Wealthy travelers are shelling out up to $34,000 for private jets to skip hours-long TSA lines as airport chaos spirals, according to a report.
Private jet traffic has surged since the shutdown began in mid-February, with departures climbing in hard-hit hubs like New York, Houston and Washington, DC, where TSA callouts have spiked, according to data from aviation analytics firm WingX.
Charter companies report bookings jumping as much as 39%, with first-time flyers driving much of the demand as travelers scramble for alternatives to gridlocked airport security lines, Bloomberg News reported.
New customers largely account for the spike, with Jettly seeing a 52% increase in first-time private fliers — particularly out of Houston, Atlanta and New Orleans, three cities hit hard by TSA staffing shortages.
Last-minute travel is also driving the boom, with bookings made within 72 hours of departure rising 34% as passengers look for immediate ways to avoid hours-long lines.
The pricing cited in the Bloomberg report broadly aligns with standard private jet charter rates under ordinary conditions, with flights typically running a few thousand dollars to many times that depending on aircraft size and distance.
Industry data shows small jets often cost around $3,500 to $7,000 per hour, with common routes like Atlanta to New York ranging from roughly $10,000 to $20,000 and longer trips such as Houston to New York reaching into the mid-$30,000 range for larger aircraft.
It’s increased demand that’s poised to bring a lucrative year for private carriers.
The surge is most pronounced on key domestic routes, where short-haul flights are commanding steep prices. Trips from Atlanta to New York are starting at $13,000 and climbing to $20,000 on short notice, according to Bloomberg.
A short-haul flight from Los Angeles to Las Vegas can run roughly $8,000 to $12,000 on a small private jet, depending on demand and availability.
Longer routes are proving even more lucrative, with flights from Houston to New York reportedly reaching as much as $34,000 as demand peaks.
Overall costs remain high across the board, with smaller private jets seating about six passengers running roughly $7,000 per hour, according to company executives.
Other operators are seeing similar increases.
Slate Aviation, which runs private shuttles between New York and South Florida, reported a 36% increase in inquiries over the past month, prompting the company to expand routes and add flights.
FlyUSA is also benefiting from the disruption, with bookings up roughly 35% year-to-date as more travelers abandon commercial airlines altogether.
“Some of that growth is due to the TSA disruptions, but hard to quantify how much,” the company’s CEO Barry Shevlin told The Post.
“We have had a few first time travelers with us over the last few weeks because they were concerned about significant delays,” he added.
“The biggest increase has come from the segment of our clients that fly business class for certain trips and private for others. Many of those clients are choosing not to risk the delays on commercial over the last few weeks.”
The geographic data shows how closely private jet demand is tracking airport disruption.
In Houston, where TSA callout rates have reached as high as 39.2% at Bush Intercontinental Airport, private jet departures have climbed about 5% year-over-year.
New York has seen similar strain, with TSA absentee rates nearing 29% at JFK and nearly 25% at LaGuardia — alongside a 2% increase in private jet departures.
In the Washington, DC, region, including nearby Baltimore, private jet departures have jumped as much as 10% as staffing shortages ripple through the system.
Atlanta, one of the busiest travel hubs in the country, has recorded TSA callout rates above 40%, with private jet departures rising 5%.
New Orleans has also been hit, with TSA absenteeism topping 36% and private jet departures inching up about 1% year-over-year.
Increasingly, that demand is not just coming from the ultra-wealthy — but from frustrated travelers willing to pay a premium to avoid missing flights.
A partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security has left thousands of TSA workers unpaid since mid-February, driving record callout rates, prompting some workers to quit and crippling staffing at major airports, where security wait times have stretched to four hours or more.
President Trump moved to ease the crisis by ordering emergency pay for agents, but a broader funding deal remains deadlocked in Congress, raising uncertainty over when normal operations will resume and whether disruptions will persist.
