Chartering a private jet not only costs a lot of money, it also burns a lot of fuel and emits a lot of CO2 into the atmosphere. According to a report out by the Institute for Policy Studies, just one hour on a private charter plane will burn equivalent to one year's worth of gasoline to power your car. Think about all the CO2 emissions that is pumped into the air!
Ever since the backlash of the auto executives flying charters to Washington and as the current recession grew deeper, companies were obviously looking for more financially feasible ways to fly their executives from point A to point B. While executives and the wealthy could and have reverted to flying commercial first class or even driving, there is a new alternative that is available and will not break the bank and also is considered to be somewhat more environmentally conscious at the same time. This new alternative is known as Jet-Sharing. Many programs that have sprung up to hopefully lure customers back to private charter travel. The basic model of these jet sharing is to utilize more seats on scheduled charter planes. Instead of chartering an entire plane for 2 people you can share the cost plane with other people who are traveling to the same destination at the same time. The goal is to lower costs, reduce redundant flights and in turn save fuel and emit less CO2 into the atmosphere. By jet sharing you'll still have the amenities of flying a charter jet (avoiding big airports and major delays) but also at the same time be conscious about cost and the impact your flight might have on the environment. You might want to think of charter jet sharing as an airline for the elite.
How jet sharing works:
You can go to a website like GreenJets or Jet It Together and search for already proposed flights or create your own. Currently on the Jet It Together website there is a proposed flight from Las Vegas to Dallas. On the proposal page it shows that 1 person has confirmed a seat. The cost of chartering the entire plane for the flight costs $7080 and has a total of 7 seats. The hope is that at least 4 seats will be filled and the price per person is $1700 for this particular flight. If the plane is full, then the price per person will obviously be less. So if you can get 6 other people on the plane then it'll be about $1000 per person.
Green Jets also is quite similar to Jet It Together, but if you plan on multiple flights a year you can pay an annual membership fee, which will provide you access to a lower cost per flight. According to their website, with a membership a flight from New York to Florida will cost about $1100 versus a pay per flight basis quote of about $2100.
What do you think? Is sharing a jet really the best way for executives and the wealthy to fly around? Is it really a more eco-friendly way to fly if you can afford the luxury of a private charter?
