As so much of the country’s wealth is concentrated in coastal states like New York and California, the assumption goes that this is where most of its displays can be found: mansions, top-ranking hotels and restaurants and lifestyles that rely on private jets.
But when it comes to the latter, the most private jet departures actually take place in the state of Alaska. By crunching data from aviation company Argus International, student travel platform Rustic Pathways identified the Last Frontier as having 4,996 private jet departures for every 100,000 people and a total of 36,650 departures in 2023 — more than 100 per day.
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The other states to land highest on the list of most private jet departures share similar characteristics of remoteness and wide stretches of open land. Wyoming recorded 24,263 private jet departures a year and 4,173 registered planes while South Dakota scored third with 26,944 annual departures and 2,961 private jets.
‘More private jets than any other country in the world’
Montana, North Dakota and Nevada landed in the top six while no East Coast state made the top 10. Despite the high concentration of wealth New York, Connecticut and Maryland had the least annual private jet departures for every 100,000 citizens — 472, 414 and 353, respectively.
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Maryland, in particular, is a stark difference from what takes place at its borders. As a solo player, Washington, D.C., recorded 4,517 private jet flights per 100,000 people in 2023 — while understandable given the large number of political dignitaries who pass through it regularly, the number is higher than almost every other state outside the top three.
“America flies more private jets than any other country in the world, with a grand total of 3,123,007 departures in the U.S. in 2023,” Rustic Pathways CEO Shayne Fitz-Coy said in a statement that also mentioned how many people are concerned with the impact it has on climate change. “[…] Despite these efforts, high volumes of private jets flown by celebrities and wealthy fliers for short journeys around America likely reverse any of these efforts.”
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‘It’s clear America has a private jet addiction’
Due to its impact on the environment, private jet use — particularly for short trips across the world — will frequently come under fire from climate activists. Several “online trackers” follow the use of them by figures like Taylor Swift, Elon Musk and Prince Harry and Meghan Markle while in June protesters hosed down private jets standing at an airfield at London Stansted Airport (STN) in orange paint in a sign of protest.
The two people responsible were later arrested “on suspicion of criminal damage and interference with the use or operation of national infrastructure” but the group Just Stop Oil, has been gaining steam in efforts to draw attention to how frequently private jets are used.
“Taylor Swift has been under fire recently for her excessive use of private jets used for particularly short journeys for her Eras tour, emitting copious amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere in the process,” Fitz-Coy said of the findings further. “From these findings, it is clear America has a private jet addiction.”
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