September 10, 2025
Patriotic Millionaires group is ‘certain the FAA can work something out’ for a broad private jet ban while not impacting life-saving flights.
A group called the Patriotic Millionaires isn’t backing away from a proposal to ban private jets.
The proposal was made during the recently ended government shutdown.
Patriotic Millionaires proposed a ban on private jets as a way to shield scheduled airlines and passengers from the impact of the shutdown on the air traffic control system.
After several attempts to clarify its position following warnings of the potential impact of its plan on medical, organ transplant, urgent cargo, and disaster relief flights, a spokesperson tells Private Jet Card Comparisons, “We are not amending our stance.”
The group “is a collection of wealthy Americans fighting against the destabilizing concentration of wealth and power in the United States.”
Members seek “to advance a vibrant and equitable economy, built on the foundation of a fair tax system, a livable wage for every working American, and equal access to political power.”
During the shutdown, Patriotic Millionaires proposed banning private jets as a remedy for the air travel chaos caused by fewer air traffic controllers reporting to work without pay.
In addition to pushing a ban with national media, the group started an online petition.
It read in part, “Join us in calling on Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to ground Every. Single. Private. Jet. Before a single commercial flight carrying everyday people is delayed or cancelled.”
The full petition read:
‘This week, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy ordered airlines at major hubs to ground 10% of flights. That’s 1 out of 10 everyday travelers who will miss the meeting, cut the vacation, or fail to reach grandma’s bedside in time.
It doesn’t have to be that way. Private jets account for one out of every six flights—roughly 16% of U.S. air traffic—and they’re still taking off.
Well, that doesn’t fly for us.
Instead of cutting all flights by 10%, instead ground 100% of private jets until capacity returns to normal.
People flying in private jets should be last in line, not first in privilege, when air traffic control capacity is constrained. Join us in calling on Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to ground Every. Single. Private. Jet. Before a single commercial flight carrying everyday people is delayed or cancelled.’
As of last night, the proposal had generated over 8,800 signatures.
The group has been actively speaking to the media to promote the ban.
The spokesperson for Patriotic Millionaires downplayed the number of critical business aviation flights that would be affected.
She also said the group believes there would be workarounds for essential flights.
In a written statement, the spokesperson replied, “Of course, there would be carve-outs for emergencies like in any other scenario—including the far less than 5% of private jet traffic that involves medical or organ transplant (primarily handled by commercial airlines, anyway).”
She continued, “For 15,000 private jet flights per day, if you want to identify the 200 that have sick patients or organs, we are certain the FAA can work something out.”
The response was despite being advised that its proposed ban would impact a broader swath of the economy, including time-sensitive medical flights.
Former FBO executive Millie Hernandez-Becker of SkyQueen Reality tells Private Jet Card Comparisons a broad ban “just doesn’t pencil out.”
She noted that the medical and urgent cargo flights are indeed a small part of the market, despite their critical nature.
She said it would be economically impossible for FBOs and other dedicated ground support to operate if there were a significant reduction in general private jet flying.
An FBO executive speaking on background scoffed at the idea that the FAA would come up with a plan.
“They can’t even hire controllers. How is the FAA going to come up with a replacement solution in 24 hours? That was the notice the industry was given for the ban at the 12 airports,” he said.
Former Grandview Aviation President Jesse Naor noted the Phenom 300 operator conducted 400 life-saving flights annually.
Naor said the Patriotic Millionaires’ analysis of transplant flights likely doesn’t account for time limits across different organ groups.
While kidney transplants have a 48-hour window, she said lung transplants require less than four hours, heart transplants require less than six hours, and liver transplants have only a 12- to 18-hour window.
She estimated that there are 10 to 20 flights nationwide daily just for heart transplants.
A ban such as that proposed by the Patriotic Millionaires, she said, would quickly mean that operating those organ donor flights would become “difficult if not impossible.”
James Leach, chief marketing officer for Air Charter Service, said of those calling for a ban on private jets for the uber wealthy, “They need to think carefully about the knock-on effects.”
The UK-based firm handles both passenger and cargo charters.
Urgent cargo charters often use turboprop aircraft and customized business jets.
The key, he said, is that time-sensitive charters often use the same infrastructure as the private jets of the rich and famous.
