Having access to the executive jet is one of the most coveted perks of being a top cat in a profitable modern corporation, but that privilege may soon be undergoing some surprising changes thanks to the bad practices of a few CEOs. A recent investigative review by a top financial magazine disclosed that many corporate executives had been abusing the use of the corporate jets for personal pleasure by as much as 30% to 50% of the time the jets were used. While some personal use of the company jet is permissible under many benefits packages, utilizing the airplane for personal use a full third or half of the time is an excess that has drawn righteous indignation from many shareholders.

A review of nearly every jet flight in the United States between 2007 and 2010 showed that many corporate CEOs used the executive jet provided by the company to visit resort hotels or other locations where the CEO owned property. This has raised many eyebrows from industry experts who are beginning to doubt whether the corporations are disclosing the full amount of money spent on personal jet travel to company shareholders, as required by law. SEC rules require that the cost of personal travel must be disclosed if it exceeds $25,000 or more than 10% of the cost of all the executive perks, but it appears that under-reporting may be a widespread phenomena.

This is particularly unfortunate given the rise of luxury charter jets and the decline in price for their tickets over the last two years. Charter jets are seeing the most profitable quarters in years, and yet tickets often cost half the price of an average charter flight or even less for empty-leg trips. Not only are many executives apparently bilking their shareholders for unreported personal trips, but they do so despite the ease and price of opting to go with a private charter company instead.