Sunday, January 18, 2026

Trump Tax Break Fuels Private Jet Boom with Big Impact on CO2 Emissions

Trump's Big Bill gave private jet owners the ability to write off the entire cost right away, rather than spread the deduction out over several years. While private jets get more easy to afford, food, housing and energy costs have risen under the Trump administration. "A 2024 report found that passengers in larger models cause more CO2 emissions in one hour than the average person does in a year,"

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The Republicans' budget bill last year, signed into law by Trump, made private jets fully tax deductible. If you can afford to buy a private jet, you can afford to pay your damn taxes!

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-- Rep. Mark Pocan (@pocan.house.gov) Jan 15, 2026 at 11:41 AM

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More from the article ...

... A forecast from aerospace firm Honeywell projects roughly 8,500 new private jet deliveries worldwide through 2035, worth an estimated $283 billion. So great is the expected spike in demand that the company says this decade will be the most active in the industry's history.

Private jets are as much as 14 times more carbon-intensive per passenger than commercial airliners, reported Luxury Launches. Larger ones, which dominate new orders, also burn more fuel and fly longer routes, making them even worse for the planet.

A 2024 report found that passengers in larger models cause more CO2 emissions in one hour than the average person does in a year. The study, led by a researcher at Linnaeus University in Sweden and others in Germany and Denmark, found that while private flights are used by just 0.003% of the world's population, they are the most polluting form of transport per head. ...


#1 | Posted by LampLighter at 2026-01-17 12:17 AM

... Private jet sales are hitting record highs, and new U.S. tax breaks could be helping fuel the surge, reported Luxury Launches. ...

OK, while I do have a concern regarding the CO2 emissions stats stated in #1, my main concern here is that Pres Trump's legislation is making it easier for the wealthy to buy personal jets via the provided tax breaks.

That same legislation is denying need food and health services to Americans.


#2 | Posted by LampLighter at 2026-01-17 12:21 AM

Inside The New Private Jet Boom: Empty Legs, Pet Flights And The Rise Of Time-Freedom Travel
www.forbes.com

.. There is a stillness in the moments before a private aircraft leaves the runway , a quiet that feels less about luxury and more about certainty. Over the past few years, that experience has been enabled to a much broader and diverse group of travellers than in any previous era of aviation. Private jet usage has risen above pre-pandemic levels, by around ten to fifteen percent globally in some periods, but the most interesting shift is not numerical. It is psychological. The value proposition has changed. ...

We see this especially among time-pressured leaders and internationally mobile families. The calculation is rarely about glamour. It is about avoiding missed connections, safeguarding critical schedules, and starting or ending a journey in a state of composure rather than exhaustion. In that sense, private aviation has become another expression of modern value, where calm and control are considered returns on investment.

Empty legs: efficiency, intelligence and a quieter path into the skies

Within this landscape, empty-leg flights have emerged as one of the most compelling developments. These are repositioning journeys that would have flown regardless, aircraft relocating to collect their next passengers. Where they were once an invisible inefficiency, they are now increasingly offered to travellers at a reduced rate, not as an add-on to demand, but as a way of filling movement that already exists. ...


#3 | Posted by LampLighter at 2026-01-17 12:28 AM

fwiw, I had to look it up ...

Empty Leg Private Jet Flights
jettly.com

... Each time we book a jet, one of the flights either to or from the destination becomes available as the aircraft repositions to pick up its next set of passengers.

This is known as an empty leg flight. Signup for empty leg notifications below and get notified the moment an empty leg becomes available. ...


#4 | Posted by LampLighter at 2026-01-17 12:31 AM

So, an "empty leg" flight is one that the plane makes with no passengers?

#5 | Posted by LampLighter at 2026-01-17 12:31 AM

@#5

Another curious airline slang phrase is a flight attendant doing a "crotch watch."

What It Means When Your Flight Attendants Are On 'Crotch Watch'
www.yahoo.com

... Just as different professionals have their own languages when they communicate with one another, there are also code words that flight attendants use while on duty. Among such terms, the one that often surprises passengers if they hear it is "crotch watch."

This indelicate term is the informal name flight attendants use when they want to check whether passengers have their seatbelts correctly fastened.

Before any takeoff, landing, or when turbulence is expected, flight attendants walk through the cabin and briefly scan each row. When they do this, they're checking whether your seatbelt is buckled, visible, and worn properly.

The crew call this quick scan "crotch watch" because, as flight attendants often tell you, a seatbelt worn correctly sits low and tight across the hips (not the belly).

This task is also sometimes called a "groin scan," and usually happens right after the fasten-seatbelt sign turns on. While the sign is the official instruction to passengers, airlines still prefer that flight attendants visually check for compliance.

This is because they believe the ultimate safety of their passengers solely rests on their shoulders, so they won't want to take any risk.

Besides that flight attendants observe so many things about you the moment you board a plane, this "groin scan" routine is one of the most basic and important safety checks they perform in the cabin.

Why flight attendants take crotch watch seriously ...


#6 | Posted by LampLighter at 2026-01-17 05:01 AM

"And now, little man, I give the watch to you."

#7 | Posted by snoofy at 2026-01-17 05:03 AM

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