Leach continued, “General aviation is one industry.”
Despite being advised that nearly half of private flights don’t carry top executives and billionaires and a ban would threaten life-saving organ transplant flights, flights carrying children to cancer treatments, emergency shipments of critical parts to keep businesses running, and hamstring first-responders in the case of a natural disaster, the group declined to acknowledge potential collateral damage.
A spokesperson for Patriotic Millionaires told Forbes, “Our stance was never about grounding medical flights, but rather grounding private non-life-saving flights during staff shortages in the middle of the government shutdown.”
Patriotic Millionaires was provided another chance to rethink the consequences of their rhetoric, when Private Jet Card Comparisons reached out to ask, “Considering that after presenting you with opinions from industry experts who say your call for grounding private jets would also impact the ability to run medical and organ donor flights, the segment to respond to a natural disaster, and hit shipments of critical cargo that use private jet infrastructure, are you reconsidering your stance?”
However, the group seems to believe it would be possible to execute a widespread private jet ban without impacting critical missions.
Ironically, Patriotic Millionaires’ home page (pictured in the lead) features a King Air.
The turboprops are notable for their use in air-med and by smaller companies accessing remote locations.
NBAA data shows more than 40% of member flights were to airports with no or limited scheduled airline flights.
More than one-third were to airports that had never had commercial airline flights.
Earlier this week, a father and daughter lost their lives when the King Air they were using to bring supplies to victims of Hurricane Melissa in Jamaica crashed shortly after takeoff in Florida.
Adding to the irony, the King Air featured by Patriotic Millionaires is parked at a Million Air FBO.
Private jet facilities like Million Air play a key role in saving lives in the aftermath of natural disasters.
During Hurricane Harvey, Million Air played a significant role in supporting first responder efforts.
Back then, Roger Woolsey, the CEO of Million Air, noted its San Antonio location contributed “five jets out of the charter department…to restock (and) keep critical care units (in Houston) running, including needed medicines.”
The company’s Houston Hobby Airport FBO location received dozens of first-responder flights for days before airline service could be restored.
Woolsey recalled, “The helicopters would be fueled, as the crew would debrief their next mission, and eat a fast, on-the-run meal. The swimmers would even rush in and take quick showers after being soaked in the flood waters – all in record time so these dedicated rescuers could reenergize for more lifesaving missions. Often, the crew would not even have time to eat a quick hot meal. As they’d run back out, we’d hand them Pop-Tarts and hot dogs.”
Hernandez-Becker said the industry would be hard-pressed to act on short notice if it had been shuttered.
READ: How FAA airline flight cuts are impacting private jet companies, flyers
While several left-leaning politicians also called for private jet bans, two advocates of many of the policies favored by Patriotic Millionaires were silent.
Earlier this year, Senator Bernie Sanders defended his use of private jets during his Fighting Oligarchy tour.
Sanders called flying by private jet “the only way to get around.”
“You run a campaign, and you do three or four or five rallies in a week…the only way you can get around to talk to 30,000 people. You think I’m gonna be sitting in a waiting line at United…while 30,000 people are waiting?” Sanders told Fox News.
He added, “No apologies for that. That’s what campaign travel is about. We’ve done it in the past. We’re gonna do it in future.”
New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez also apparently was able to separate the value of business aviation from politics.
Ocasio-Cortez accompanied Sanders on some of those private jet flights.
Like Sanders, we could not find any comments from Ocasio-Cortez calling for a ban on private jets during the now-ended government shutdown.
However, the spokesperson for the Patriotic Republicans said the group is not rethinking its stance.
She said, “Our simple point is that corporate CEOs and the super wealthy should not be exempt from the inconvenience and disruption that all travelers will face, and the quickest way to alleviate aviation congestion from a shutdown is to clear the skies of frivolous private travel and make room for commercial airliners.”
She also noted, “Since the federal government shutdown began on Oct. 1, the private aviation industry had its best month in nearly 20 years.”
One private aviation executive said about the increase in private flying, “So what? What does that have to do with the damage their plan would cause?”
He added, “I wonder how they would react if it were their family member flying for cancer treatment. What would they do if their wife missed a transplant? There are long lists. People die waiting.”
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