Celebrities and Athletes Are Using Private Planes Now More Than Ever Amid the Coronavirus Outbreak
The world is currently reeling from the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis. At present, many people are being asked to practice social distancing and self-isolation for the foreseeable future. Movie theaters and restaurants have closed, entire school districts have been shuttered, and many of us are hunkering down with our slow cookers and Netflix accounts to try and pass the time until it’s safe to resume or normal lives.
Many celebrities including the KarJenner clan and Ellen Degeneres have urged fans about the importance of staying in and why practicing social distancing is for the greater good of everyone. Though we are all doing our best to stay positive, this has greatly affected small business owners, everyday people, and industries that stand to lose everything.
Though airplanes on major airlines are all but empty, and many celebrities are publically asking people to stay in, celebs and athletes are using public planes now more than ever.
Celebrities are going stir crazy
Since they are used to extremely busy lives that have them out and about and flying across the globe, celebrities appear to be faring much worse than everyday people. From horrible statements about the pandemic from celebs like Vanessa Hudgens and Evangeline Lilly, celebs don’t seem to know what to do with themselves during this time as Hollywood has come to a halt.
So far we’ve seen celebs give entire concerts. Ellen DeGeneres video-chatted Chrissy Teigen and John Legend because they were all bored. January Jones prepared a relaxing bath for the world to see, and Seth Rogan live-tweeted watching Cats for the first time.
Still, while many celebs are staying in. Others are simply using private planes to get around.
Private plane usage has increased in recent weeks
Though we are all urged to stay in, many celebs are using private jets to fly across the country in an attempt to stay healthy while maintaining social distancing.
“We’ve seen a tremendous uptick really all around the business, whether it’s our customers that rely on us 365 days a year as normal, and then certainly an uptick in new customers who have obviously grown weary of flying with the commercial airlines and being in the bigger airports,” Anthony Tivnan, president and founder of Magellan Jets told Hollywood Life. “Also, the circumstances around why people are using private aviation. There’s a lot of moving of passengers who may be high risk, like elderly folks, obviously families traveling with infants or small children.”
However, this has not solved the issue. “The problem is that there are a limited number of private planes so they get booked very quickly,” Nevin J., Executive Charter Consultant at Air Charter Service told Hollywood Life. “It’s definitely becoming much harder for clients to reserve a plane because people are turning to private charters much more than ever before. People are reserving them more often so they are less available. For those who have become accustomed to having a few days to decide whether or not they want to book a plane, they now may only have moments before someone else reserves that plane before them.”
We wonder how this might change as stay-at-home orders spread throughout the country.
Renting a private plane is extremely expensive
Hopefully, celebs are just using these jets to get to their loved ones before hunkering down. On average getting from New York to Los Angeles and vice-versa on a commercial flight in economy class is about $300.
“I would say on average for Los Angeles to New York… It depends on the jet type, but you’re anywhere from $25,000 to $35,000 on a midsize to a super-midsize jet,” Tivnan revealed.
