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Final Approach – Subsidized Private Jets Cause Delays

In the News
Just two weeks ago, Big Brown galloped past his competitors and easily won the Kentucky Derby. Many of us watched the winner’s circle celebrations on television while others flew on luxurious private jets to watch in person. Did you know that airline passengers were subsidizing these posh trips to the race?

How much are you paying to subsidize these luxury liners? Airlines and their passengers paid more than 90 percent of the costs of running the air traffic control system but accounted for only 66 percent of system operations. Business jets, however, underpaid for the air traffic control services they used by nearly $1 billion. Does that sound fair to you? What if you were told that during Derby weekend, the overwhelming majority of the jets in the skies over Kentucky were private jets? This means that while these private jets clogged the airways, they paid barely anything to use or modernize our nation’s air traffic control system.

This unfair practice is not just limited to the Kentucky Derby – private luxury planes account for nearly two-thirds of all jet aircraft in the United States. And it is not as though these jet-setters cannot afford to pay their fair share. Private jet operators do not seem to be affected by the tight economy like the rest of us – orders for new private jets are up 41 percent from early 2007 to early 2008. Over the next ten years, more than 10,000 additional private jets are expected to enter service. Needless to say, this will overwhelm the current system and cost airline passengers billions of dollars a year in delays.

So why haven’t policymakers come up with a common-sense approach that makes private jet users pay their fare share? A lot of it comes down to special-interest politics. Private jet owners have lobbied hard to protect their tax advantages. The recreational piston-engine (or “general aviation”) community has been ginned up by the jet-setters to oppose the small fees proposed, even though these fees would not be imposed on piston aircraft under any proposal Congress is considering.

Bottom line: Even though these private jet users spend a small fortune flying their lavish jet planes to Kentucky, buying expensive tickets to the Derby and attending swanky Derby parties, they protest that they cannot pay a small $25 fee to help modernize the U.S. air traffic control system.

The problems caused by these business jets are extensive. A recent article in “Multinational Monitor” entitled High Flyers and the Grounding of Equality documents the adverse safety, security, environmental and financial impacts caused by the dramatic rise in private jet use.

To Learn More

Please visit the following Web sites to learn more about this issue:

Air Traffic Control System Command Center – The Federal Aviation Administration flight-delay information Web site. The site includes current flight-delay information for major U.S. airports.

Flight Explorer FastTrack – Flight Explorer’s Web site allows you to check the current status of flights, view flight plans and track planes in real time as they fly across the country.

Airport and Airway Trust Fund Calculator – This Smart Skies Web site calculates the inequitable difference in taxes paid by airliners and private jets, even though they both use the same air traffic control system services.

To learn more about jet fuel costs, log on to our Fuel Watch every Thursday http://www.airlines.org/ to view the current update on fuel prices.

Insider Tip

To avoid unnecessary airport wait time, always check the status of your flight before leaving home. Flight status updates provide up-to-date information on flight delays or cancellations and can easily be found on airline Web sites or by calling your airline directly. Many airlines also provide free flight-status notifications, which allow them to actively e-mail or text you if your flight’s schedule changes. By following this simple tip, you can make your next trip to the airport a more hassle-free experience.

Sincerely,

James C. May
President and CEO
Air Transport Association