As the longest government shutdown in U.S. history continues, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has ordered flight reductions at 40 major airports, including Atlanta, New York, Boston and Los Angeles.
The measure begins affecting 4% of flights, with plans to increase until it affects 1 in 10 flights at those airports, disrupting the travel plans of thousands of Americans every day.
But Patriotic Millionaires, a group of high-net-worth people who advocate for more progressive taxes to close the wealth gap, suggests an alternative that they say would save commercial airline passengers and still offer relief to air traffic controllers: simply cancel all private flights.
Private jets specifically—which are more expensive and carry more passengers than small private planes—make up one in six flights managed by the FAA, according to the Institute for Policy Studies.
The use of private jets has also skyrocketed in recent years, with the United States responsible for the majority of private flights.
“If you need a 10% reduction [in flights]you can get 100% of your reduction on private planes. It doesn’t need to affect commercial flights, period,” says Erica Payne, president and founder of Patriotic Millionaires.
For Payne, the FAA is “choosing to let everyone suffer rather than grounding planes that are destroying the planet and taking one or two people at a time into the lap of luxury.”
It is possible that some private flights will end up being part of those 4% to 10% reductions that occur in the main hubs. But Patriotic Millionaires suggests that the FAA focus specifically on private flights, avoiding commercial passengers.
Private jets and public resources
Everyone who flies pays taxes that help fund the FAA, which then pays the salaries of its employees, including air traffic controllers. During the government shutdown, air traffic controllers are considered essential workers and are required to continue doing their jobs without pay.
That reality is putting air traffic controllers to the test, many of which They work mandatory overtime six days a week, so they cannot take other jobs. They have been taking more and more sick days.
According to the industry group Airlines for America, at least 3.4 million travelers have already been affected by staffing shortages.
For the average airline passenger, a 7.5% tax on the ticket price, plus a fee that can be up to $4.50, goes to the FAA’s Airports and Airways Trust Fund. Private jet travelers contribute only 2% of the taxes that make up that fund.
While some private flights take off from major airport hubs, there are also airports that only offer private air travel, such as Van Nuys Airport in Los Angeles, one of the busiest aviation hubs in the country.
That airport is not on the FAA’s list of affected high-traffic airports.
In some cases, airports that primarily serve private jets have also collected taxpayer money, such as Napa Valley Airport in California, that he collected 6.3 million dollars in two years.
“Private jet travelers have already gotten away with making American taxpayers take care of their jet setting,” Payne says. “We are financing the air travel of the richest people in the country, which causes pollution.”
“Now they ask us to suffer cancellations and delays, when we have already been assuming their transportation costs for decades,” he continues. “And there’s an easy way out of this. Patriotic millionaires say: Shut down private air travel during the government shutdown and use that extra capacity.”
fast company contacted the FAA for comment. An automated response said the agency is not responding to routine press requests during the shutdown.
Highlights on wealth inequality
For Payne, this move to impact commercial flights while seemingly ignoring private jet travel is another example of the way issues around wealth inequality are being highlighted across the country.
“The secretary of transportation stands there and says that 1 in 10 people in America who fly somewhere will be delayed or canceled, while the rich aren’t even asked to park their planes and fly first class for a few days,” Payne says.
The One Big Beautiful Bill, recently signed into law by President Trump, also provides more than $1 trillion in tax cuts to the richest 1% in the country.
Patriotic Millionaires’ suggestion to the FAA also comes the same week that Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani won the New York City mayoral race. Mamdani proposed taxing the rich to fund programs such as daycare and free buses. Billionaires spent millions of dollars opposing his campaign.
Patriotic Millionaires says it is contacting all members of the House and Senate committees to suggest they ground private planes rather than impact commercial flights. The group is also creating a series of social media posts to highlight the idea, including some featuring Patriotic Millionaires member Abigail Disney.
“This needs to become an issue,” Payne says. “We plan to do everything in our power to make it an issue.”
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