<
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/sep/18/private-jets-pollution-undertaxed>
"A new report has put a spotlight on the rapid expansion of private jet travel
in the US, revealing that owners are not paying their fair share of aviation
tax despite the average owner’s wealth being $190m and private jets being up to
14 times more polluting than commercial flights.
The Institute for Policy Studies’ new report,
High Flyers 2026, examines the
growing use of private aircraft, the public infrastructure supporting them and
the tax policies benefiting private jet owners.
The institute worked with a worldwide community of more than 20,000 open-source
trackers to develop the Private Jet Emissions Tracker (PJET), which analyzes
private jet flights arriving at and departing from specific locations during
certain events, including the Super Bowl, the Kentucky Derby and every game of
the World Cup.
The number of private jet flights has surged in recent years, with
climate-heating emissions linked to that mode of travel rising by 50%,
according to the most comprehensive global analysis to date.
At the same time, private jets and charter services now account for roughly 16%
of flight operations handled by the Federal Aviation Administration, according
to the institute’s report.
The US Department of Transportation estimates that noncommercial private jets
represent 7% of airspace activity but contribute less than 0.6% of the taxes
flowing into the Airport and Airway Trust Fund, which helps finance FAA
operations.
Private flights, used by an estimated 256,000 people (just 0.003% of the
world’s population), are the most polluting form of transport, producing direct
carbon emissions 10 to 14 times greater per passenger than commercial aviation
travel, the report said.
Private jet ownership has expanded alongside the growth of the ultra-wealthy,
the report said. The median wealth of a private jet owner is $190m, while the
median wealth of someone with fractional ownership in a private jet is $140m.
“The rest of us should not have to pay for the luxury excess of the private jet
billionaire class,” report co-author Chuck Collins said in a statement. “Our
hard-earned tax dollars shouldn’t subsidize their reckless air travel habits
that further harm our warming planet.”
Between 2019 and 2025, fractional jet ownership, a program in which one buys an
equity share of a private aircraft in exchange for a guaranteed number of
annual flight hours, increased 6%."
Via Susan ****
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
