Letter to the editor: More travelers turn to chartered jets
· The Washington TimesOPINION:
The desire for chartered business jets is experiencing steady growth. For Super Bowl LX, a half-dozen Bay Area airports accommodated 800 parked business jets in less than a week.
Owning a business jet can raise great revenue as more travelers seek optimum flexibility, comfort and privacy. Even, Sean “Diddy” Combs earned $4 million this past year from prison by having a luxury jet rental company charter his private jet.
Travelers are mostly unaware of commercial airlines’ near-zero profits. But as the chief of the International Air Transport Association, Willie Walsh, said, “Apple will earn more selling an iPhone cover than the $7.90 airlines will make transporting the average passenger.”
Still, the global aviation industry is pursuing a 2050 net-zero carbon goal with needed investments of $3.2 trillion. Unfortunately, the current net-zero solution of engineered “drop-in” Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), which burns in existing jet engines, will force airlines to incur far higher prices for the “green premium” fuel.
Strides toward net-zero carbon continue, with 185 airports worldwide distributing SAF. The higher operating expense of using SAF is simply not sustainable given the airline industry’s meager profits.
However, the higher-priced chartered business-jet market will absorb costly SAF in their profits and fuel the public’s desire for zero-inconveniences travel without guilt from environmentalists.
Commercial flying is hectic and troublesome, and for some, paying a hefty premium for comfort is the only option. Chartered business jets offer travelers convenience and the owners still turn a profit by while they reduce environmental impact by using SAF.
JAMES JASON LAWYER
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Anchorage, Alaska