How Jet Charter Companies are Going Green
It has certainly been a long road, and the industry often receives less recognition than it should.
VistaJet plane in front of flowers
The introduction of a new fleet of technologically advanced aircrafts is also contributing to VistaJet’s reduced environmental impact / ©VistaJet
Private jet charter companies are going green — and in a big way. It has certainly been a long road, and the industry often receives less recognition than it should.
Yet, according to private aviation services buyer’s guide Private Jet Card Comparisons, the past 18 months saw more than a dozen charter and fractional operators add options to offset emissions and, in some cases, include them as part of the package.
As the industry’s largest company, Berkshire Hathaway-owned NetJets has long had a focus on being green. It opened its first LEED-certified building at its Columbus, Ohio headquarters in 2012. Last year, it invested in WasteFuel, which will convert municipal waste to Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). The 2020 launch of its Global Sustainability Program was designed to give the outside world a 360-degree view of its wide-ranging efforts and use its clout to help move the industry forward.
Beyond initiatives around SAF and offsetting flight emissions, private jet operators are doggedly implementing green business practices big and small. Last year, Clay Lacy installed over 30,000 sq ft of solar panels at its Van Nuys Airport facilities in Los Angeles. The electricity produced is equal to burning 584,000 lbs of coal.
Luxury charter operator VistaJet replaced over 90% of single-use cabin items with sustainable alternatives such as bamboo toothbrushes and biodegradable packaging. It pledges to be carbon neutral by 2025, a quarter-century ahead of the industry’s target. Directional Aviation’s brands — Flexjet, Sentient Jet, FXAir and PrivateFly — all now include carbon offsets as part of the programs they sell.
Jet card seller Sentient (which, like PrivateFly and Flexjet Europe, offsets 300% of carbon emissions to account for water vapor, aerosols and nitrous oxide) covered 30,000 flight segments in the first 12 months of its program. Still, any discussion of private aviation’s responsible luxury focus must be clear: Billionaires’ private jets and holiday charter trips to Ibiza and Barbados are part of a larger fish tank.
That same business aviation infrastructure creates jobs in regions and communities that are not well-served by scheduled airlines. It’s also the same ecosystem that delivers first responders and lifesaving emergency supplies after natural disasters, brings doctors to rural patients, and supports both medical evacuation and organ transplant flights.
