Liberal Talk Radio

Back in the 80s, everyone wanted to ride in a limousine. Then in the 90s, the limo lost its shine: Kurt Cobain would never be caught dead in the kind of car that David Lee Roth liked to party in.

These days, private jets are the new limos:

A one-time charter is still more expensive than first-class airline tickets. But it can be affordable to many people without CEO salaries or trust funds who might want to splurge once or twice a year on a special trip. A typical New York-to-Florida one-way flight costs $8,000 to $20,000 for a six-passenger jet, depending mostly on whether the plane goes home empty or not. If the charter company doesn’t find another customer for the flight home, you pay for that trip too.

I’ve heard there’s a two-year waiting list for Gulfstream V (versus three-years for a $30M yacht). Expect it to get more attractive as an option as airline travel continues to suck more. In fact, one reason for the sucking of airline travel — the delayed flights — is directly attributable to small jets:

The nation’s air-travel system approached gridlock early this summer, with more than 30% of June flights late, by an average of 62 minutes. The mess revved up a perennial debate about whether billions of dollars should be spent to modernize the air-traffic control system. But one cause of airport crowding and flight delays is receiving scant attention. Airlines increasingly bring passengers into jammed airports on smaller airplanes. That means using more flights — and increasing the congestion at airports and in the skies around them.

Whether you’re landing a 555-passenger A380 superjumbo or a 20-person Embraer turbo prop, you’re taking up a single slot in the schedule. Small planes don’t land twice as fast, unfortunately. Let the private-jet backlash begin!

(via)