Robert Weismann over at the Huffington Post has delivered a pointed screed against private aviation, based on the publication of a white paper on private jets by the think-tank Institute for Policy Studies.

With claims like “private jets are symbols of an economic system gone awry”and “corporate jets give the super-rich … a way to distinguish themselves from everyone else,” the piece is little more than coffeehouse sociology. But Weismann does raise a few points regarding private jet use and its economic and social impact that we feel need to be cleared up.

Weissman writes that “[S]oaring private jet use reflects and is emblematic of skyrocketing wealth inequality, in the United States and globally. Private jet sales grew in parallel with commercial air travel until 1997. Then as wealth inequality began to ascend to stratospheric levels, so did private jet use.” In fact, far from reflecting rising economic disparity, the rise in private jet use in the U.S. over the last 10 years is the result of new private jet travel options, which have extended its use beyond the extremely wealthy.

The rise of fractional and card programs, along with the streamlining of charter operations has opened the market to a new class of private jet flyers. The emergence of very light jets promises to democratize private aviation even further. These new formats, as much as the substantial creation of new wealth, account for the upturn in private jet use.

As easy as it is to stigmatize private aviation as a new form of conspicuous consumption on the part of the very wealthy, the reality is that the choice to fly privately is a rational decision. The declining levels of service and reliability by commercial airlines have made travelers who value comfort, efficiency, and dependability turn to private aviation.

While executives may enjoy use of the company jet as a cherished perk, it’s the company CFO and the shareholders who recognize that business jets mean business: the ability to be in more places in less time, to hammer out deals and secure supply chains. Business jets are an essential tool in the globalized 21st century economy. In fact, a 2001 study found that of the 335 companies continually listed on the S&P 500, the 214 which continually used business jets experienced a return on equity that was 194% greater than those which did not. If business jets were a profligate expenditure, they would be cut from the budget. And if an executive takes too much advantage of the company jet for personal use, it is within the power of the shareholders to reign him in.

No one, not even private jet owners and flyers, believes that the share of FAA costs covered by business aviation should stand as it is now. Representatives from the private aviation community worked along with the airlines and members of Congress to enact new legislation to fund the FAA and restructure the nation’s aging air traffic control system. The failure of the subsequent FAA funding bill was not because an agreement could not be reached, but was due to the addition of riders to the bill entirely unrelated to the aviation issue. It was political chicanery, not the selfishness of the private aviation industry, that is keeping the FAA taxes as they are until next year at the soonest.

As far as the carbon emissions question goes, we share Weissman’s concern over private jets and their impact on global warming. This is why we have been staunch advocates for the purchase of carbon offsets from companies like TerraPass. For just pennies on the dollar for the cost of a flight, private jet travelers can easily counterbalance the carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere.

There should be no reason to begrudge private jet travelers for choosing a faster, more efficient way of getting from point A to point B. While the aviation system in the U.S. is in need of reform, attacks which seem based on resentment and worn out class politics are not the place to start.