Private Jet Travel Is Booming. And Shameful. And We’re All Paying for It.

NYT OPINION: Private Jet Travel Is Booming. And Shameful. And We’re All Paying for It.
By Farhad Manjoo
Section: Opinion
Source: New York Times
Published Date: May 5, 2023 at 03:00AM

At least one Patriotic Millionaire says he “just can’t continue to do it.”

Four or five times a year, Stephen Prince, a businessman who lives in St. Simons Island, Ga., has taken friends, clients and colleagues on a hunting trip to a pheasant preserve in northwest Nebraska. A commercial flight on that route would be arduous — if everything went perfectly, he’d probably spend at least nine hours traveling over one or two connections, plus about an hour’s drive to the nearest commercial airport and more time going through security, boarding and the other ritual indignities of commercial air travel. But Prince, who founded a business in the 1990s that has made a fortune printing gift cards, is a wealthy man. He purchased his first private plane a few years ago; his current jet, a Cessna Citation 650, can do the trip in about three hours (with a possible stop along the way to refuel) from a small airport just a few minutes from his home. Prince says flying private is a magical experience: He can drive right up to the side of his plane and hop on board. Crew members will load his bags and hunting gear and park his car. If he’s flying in the afternoon, he’ll be greeted with a glass of scotch; in the morning, he’ll get coffee and a newspaper. “If that doesn’t spoil you, you’re not spoilable,” he told me. “You don’t need a whole spoonful of private aircraft to find out what it tastes like — it’s pretty amazing.”

Read more at: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/05/opinion/private-jet-travel-environment.html