In a normal workplace, job ‘perks’ might include free snacks, a gym membership or even a corporate retreat – at the world’s most powerful companies, it’s a plane.

S&P 500 spent over $65 million in 2022 flying their executives around the globe on private jets.

Spending on private flights is up about 50 percent on pre-pandemic levels, according to an analysis by the Wall Street Journal.

Over 420 executives at 216 top companies were offered the perk in 2022.

One of the biggest spenders was Meta Platforms that splashed $6.6 million on CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg‘s personal flights in 2022 – 55 percent more than in 2019.

Both the number of executives using the perk and the spending per executive has jumped since 2019

Meta spent the most on CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s travel

They splashed out $6.6 million in 2022 on flights for Zuckerberg

They say the flights are necessary for his security

Many of the companies say they have to offer private flights to be compliant with security advice – but critics say it is a waste of money.

According to data from executive data firm Equilar, behind Meta, the firms with the highest spending on private flights were casino and resorts company Las Vegas Sands, with $3.2 million and aerospace company Lockheed Martin with $2.1 million.

Constellation Brands, Ford Motor and Charter Communications all spent over $1 million on executives’ personal flights.

PepsiCo spent $776,000 on personal flights for five executives in 2022, twice as much as in 2019.

Two-thirds of this went on flights for CEO Ramon Laguarta who reportedly needed the flights for safety and efficiency reasons.

The figures include non-business-related flights. For example, travel to other companies’ board meetings or into work from distant homes are some of the uses.

Critics say the spending shows big corporations are too eager to please their executives.

Rosanna Landis Weaver, an executive-pay analyst at As You Sow, told the Journal: ‘The vast majority of S&P 500 companies do not offer this perk.’

Data shows a massive jump in company spending on executives personal private plane travel

Tesla and X owner Elon Musk’s private jets took 441 flights in 2023, flying over 1,160 hours

PepsiCo spent $776,000 on personal flights for five executives in 2022, two-thirds of which went on flights for CEO Ramon Laguarta

Palo Alto Networks spent $650,000 subsidizing personal flights for CEO Nikesh Arora in the year ended July 2022, the following year the bill rose to $1.8 million.

In an October securities filing officials said: ‘There was a bona fide, business-related security concern for Mr. Arora and credible threat actors existed with both the willingness and resources necessary for conducting an attack on Mr. Arora.’

Most of the companies’ plane spending went to the CEOs, accounting for over two-thirds of the cost.

Explaining their spending on Zuckerberg’s travel in a company filing, Meta wrote: ‘Mark Zuckerberg uses private aircraft for travel in connection with his overall security program.

‘Since March 2022, we have chartered a private aircraft that is indirectly and wholly owned by Mr. Zuckerberg and operated by an independent charter company for business and personal travel by Mr. Zuckerberg.

‘On certain occasions, Mr. Zuckerberg may be accompanied by guests when using such aircraft, and certain of our other personnel may also use such aircraft for business travel.’

Goldman Sachs in 2020 acquired two Gulfstream jets, including a G280 similar to the one above

Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon took seven trips on the company jet in as many weeks, all while raging that employees should return to the office and stop working remotely

It’s not the first time companies have come under fire for their CEO’s use of private jets.

In 2021, the CEO of Goldman Sachs, took seven weekend trips on the company’s private jet in as many weeks.

CEO David Solomon’s trips over seven weekends were mostly to the Bahamas, including an exclusive enclave on the pink-sand beaches of Barbuda, sources told Bloomberg at the time.

Meanwhile, LVMH CEO, Bernard Arnault was forced to sell his company’s private jet in 2022 after enthusiasts started tracking the plane and sharing its location online.

He said he now rents a plane whenever he flies.