25. Private Jets

The Economics of Everyday Things

Executives shell out millions of dollars for the privilege of flying private — but that convenience comes at a steep cost to the rest of us. Zachary Crockett prepares for takeoff.

RESOURCES:

• "High Flyers 2023: How Ultra-Rich Private Jet Travel Costs the Rest of Us and Burns Up the Planet," by Chuck Collins, Omar Ocampo, and Kalena Thomhave (joint report by The Patriotic Millionaires and the Institute for Policy Studies, 2023).
• "French Green MPs Want to Ban Private Jet Flights, to 'Bring the Rich Back Down to Earth,'" by Stéphane Mandard (Le Monde, 2023).
• "Markey, Velázquez Announce Legislation to Make the Rich Pay for the Public Costs of Private Jet Pollution," press release by Senator Edward J. Markey (2023).
• "Private Planes and Luxury Yachts Aren’t Just Toys for the Ultrawealthy. They’re Also Huge Tax Breaks," by Paul Kiel (ProPublica, 2023).
• "A Teenager Tracked Elon Musk’s Jet on Twitter. Then Came the Direct Message," by Neil Vigdor (The New York Times, 2022).
• "This Article is More Than 1 Year Old: A 17-Minute Flight? The Super-Rich Who Have ‘Absolute Disregard for the Planet,’" by Oliver Milman (The Guardian, 2022).
• "Private Jets — the Achilles Heel of EU Air Traffic Security?" by Crina Boros and Juliet Ferguson (EUobserver, 2018).
• "In Defence of the Ever-Unpopular Corporate Aircraft," by Joe Nocera (Financial Post, 2017).

EXTRAS:

• "Freakonomics Radio Takes to the Skies," series by Freakonomics Radio (2023).

SOURCES:

• Chuck Collins, program director on "Inequality and the Common Good" at the Institute for Policy Studies.
• Anthony Tivnan, founder and president of Magellan Jets.