According to the plane tracked by JetSpy, Trump’s 757 plane, registration N757AF, has flown 133 hours since Jan. 1.
This compares to the 270 total flight hours on 132 flights operated via the 757 in 2023. Most of its flights run between airports in the Palm Beach area and New York, to JetSpy.
The Trump Organization did not respond to questions about Trump’s use of the planes.
During his 4 years as head of state, Trump traveled with the government’s presidential fleet and probably didn’t expect to want his own plane so soon after winning his first presidential term.
But it wasn’t long before he fixed the 757 with maintenance and a new painting job so he could parade in America again.
The 757 was also used in its 2016 crossover demonstrations, but with antique decoration.
“Branding is a very effective business tool. It’s number one,” Trump told Business Jet Traveler in 2011 before running for president. “I’m the center of attention, too. “
However, it’s a gas-intensive product: it will collectively cost $2. 6 million in fuel and emit around 4,100 tons of CO2 between 2023 and 2024, according to data from JetSpy.
Trump bought the 33-year-old plane from Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, and the $100 million value includes the plane and VIP renovations.
According to the New York Times, Trump’s race for airliners dates back to 1997, when he acquired his Boeing 727.
Registered as VP-BDJ and built in 1968, the aircraft previously flew for American Airlines. The plane has since been scrapped by a company called MotoArt, which used parts of the fuselage to make key chains sold as “PlaneTags,” according to the designer’s website.
Business Jet Traveler reported that the aircraft was sold in May 2011 after logging more than 40,000 flight hours.
In 2009, an aircraft charter agent told CNN Money that the 727 was worth between $4 million and $8 million, but that it would be expensive and functional due to its complex age and three engines.
Despite those complicated touches, the plane’s expensive operation made it a hard sell.
“The problem with this aircraft is that the direct operating prices are very high,” the broker told CNN Money. “It has 3 engines, so I’d charge about $10,000 an hour to fly. “
“There has to be a specific user who needs this plane, who needs it because it belonged to Donald Trump. “
Trump bought a U. S. airline Eastern Air Shuttle and its 17 Boeing 727s in 1988 for $365 million, according to a Washington Post article that year.
His vision transformed the first simple operation into a luxury airline, outfitting aircraft with sumptuous interiors, in-flight calls, and bulk food and beverages.
The plan worked for a while, but the maximum operating prices were not sustainable, and Trump Shuttle joined US Airways in 1992 and then American Airlines through a merger.
The Trump Organization says the Cessna’s length makes it useful for flying to smaller airports that the 757 can’t reach.
The tail number refers to the façade of Trump Tower in New York City, 725 Fifth Avenue, while “DT” is the initials of Donald Trump.
Trump’s Cessna is less flashy than his airliners, sporting only the family emblem on the fuselage instead of his name in giant letters.
Trump’s Citation X variant could fly at a speed of up to Mach 0. 92, making it the fastest purpose-built business jet until the first flight of the modern Cessna Citation X in 2012.
You may only use it for longer trips, such as from New York to California or Florida.
Trump did not renew the Cessna’s registration when it expired in January 2016, but continued to fly it until the error was detected about three months later, the New York Times reported. He said the FAA sent the renewal notices to the directorate.
However, Trump has avoided a lengthy re-registration procedure by creating a new LLC in Delaware and promoting the Cessna to that company.
This triggered a transience record that, according to the Times, is given to new aircraft owners and the plane can return almost immediately.
Jet Edge Partners, an Ohio-based aviation broker, sold Trump’s Citation X.
Details of the sale are unknown, but private charter company EvoJets estimates the acquisition value of a used Cessna Citation X would be around $10 million.
In addition to the helicopters, the business mogul also owned a helicopter service called Trump Air as a connector to his Trump Shuttle flights, BJT reported.
The service used Sikorsky S-61s and Boeing Chinooks before disappearing along with the airline.
According to the Times report in 2016, the two 1989 S-76s cost $875,000 and the 1990 edition cost about $940,000.
While billionaires like Elon Musk fly trendy personal jets built in the 2010s, Trump buys older planes. In 2016, he told the Times that this strategy guaranteed him a smart price for his fleet.
“It’s a little more airplanes than I needed, but I find it hard to resist a smart deal when the opportunity arises,” he said, referring to the 757.
Trump acquired the N76DT in 2010 and used it for shorter trips on highways from New York City to Boston to Washington, D. C.
According to the Times, the other 1989 Sikorsky was purchased in 2014 and the 1990 variant, registered as the N76TE, was purchased in 2012.
The N76TE has been used for things like marketing Trump’s golf in Scotland, adopting the tail number G-TRMP, now delisted in the UK.
Famous for its use in “The Apprentice,” the six-seat N67DT featured two recliners and a four-person daybed. The door panels were covered in leather and gold, and the wooden interior was African mahogany.
According to CNBC, the interior of the similar-looking N76TE helicopter cost Trump $6 million thanks to the heavy gold plating.
FAA records show neither is registered to an active aircraft, yet the two tail numbers were reserved through Trump — the maximum likely attached to any helicopter or long-haul aircraft he decides to buy.
Trump’s third S-76, tail number N7TP, is still registered with the FAA.
When Trump brings the N76DT to market, he may simply make an offer. The aircraft has made about 20,000 flights in its 30 years of existence.
The sale of the two helicopters would bring Trump’s once-five-person private jet fleet to two.
The Associated Press reported in March that the former president could have lost his prized 757 if he had settled to pay the $454 million civil penalty he owed New York after squandering it in a recent fraud case. This case is still under appeal.
Considering the 757 plane has an iconic symbol of Trump’s wealth as he fights for the 2024 presidency, it’s unlikely that he will willingly combine tactics with the VIP plane anytime soon.
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