There have never been so many private flights around the world as in 2022. This is one of the main lessons of a recent joint report by the think-tank Institute for Policy Studies and the Patriotic Millionaires group, made up of wealthy people in favor of raising the Tax. on heritage in the United States.
According to the document, last year there were 5.3 million private flights around the world. In addition, new and used private jet sales totaled $34.1 billion, which is expected to increase by half a trillion dollars by 2023.
Private aviation had not seen such activity for fifteen years, just before the 2008-2009 financial crisis that led to a global recession. However, the Institute for Policy Studies and Patriotic Millionaires did not write this report to praise the economic health of this industry, but to highlight the financial and ecological counterparts of this boom over the past two decades.
Ten times more greenhouse gases per passenger
Thus, greenhouse gas emissions from private aviation have increased by almost 25% since the pandemic. Although it accounts for only 4% of the global aviation market, private jet travel produces around 10 times more greenhouse gases per passenger. A remark that led Stephen Prince, vice president of Patriotic Millionaires, to give up his private plane.
“Flying in a private jet is amazing, it’s the best travel experience ever,” said the founder of Card Marketing Services. But after reading this report, I decided to sell my plane. It is practically impossible to reconcile the slightest concern for the environment and humanity. with the supreme egoism of getting on a big jet alone. It’s just not fair.”
Financially, the place of private aviation in the US air system also raises questions. In the United States, the world leader in private and business jet travel, commercial airline passengers are subsidizing private aviation, explains Chuck Collins, co-author of the report. “Private jet travel by billionaires and the very rich is a huge cost to the rest of us,” said the director of the Institute for Policy Studies’ Inequality and Common Good program.
Double fuel taxes for private jet travel
On the other side of the Atlantic, the Federal Aviation Administration works thanks to tax revenues to fulfill its mission of air traffic control. However, taxes on private aviation account for only 2% of this tax revenue, while private jets account for only 17% of flights handled. “If we can’t ban private jets, we should at least tax them and ask them to pay to offset their environmental damage and subsidies,” suggests Chuck Collins. For their part, the Patriotic Millionaires advocate a 10% tax on all purchases of used private planes, which would be reduced to 5% on new planes. Had it been in place, this tax would have raised $2.6 billion by 2022. The US group is also proposing to double fuel taxes for private jet travel compared to commercial aviation.
With such measures, Elon Musk would have had to pay $4 million in taxes related to the use of his private jet in 2022. According to the report, the owner of Twitter is “the most active high-flying flyer in the United States.” . After I got a new jet, Tesla’s fondateur produced more than 170 vols l’année derniere, where it didn’t last more than six minutes, pouring a consumption of kerosene in excess of 800,000 liters which was more than 2,000 tons of carbon dioxide.
Source: BFM TV
