Why tech billionaires no longer want flight attendants on their private jets

A new wave of tech billionaires — that’s growing thanks to today’s SpaceX IPO — are buying Gulfstreams but eschewing the traditional luxuries that come with it — namely, hiring a flight attendant. “The founder way to make their jet seem like a utility and not a luxury is simple,” one Silicon Valley source told The Post.“Fill the seats with employees, ditch the flight attendant for Starlink, and roam the cabin picking up empty Coke cans.”Flying private, in their telling, is transportation, not indulgence — a necessary tool to keep up with their demanding schedules.Another source who works in aviation explained, “A lot of the luxuries you would expect — champagne, caviar — that doesn’t really happen very often these days [among the tech types].”Now, he explains flyers are more likely to grab In-N-Out when leaving LA or pickup some bagels or deli sandwiches before departing New York.

 One tech executive who recently flew on a heavy private jet with nearly a dozen passengers described the cognitive dissonance of sitting on a flight that cost well over $100,000 to pilot and operate (on a plane that cost millions) with nothing on offer but bottled water and soda and no one to offer it to him.“I didn’t think that Delta One would have a fancier wine list than flying in a Gulfstream.”Of course, it’s not about the cost.

A quality flight attendant costs as little as $100,000 to $120,000 per year which is about the cost of operating a one-way flight cross-country.The driving force is largely a desire to avoid conspicuous consumption and eliminate any accusations of flying private purely for luxury.When you fly as often as many tech billionaires do, there is no reason to make it special.

They know the drill.“They’ve been flying for so many years, it’s like they know how to operate everything in the cabin,” the aviation insider said.

“They don’t need somebody else in there.”It’s the same instinct that prompts some of th...