Why was Ivanka Trump flying on JetBlue?
That was a question on everyone's mind Friday, a day after the daughter of President-elect Donald Trump was involved in an incident aboard a flight on the low-cost airline from JFK International Airport in New York City.
A fellow passenger, whom some media sites identified as Dan Goldstein of Brooklyn, N.Y., was accused of harassing her by saying “Your father is ruining the country.” Goldstein and his husband, identified as Hunter College Professor Matthew Lasner, were removed from the flight and offered a later flight.
But Goldstein also reportedly wanted to know why Trump was on a commercial flight and not flying on a private or charter jet.
Fair question.
Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner are very rich. And she's the daughter of a reported billionaire.
So why the heck was she, Jared and their three children flying on JetBlue?
While Ivanka could have flown on one of her father’s “Trump” planes, it does cost the president-elect thousands of dollars to run them.
Donald Trump has two jet planes: a Boeing 757, often called Trump Force One, and a smaller jet, Cessna Citation X, The New York Times reports.
Running the smaller jet would cost about $3,200 an hour and the Boeing 757 about $8,000 to $12,000 an hour, according to Conklin & de Decker, an aviation reference company.
So assuming they were heading to Palm Beach International Airport, about 3 miles from Mar-a-Lago, the president-elect’s Palm Beach mansion where he is spending the Christmas holidays — that’s roughly a two and a half hour flight from JFK. So the cost would be $8,000 on the smaller jet and between $20,000 and $30,000 on the larger plane.
That’s a lot of money to fly only a family of five.
It’s unclear where the jet was actually heading. JetBlue said Goldstein was removed from a San Francisco-bound flight, as Ivanka planned to travel to Hawaii for the holidays. And ABC News reported that “senior sources” within Trump’s transition team said the destination was Hawaii.
But a few media reports suggested that the flight was headed to PBIA.
So maybe an easy, fairly quick JetBlue flight from JFK to PBIA was too easy to pass up?
According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, 1.3 percent of JetBlue’s traffic is from PBIA to JFK, which is about 300,000 passengers a year. The airline alone flies about 23 million passengers a year.
Also, one out of every 15 passengers at PBIA are traveling on a JetBlue flight to JFK, which suggests JetBlue is a popular choice for those flying to and from the New York area.
And who doesn’t like flying JetBlue with all its perks? Such as personal TVs, free snacks and drinks, and comfy, spacious seats. The pricing is also less expensive than other airlines, with a round-trip flight from JFK to PBIA starting at about $250.
And while JetBlue doesn’t have first-class seating, it does offer extra leg-room seats for an extra charge.
A spokeswoman for the Trump family would not comment on the incident, but did not deny what took place, according to The Associated Press.
As for why Ivanka and her family apparently didn't have any security with her, according to the New York Times, neither Ivanka nor her husband have applied for a security clearance, at least since mid-November.
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