Overall, high-performance business aircraft -- those powered by jets or turbo props -- accounted for about 10 percent of all flights overseen by FAA controllers last year and eight percent of miles flown, according to an agency estimate.
Trust Fund
The FAA estimated that these business planes contributed $104 million to the trust fund in 2016. That amounts to just 0.7 percent of the overall aviation taxes. That compares to 92 percent of the tax payments, or more than $13 billion, that came from U.S. carriers, foreign airlines and charter carriers -- most of which were paid directly by passengers.
While the use of private aircraft has occasionally drawn criticism -- such as when Detroit automakers flew on separate company planes to Washington in 2008 to seek bailouts from Congress -- it has tended to be short-lived.
Both George W. Bush and Barack Obama floated proposals to hike taxes or fees on private jets while they served as president. Both considered adding a per-flight fee for private flights and Obama in 2011 suggested changes in how private planes were depreciated on tax returns, which would have increased what owners paid. None of the plans came to fruition.
The disparity in aviation tax payments hasn’t changed much in decades, said George Donohue, a professor at George Mason University in Virginia who served as associate administrator of the FAA during the 1990s. Donohue studied the issue during his tenure at FAA and said the disparities were about the same as now.
"I always found it amusing that people in the business jets are great capitalists, except when they get cross subsidies," he said.
Fewer Charters
The Patriots, fresh off their come-from-behind Super Bowl victory this year, decided to enter the world of private aviation as sports teams have found it increasingly difficult to charter large aircraft.
Their purchase of two 767s, one a spare to ensure they won’t miss a trip due to maintenance, illustrates how the tax rates can vary significantly for identical flights.