Global Elites Drive Private Jet Spending to 10-Year High
The increased spending boosts private jet operators
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Global corporate elites have pushed private jet spending to a ten-year high as the rest of the world struggles with travel chaos, skyrocketing fuel prices, and soaring inflation.
According to the Financial Times (FT), U.S. companies on private jets for personal use by chief executives and chairs reached their highest level in a decade.
ISS Corporate Solutions revealed the spending on lush airborne luxury rose 35 percent to $33.8mn among S&P 500 groups in 2021, the highest since 2012.
The business elites now seem to have no intention of going back to their old ways as normal working people are forced like sardines on a crowded flight if they ever get on them.
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The FT writes this:
Among the biggest spenders were Facebook parent Meta and aerospace group Lockheed Martin as many companies eased rules on using private jets because of fears over contracting Covid-19 on commercial flights. Meta spent $1.6mn on private jets for chief executive Mark Zuckerberg, while Lockheed spent $1.1mn on flights for boss James Taiclet.
Lockheed Martin said it broadened its private jet spending last year ‘in light of the Covid-19 pandemic’.
This included $353,303 for Taiclet’s personal travel as well as for commutes to his home out of state and deadhead flights, when an aircraft is used for a one-way charter, Lockheed said in a regulatory filing this year.
The average amount spent on chief executives and chairs for private jet use jumped 36 percent to $170,660 last year.
The increased spending boosts private jet operators such as New York-based Wheels Up and Jettly.
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Private jet travel looks like it has no signs of slowing down.
Jettly chief executive Justin Crabbe told the FT “it’s quite difficult to go back to flying commercial” once a group has offered executives private flights.
Meanwhile, companies said they loosened restrictions on private jet travel for personal use during the pandemic.
Elites can avoid the chaos increasingly bringing so much international travel to a standstill and forcing travelers to stay home.
But it's not just the business elites, it is also the political elites who are enjoying private luxury air travel.
Earlier this year, Neon Nettle reported Nancy Pelosi spent more than half a million dollars on private jets in a little over a year, despite the Democrat House speaker lecturing the American people about their "moral obligation" to reduce emissions.
Throughout 2021, Pelosi spent over $500k on private jets while repeatedly describing the "climate crisis" as an "existential" threat that U.S. taxpayers must address.
According to the filings, Pelosi’s campaign paid a Virginia-based private aviation provider, Advanced Aviation Team, over $437,000 between October 2020 and December 2021.
Meanwhile, people traveling in the U.S. on July 4 experienced a massive number of delayed and canceled flights.
Over the weekend, hundreds of flights were canceled as more and more Americans prepared to travel.
