Aircraft charter can be easily trace its roots back to the dawn of civil aviation. The real growth, however, or corporate aviation and related air taxi, air charter suppliers, boomed following the close of World War II. With excess / surplus aircraft and the both corporations and stand alone air charter companies entered the business of dedicated charter flights for executives, high end travelers, special missions and many more such as, sports teams, entertainers, etc.

Modern Technology and the business structure
The 1960s we saw the arrival of the first small jets, such as the Learjet. The Learjet was adopted by some of the first jet air charter operators, such as Hop-A-Jet and Clay Lacy. Both companies still exist today as larger charter management firms. Charter management became popular at the dawn of the private jet age as a way for companies to own aircraft "off their books" - namely away from the prying eyes of shareholders. Local entrepreneurs realized that by managing the aircraft that belonged to another entity (one that could afford to buy the multi-million dollar aircraft) they could help offset the cost of ownership through rental income and aggregate owner costs for insurance, fuel, maintenance, etc. Today, this type of aircraft ownership arrangement forms more than 75% of the on-demand air charter industry for the United States, which encompasses about 70% of the air charter activity in the world.

In 2004, the FAA began the process to re-regulate the Part 135 industry, mainly due to the widespread problems created by the tension between aircraft owners and management companies. The FAA felt that air carriers (the air charter companies) had in some cases begun to lose operational control. The term "operational control" indicates that an air charter company can know where and when its aircraft are at all times and dictate their movement. The complications caused by these owner relationships and historically minimal FAA oversight was fertile ground for the air taxi revolution.
Beginning in the late 1990's the air charter / air taxi interest moved into mainstream media and discussion with the growth and advent of several key factors:

* Very light jets or VLJs popularized the concept of small affordable jets that would bring the capital carrying cost of aircraft down enough so that many more could be sold and operated. Eclipse Aviation is perhaps one of the most well known new aircraft brands, although other companies including Adam Aircraft, Cessna, Honda, and Embraer have designed or built VLJ's of their own. While the air taxi debate is concerned with whether these aircraft will actually contribute to change, the mere discussion, media coverage and excitement over new technology is bringing more and more attention to the concept of ad hoc air transportation.

Aircraft manufacturers, such as Eclipse Aviation and Adam Aircraft Industries, maintain that the construction of cheaper, smaller and faster jets will enable inexpensive point-to-point private aviation, creating a new industry. Others maintain that these new aircraft will lower the barriers to ownership enabling more wealthy individuals to own jet aircraft, but will not result in their wide adoption for commercial applications. Critics argue that basic economics, demographics, industry inertia and operational constraints will automatically limit the birth of an air taxi industry.

Recent developments in Air charter
Due to the synergies of a number of technological advancements, some aviation professionals foresee the middle class traveling easily and with much less expense than is currently possible, using VLJs (very light jets) and other types of comparatively inexpensive aircraft. New technologies in engine design, airframe manufacturing methods, computer aided design and avionics as well as ATC upgrades, many say, will come together to drastically reduce cost while increasing efficiency, comfort and safety. These aircraft is said easier to fly and much cheaper to produce than current production jets. 5,400 small airports across the United States make point-to-point air travel on smaller jets quicker for travelers than the airline hub and spoke system. Next generation avionics and systems may also make these small airports accessible even in poor weather conditions.