Ever since Bill Lear introduced the Learjet some forty-five years ago, charter companies have touted the prestige of private air travel. What was once reserved for celebrities, industry titans or heads of state waving from those lowered staircases, however, has become accessible to some 60,000 ordinary affluent Americans today. And with 8.3 million millionaires worldwide, the superrich are feeling the need to separate themselves from the merely rich, which is why "Wheels up!" has become the catchphrase of the überelite.
Gone are the sirens that heralded wealth just ten years ago, be they the giant house, the chauffeured custom car or the yacht. Today, with time holding firm as the ultimate shrinking commodity and the ultimate luxury — after all, how many days a year can a CEO spend on a trophy boat? — those old signifiers simply don't glitter the way they used to; indeed, they have been replaced by the plane. And why not? Private air travel encompasses, in one shiny, highly visible item, all of the big luxuries people crave, and it taps into the major trends percolating among the well-to-do: the quest for privacy; an interest in safety, at all costs; the desire for total control; the chance to escape crowds (avian flu, anyone?); the ability to take off on demand. And let's not underestimate the wish to make a massive, flashy statement.
Flying private is a glaring advertisement of your wealth, since even a simple charter plane that you don't own costs about $4,000 an hour, and that's at the low end. For a bigger plane with amenities such as a personal chef, rates can spike as high as $9,000 an hour. Regardless of these astronomical prices, more and more people are willing to splurge. Ronald A. Goldstein, president and CEO of Revolution Air, a leader in charter travel, has seen a surge in special-occasion flying: a professional hockey player's bachelor party that began at takeoff; a mani-pedi-and-massage-fest for a girls' trip turned spa in the sky. With customs officials able to board the plane to stamp passports, and many charter companies offering full concierge services, no request, it seems, is too extravagant. "We had an NBA player who wanted a tattoo artist on board," recalls Goldstein, adding that on top of those airborne parties, last summer saw a huge crop of clients flying their children to remote summer camps dotting the New England seaboard. For these trips, the crew filled the planes with Xboxes, DVDs, PB&J — the works. "Anything a child could wish for, we could provide," Goldstein explains — Mary Poppins notwithstanding.
In a world of excess wealth and the desire to display it, pampered travelers aren't even always on two legs. Kenny Dichter, the founder and CEO of Marquis Jet — which has an exclusive agreement with NetJets, with its fleet of nearly 700 planes, to sell twenty-five-hour Marquis Jet Cards, starting at $119,900 — remembers a trip that was arranged from Teterboro, New Jersey, to Palm Beach for just a dog, no human passengers. Decadent wedding-related festivities at 30,000 feet are also on the rise. As Dichter notes, for some glam nuptials, "it's no longer the wedding-party limousine; it's the wedding-party Hawker 800XP," used to hit hot spots like Cabo San Lucas for preceremony events. Unlike those of other carriers, Dichter's clients are not really over-the-top party people or celebs (though Matt Damon, Michael Jordan and Kelly Ripa have all flown Marquis). As expensive as it sounds, Marquis members pay only for the hours they fly and receive a slew of fringe benefits (like $1,500 toward an Ermenegildo Zegna made-to-measure suit) that a simple charter service may not offer, making flying private more accessible and more desirable to more travelers. "Ninety-five percent of our business is the millionaire next door," Dichter says, noting that the upswing in wealth at the very top end has widened his target demographic. He cites convenience as the truest enticement but recognizes that status plays a role as well. "The Marquis Jet Card in your wallet is like what a new Mercedes in the driveway used to be," Dichter says. "It means you've arrived."
And once some people have arrived, they can't go back. Paul Davies, a Monaco-based interior designer and lifestyle guru, recently bought his first private jet at the European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition, the annual business-aircraft show in Geneva, where buyers shop for their planes down to the last leather chair — it's like the New York International Automobile Show, but with wings. In 2007 the convention set a new attendance record by drawing 11,267 visitors, a 15 percent increase over 2006, with clients like Davies creating their own custom dream jet. "We're complete snobs," says Davies of himself and his partner, Paul Goddard. "Commercial airports are simply ghastly." Anyone exposed to flying solo — even domestic workers — can have a hard time returning to commercial travel. My friend's baby nurse boarded her employer's six-seater charter plane and remarked, "This is the smallest private jet I've ever been on!"
As with any elite ladder, there are always higher rungs to aspire to. At my summer residence on Martha's Vineyard, for instance, the homeowners look down on the renters, the renters snub the hotel guests, and the hotel guests disdain the fanny-pack-wearing day-trippers. Likewise, in the hierarchy of air travel, there are the commercial travelers, the charterers, the fractional owners and then, of course, the owners of the grand prix du ciel, the private jet, which you decorate and can leave your favorite CDs in. It's your home away from home, only in the sky. Talk about the quintessential luxury.
With a nearly four-year waiting list for Gulfstream's $47.59 million G550 aircraft (plus maintenance, fuel, parking fees and pilots' salaries, which can total up to $2 million a year), the skies are filling with the highest level of wealthy travelers — those who christen their planes, high-five the captain and have all the comforts of home on board. Interior designer Markham Roberts recently covered a jet's furniture and walls entirely in chocolate-brown cashmere tweed, transferring the types of luxe details found in his clients' homes to the hangar. For the new elite who choose the convenience of a private jet but are reluctant to show it off, such as Blackstone Group cofounder and chairman Stephen A. Schwarzman and his wife, Christine, there are subdued alternatives. "We wanted to avoid being glitzy and instead create a space that is calming, with creams, camels and pale grays," designer Stephen Miller Siegel says. The neutral shades are complemented by rich Karelian birch, resulting in a soothing (though very pricey) perch in the clouds. Even brand names outside the air-travel industry are recognizing a growing market and throwing their pilot's hats into the ring. Donatella Versace, that icon of nouveau wealth, recently announced her company's plan to partner with a private-jet company to decorate its fleet of Bombardier jets in Versace Home, complete with sumptuous Italian-leather chairs emblazoned with her signature Medusa frieze. You can just picture Saturday Night Live's Maya Rudolph doing her ingenious Donatella impression, flanked by sarong-wearing Adonis clones shimmying in the skies, though the platinum-locked diva couldn't very well yell, "Get out!" six miles off the ground. Maybe she can make some gold parachutes for the overhead compartments.
When it comes to the private-jet set, never mind the cost: as the superrich get richer and life gets busier, comfort and convenience are worthwhile indulgences. And with time slipping through our fingers like sand in an hourglass, more and more travelers are finding that the financial squeeze is indeed worth the juice. "Now more than ever," says Marquis Jet's Dichter, "time is our customers' most valuable asset."
Get This Jet
To acquire any of the most popular private planes, listed below, you often must add your name to a waiting list. If you've got connections, this is a good time to use them.
Cessna Citation XLS
Typical capacity: 2 crew, 8–12 passengers
Range: 1,982 miles
Price: $11.27 million
Gulfstream G550
Typical capacity: 3–4 crew, 8–12 passengers
Range: 7,768 miles
Price: $47.59 million
Hawker 900XP
Typical capacity: 2 crew, 6–8 passengers
Range: 2,995 miles
Price: $14.30 million
Bombardier Global Express XRS
Typical capacity: 3–4 crew, 8–12 passengers
Range: 7,077 miles
Price: $48.97 million
The New Wave: Very Light Jets
Eclipse 500
Typical capacity: 1–2 crew, 3–4 passengers
Range: 1,295 miles
Price: $1.59 million
