How many times has this happened to you?
You're sitting on a plane, minding your own business when a fellow passenger jumps up, points at you and shouts "that mother f***er back there is not real!”
DON'T MISS: Here's how much it costs to fly around the world in full luxury for 24 days
All right, maybe that hasn't happened to you--yet.
But if you're fed up with long lines, canceled flights, hideous airline food and mid-flight cage matches, maybe you'd like to think about flying from Point A to Point B in a private jet.
There are 23,241 private jets in operation worldwide and roughly 63% of them are registered right here in these United States.
The number of flights on business aircraft across the globe rose 10% last year compared with 2021, according to the business aviation data firm WingX, and were 14% higher than pre-pandemic levels in 2019.
There were over 5.5 million business aircraft flights in 2022, the report said, more than 50% higher than in 2020, with private flights in North America making up about half of that particular type of air traffic.
Buy vs charter
The industry got a big boost during the covid pandemic when commercial aviation was shutdown.
But the commercial flights have returned, along with nutzy passengers, and now perhaps you're thinking about going the private route, like so many of the world's richest people
Tesla (TSLA) -) CEO Elon Musk reportedly owns a Gulfstream G650ER, while Amazon (AMZN) -) founder Jeff Bezos has two of the same aircraft and Microsoft (MSFT) -) co-founder Bill Gates is said to have four jets: two Gulfstream G650ERs and two Bombardier Challenger 350s.
Gates, by the way, also reportedly owns a Eurocopter EC 135 helicopter and a Cessna 208 Seaplane, but enough about him.
Now, you can either buy your own private jet outright or you can charter one.
Buying a private jet can cost anywhere from $3 million to $75 million, according to Simple Flying, and maintenance fees can cost between $500,000 and $1 million yearly.
Then you’ve got airport and hangar fees as well as the wages for pilots and cabin crew. Naturally, a new aircraft’s price tag can vary big time depending on features like the size and the range of the aircraft.
A new very light jet like the Embraer Phenom 100 averages $4.5 million, while Airbus Corporate Jet and Boeing (BA) -) Business Jets sell for up to $440 million.
You can save money on a preowned jet, but Clay Lacy Aviation noted that the lion’s share of your savings can be clawed back over time by higher fuel and maintenance costs, optional and mandatory upgrades, warranty and subscription renewals, and other expenses that new jets don’t require.
If the aircraft is being used less than 150 hours per year, private jet rental can seem a more economical.
Private jet controversy
The cost of chartering a private jet varies considerably depending on the size of the aircraft, how many passengers there are and the length of the flight.
A typical private jet charter can cost anywhere between $2,000 and $11,000 per hour.
In simple terms, hiring a six-seater jet could cost around $5,000 per hour, Simple Flying said, so a flight of three hours would cost $15,000 making each seat worth $2,500.
First class tickets for domestic flights in the U.S. cost at least $1,300, while flights to Europe can go for $3,800.
Private jet programs can also be an option, where "owners" share an aircraft or buy so many hours of travel on the jet.
And you should be aware that private jets have been getting some flak due to carbon emissions and other issues.
Private jets emit at least 10 times more pollutants per passenger than commercial planes, according to the 2023 High Flyers report from The Institute for Policy Studies research center and the progressive activist group, Patriotic Millionaires.
Roughly 1% of people are believed to be responsible for about half of all aviation carbon emissions, the report said, and the median net worth of a full and fractional private jet owner is $190 million and $140 million respectively.
"The jet- owning oligarchy is overwhelmingly male, over the age of 50, and concentrated in the industries of banking, finance, and real estate," the report said.
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