Think owning a private jet is all glam and freedom? Think again.
In this video, we break down the true cost of private jet ownership — from the purchase price to hidden maintenance fees, fuel, pilot salaries, hangar storage, and more.
🛩️ What's Covered:
Types of jets and purchase prices
Annual maintenance & operating costs
Fuel consumption, pilot expenses, and insurance
Why some billionaires prefer to rent or charter
If you’ve ever wondered what it really takes to fly private — this is the video to watch.
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00:00If you've ever found yourself in a middle seat on a cross-country flight, fighting tooth and nail with the sick person beside you for the armrest, then you know what a pain it is to fly commercial.
00:11Sure, you end up where you're going, if you're lucky, but do you actually enjoy the journey sitting all the way back in 42E?
00:17For some, flying is a luxurious experience. You can sail high above the clouds in a plush leather seat, making conference calls and whisking yourself off to an exotic destination.
00:28If you have a private jet, that is. A private jet is one of the first investments I truly made once I made a name for myself, and I can happily say I don't regret it.
00:37I haven't fought over an armrest or a bag of peanuts in years, but I can't deny there are a few drawbacks, a few very, very large financial drawbacks.
00:47Today, we're going to take a look at how much it truly costs to own a private jet.
00:52I'll even include how much it costs yearly to fly and maintain the private jet that I own.
00:58So, what exactly do you have to do to maintain a private jet once you buy the actual plane?
01:03Private jets aren't a one-and-done situation. You have to pay for every takeoff, every landing, every bag of peanuts and bottle of wine.
01:11There are ramp fees, where you have to pay whenever your plane has a layover.
01:15There are landing fees, which vary from 100 to 500 bucks, where you have to pay for every single landing your plane makes.
01:21There are also hangar fees, which cover the cost of parking your plane in a hangar.
01:26After all, if you've spent $100 million on your plane, chances are you're not going to want it sitting out in the rain.
01:32On average, hangar fees land around $81,000 per year.
01:37If you want your plane parked and ready to go at a hop-in airport like LAX, they charge up to $12,000 per month, adding up to a staggering $144,000 per year.
01:49Of course, flying is considered a rather dangerous endeavor, so you'll need insurance.
01:54And not just one kind, hull insurance, which covers damage to the plane in all of its systems, runs around $34,000 per year.
02:02On top of that, if you're the owner of the jet, you'll need single liability insurance, which tax on another fund fee of $12,500.
02:09That's not even mentioning fuel costs, which vary from plane to plane, but can cost as much as $53,000 for a single fill.
02:19If you're keeping track so far, our expenses are steadily climbing to a fairly high altitude.
02:25Now, sure, the plane is important, but unless you're a pilot, you're going to need a crew, and you're going to have to shell out quite a bit of money to keep them around.
02:34On average, you can expect to pay about $215,000 per year for a pilot, co-pilot, and two flight attendants.
02:42You have to pay overnight fees for your crew, which include lodging, transportation, and food.
02:47If you're planning on staying at a destination for a while, you can send your crew back to your home base, but that'll cost you a repositioning fee.
02:55On top of all these necessary fees, there are a few random outliers that go with operating such a complex piece of machinery.
03:02If you're flying from Quebec to Florida in the middle of December, looking to escape to a warmer climate, you'll have to pay a de-icing fee before your wheels hop off the tarmac.
03:13If something goes wrong with your jet, you can look at paying as much as $60,000 for a new windshield, or $8,000 for a new tire.
03:21In other words, cross your fingers and hope that you're flying from a warm destination to a warm destination with no repairs in store.
03:28Now, let's get down into the nitty-gritty, the price difference between aircraft.
03:33The most common private jet in the world is the Cessna Citation XLS, a small firecracker of a jet that can seat eight people along with four crew members.
03:44The Cessna is a bit dated, but it's often upgraded and fitted with all new tech and luxurious touches.
03:51Buying an updated Cessna will cost you around $14 million.
03:54If you want to buy a 10-year-old basic model, it'll run you about $4 million.
04:00If you're flying around 200 hours per year, that's enough to jet from LA to London about 15 times.
04:06It'll cost you around $805,000 to maintain the plane.
04:11That rounds out to about $10.15 per mile.
04:16But maybe you want something a little nicer than an old Cessna Citation XLS.
04:22Maybe you want something luxurious, like the Gulfstream 650.
04:26I can't say enough about this plane, which is actually the one I decided to purchase years ago.
04:32This jet has a lounge area with a sofa and a flat-screen television that pops out of a credenza.
04:38The credenza also has an added bonus, a wine cabinet, where chilled bubbly awaits.
04:43In my case, it's normally a nice white wine.
04:46There's also a dining room and a private stateroom, where a couch folds out into a double-sized bed.
04:52For being 30,000 feet above the ground, the bed is fairly comfortable,
04:56and I've had my fair share of nights in the Mile High Club.
04:59I have many lovely memories on my Gulfstream 650,
05:03but that hasn't come without investing a fair share of my money into it.
05:07It costs about $1.6 million a year to operate the Gulfstream.
05:11To fly 200 hours per year, which is around my average,
05:15the fuel alone costs almost a half a million dollars.
05:19When you factor in how much the plane costs to purchase in the first place,
05:22around $65.5 million, you're talking about a lot of money.
05:27Of course, you don't have to buy a plane.
05:30You can charter one instead.
05:32Before I took the plunge and bought my Gulfstream,
05:34I was chartering jets almost every other weekend.
05:37And it doesn't come cheap.
05:39If you're chartering a small plane,
05:41you can expect to pay between $2,000 to $3,000 per hour.
05:45The Cessna Citation, which is considered a mid-sized plane,
05:48costs around $9,500 per hour.
05:51But the Gulfstream?
05:53That'll cost you around $13,000 per hour.
05:56If you're flying from New York to London every week,
05:59you're going to be racking up some pretty hefty chartering rates.
06:03All in all, the world of private jets is an exciting, enticing,
06:07luxurious, and downright expensive one.
06:10What do you think of the costs of owning and operating private jets?
06:14Would you prefer to buy or rent?
06:16Let me know in the comments down below.
06:18As always, thanks for watching.
06:19If you enjoyed the video, make sure to leave a like and subscribe.
