Expedia CEO Barry Diller came under fire recently because he reportedly used a company jet to rack up $12 million in personal trips since 2005, while Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg billed the social media giant some $1.2 million for personal flights in 2013 and 2014.
And who can forget the nation furor that erupted when Detroit auto executives used private jets to travel to Washington D.C. to ask for government handouts?
Given the history, then, it may come as no surprise that executives are being a bit more secretive about their use of private jets these days
As a result, many executives and super-rich travelers are hiding ownership of private jets, according to attributed to René Banglesdorf, CEO of Charlie Bravo Aviation.
“They might purchase an aircraft under the name of a shell or operating company that leases it back so that it doesn’t show up on the books as an asset of the company or under the FAA registry with a high-profile individual’s name attached,” said René Banglesdorf, CEO of Charlie Bravo Aviation, which sells private jets out of Austin, Texas.
“It affords more privacy and it simplifies tax implications for aircraft that are used for both professional and personal purposes,” she added.
While private jets are convenient and in many cases practical for wealthy frequent travelers, they sometimes carry a stigma that travelers want to avoid.
That’s also cut down on executives using company jets for personal reasons.
“Business executives are not using the corporate jet for personal travel like they used to and if it’s discovered that they are, there’s more effort to reimburse because company shareholders are insisting on it,” said Neil Book, CEO of JSSI, which maintains Delta’s private jet division.
Some 65 percent of ultra-high-net-worth individuals fly private jets for business purposes to get to meetings quickly compared to 35 percent that use private jets to get to sporting events such as the Super Bowl, according to Life In Motion Group, a travel and event management agency that caters to the wealthy.