below.
| Flint — FNT | Pontiac — PTK | |
|---|---|---|
| Longest runway | 7,852 ft | 6,521 ft |
| FBOs | One | Several |
| Charter jets based on the field | Very few | Many |
| US Customs | Landing rights, weekdays 8am–4pm | User fee, weekdays 7am–10pm |
| Airline service | Yes, separate terminal | None |
| Nearest for | Genesee, Lapeer and Shiawassee counties | Oakland County, Detroit metro |
Flint usually costs a little more, and here is exactly why. Most of the jets available for charter in Michigan live at Pontiac. If yours does, it flies up to Bishop empty to collect you and flies back empty once it drops you home. Each of those legs is short, but operators bill positioning legs, often at a minimum charge rather than for the few minutes actually flown. On a midsize jet that commonly adds a few thousand dollars to a round trip, less on a light jet or turboprop.
It is not always extra. If the best aircraft for your trip is based in Grand Rapids, Chicago or Florida, it is flying to Michigan either way, and Bishop is barely further than Pontiac. Sometimes a repositioning aircraft is passing through Flint anyway. I check both airports on every quote from this area and show you the difference as its own line, so the choice is yours.
For many people it is an easy call. Saving an hour of I-75 at each end, the day you leave and the night you come home, is often worth more than the positioning. The point is to know the number before deciding.
The FBO, customs and what happens when you arrive
Bishop has one FBO, on West Bristol Road. You will get the exact address before the day. Use it rather than the airport’s main entrance, which takes you to the airline terminal. The FBO is open 24 hours with a lobby, a conference room, catering and rental cars on site. Park, walk in, and the aircraft is on the ramp outside.
Customs needs planning. Bishop is a landing-rights airport, not a user-fee one like Pontiac. CBP officers come from the Saginaw, Bay City and Flint port office on weekdays from 8am to 4pm, and the operator has to call at least two hours before arrival to ask permission to land. Permission is at CBP’s discretion. For a Friday afternoon return from Cabo that can work. For a Sunday evening return it will not, so you clear at Pontiac or Detroit Metro, and I will set the trip up that way from the start rather than find out on the day.
None of this applies leaving the country. Outbound international trips depart Bishop like any domestic flight, with passports checked at the other end.
Flying out of Flint? Send the route and the dates. You will get options with the operating carrier named, the positioning cost shown separately, and a Pontiac comparison if it saves you money.
Get a quote from FNTCommon trips from Flint
Distances are great-circle from FNT, and flying times are typical for a midsize jet. Every one is nonstop in a midsize jet. Whether it is nonstop with your group and your luggage is the question worth asking.
Flint to Sarasota
About 937 nm, roughly 2h35m. The busiest winter corridor out of Michigan, and the one most likely to turn up a repositioning leg.
Flint to Naples
About 1,014 nm, roughly 2h45m. Naples has noise rules that narrow the aircraft list. Fort Myers is the fallback fifteen minutes away.
Flint to Palm Beach & Boca
About 994 nm to Palm Beach and 1,012 to Boca Raton, roughly 2h45m. In season, ramp space and slots matter more than range.
Flint to Stuart & Fort Lauderdale
About 963 nm to Stuart and 1,022 to Fort Lauderdale Executive, 2h40m to 2h45m. Straightforward for any midsize jet.
Flint to New York & Teterboro
About 451 nm, roughly 1h30m. Short enough that a light jet works. Teterboro fills up; Westchester is the usual alternative.
Flint to Chicago & Indianapolis
About 192 nm to Midway and 227 to Indianapolis, around an hour. Day-trip distance, where a turboprop or light jet is usually the value choice.
Flint to Nashville
About 433 nm, roughly 1h25m. Popular for weekends and events. Bags rarely decide the aircraft, so the cheapest suitable one usually wins.
Flint to Aspen & Scottsdale
About 1,067 nm to Aspen and 1,432 to Scottsdale. Aspen’s runway and elevation limit which aircraft can get in, so for that trip the aircraft choice is about performance.
Route guides with airport restrictions and costs: Sarasota, Naples, Palm Beach, Teterboro, Aspen. They are written from Pontiac; from Flint, add about 20 nm to the southbound trips.
Bishop is my home airport
YAJ is based in Fenton, twenty minutes from Bishop. Genesee County is where I live and work, not a city name on a national call center’s page, and I know the field, the FBO and which operators can realistically get an aircraft here. When my schedule allows, I like to be at the aircraft to see you off.
I am also an FAA-certificated private pilot. When an operator says the crew is out of duty time, the winds mean a fuel stop, or customs at Flint will not work for your arrival, I know whether that is real, and I would rather tell you before you book than after.
You see what I make on every trip. The operator’s price and my advisory fee appear as two separate lines, on a published sliding scale, and I take no commission from any carrier. Leaving from further south? See chartering from Pontiac or Willow Run.
Flying private from Flint
Can I fly private out of Flint Bishop Airport?
Yes. Private flights leave from the fixed base operator (FBO) on West Bristol Road, not from the airline terminal. You drive to the FBO, park, and walk to the aircraft. Bishop has two 150-foot-wide runways of 7,852 and 7,201 feet, which is enough for anything in business aviation.
Is it more expensive to charter from Flint than from Pontiac?
Often a little, and it is worth knowing why. Far more charter jets are based at Pontiac (PTK) than at Bishop, so a Flint departure usually means the aircraft flies the 23 nautical miles up from PTK empty to collect you, and back again at the end. Those short legs are billed, frequently at the operator’s minimum. On a midsize jet that commonly adds a few thousand dollars. If the aircraft is coming from somewhere else anyway, the difference can be close to nothing. You will see it as its own line either way.
Can I clear customs at Flint on the way home?
Sometimes. Bishop is a landing-rights airport, not a user-fee customs airport. Officers come from the Saginaw, Bay City and Flint port office on weekdays between 8am and 4pm, and the operator has to call at least two hours ahead to ask permission to land. Outside those hours, or if permission is not granted, you clear at Pontiac (weekdays 7am to 10pm) or Detroit Metro and either drive home or take a short hop to Flint. Hours change, so this gets confirmed for every trip.
How early should I arrive at the FBO in Flint?
Fifteen to twenty minutes before departure is normal. There is no TSA line for a Part 135 charter on a domestic trip, but every passenger still needs photo identification. Bags go straight to the aircraft, and parking is at the FBO.
Which towns is Flint the better airport for?
Anyone in Genesee County and the areas around it: Flint, Grand Blanc, Fenton, Linden, Flushing, Swartz Creek, Davison, Lapeer, Owosso and Frankenmuth. For most of those, Bishop is fifteen to thirty-five minutes away, and PTK is noticeably further. South of about Holly and Clarkston, Pontiac is usually the easier drive.
How much does a private jet from Flint cost?
It is priced the same way as anywhere else: the aircraft, where it is based and how long it flies. A midsize jet from Michigan to Florida commonly lands in the low-to-mid twenty thousands one way. From Flint, add any positioning to and from Bishop. Send the route and dates and you will get the operator’s price and my fee as two separate lines.
More on how quoting, vetting and pricing work on the questions page, or see the aircraft guide for six to eight passengers.
Send the trip and I will come back with real options.
Route, dates, passenger count and luggage. You get aircraft options, the operating carrier named, its certificate and insurance verified, and the full cost split into the operator’s price and my fee, with Flint and Pontiac side by side if it matters.