Latest news with #privatejet
News.com.au
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
Private jet attendant reveals what the super wealthy are really like at 45,000 feet
In 2015, Danielle Styron, then 32, was offered her dream job as a private jet flight attendant. It promised a six-figure salary, trips to luxury resorts and full benefits. It seemed too good to be true — and it was, reports NY Post. Over the course of two phone interviews, the pilot continually hinted at the 'alternative lifestyle' of the plane's owner, a religious man who split his time flying with his family half the month and with his girlfriends the other half. As the conversation went on, it became clear the role involved participating in orgies with the girlfriends on-board while the owner watched. 'We only fly them once a month, so it's not like you have to be a lesbian, you would just need to have fun with them,' the pilot assured her. Ms Styron writes about the seedy job interview — and the seven years she spent flying with the rich and famous — in her dishy new memoir 'The Mile High Club: Confessions of a Private Jet Flight Attendant', co-written with her brother, James Styron. 'Names have been changed to protect (us from) the malevolent,' the intro reads. 'Behaviours have been presented to humble them. You know who you are.' Ms Styron, now 41 and living in New York, didn't end up taking the job with the orgy-loving jet owner, but she went on to work for a number of difficult people. Some of her clients, she writes, were 'miserable, vampires of human joy.' One passenger berated her for not having the proper tequila stocked, even though it wasn't requested. Food-obsessed wives micromanaged everything that came out of the galley kitchen. An assistant threatened to punch her in the face over a not-hot-enough breakfast sandwich. Then there was the time a woman shoved Ms Styron into a bulkhead mid-turbulence because her beloved puppies got jostled. 'She treated the dogs better than any human on board,' Ms Styron writes. One of her lowest points was being asked to source champagne on the tropical island of St. Maarten, just after it had been devastated by a hurricane. The client demanded bubbles despite the natural disaster. 'I'm standing there thinking, 'There's no champagne. There was just a major hurricane. People are standing outside waiting for bread, and you're asking me to spend $US20,000 on bubbly,'' Styron told The Post. There was only one supermarket open, which Ms Styron begrudgingly patronised in search of the requested Champs. 'It felt dystopian,' she said. Then there was the two-timing bigwig who would fly with his pregnant wife one day and his mistress a few days later. 'As a woman, it was hurtful to be a part of that,' she said. 'Even though I had no choice. What was I going to do, blow my life up to be like, 'Yo, your man's cheating on you?' She probably already knew.' Sometimes, as the title of the book suggests, passengers got intimate in flight. She and her crew knew the drill: retreat to the front, let the guests go at it, and deal with the clean-up later. 'It's usually in the bathroom, galley, or right there on the sofa,' she writes. 'It's their house, right? Private jets are like flying living rooms.' Despite the uncomfortable situations and challenging passengers, the jobs also entailed plenty of good times and perks. She partied in Las Vegas with pilots and jetted off to Costa Rica, Aspen and St. Barts. One time in Los Angeles, the plane broke down on the tarmac, a typical mechanical delay. Ms Styron was tasked with keeping the charter guests fed and entertained while the pilots tried to fix the plane. The lead passenger was none other than actor and comedian Jamie Foxx. Unlike most high-profile clients, he took the delay in stride. He was 'the most delightful celebrity,' she said. 'He was cracking jokes and telling stories. He was pure light. [After three hours on the ground,] we were out of food, the mimosas were gone, people were losing patience, but not Jamie. He was still smiling. Still gracious. It restored my faith in humanity.' Misery, however, seemed to be more the norm. 'You think these people have it all,' she said. 'But I saw the opposite. They're really insecure. Their friends are all about one-upmanship. One man owned several planes, had a beautiful wife, everything in the world, and he was obsessing about his hair plugs. Like who cares?' Ms Styron ultimately retired from aviation and went back to doing what she'd done before, working as an esthetician. She now owns Fluff NYC, a brow and skincare studio on the Upper East Side, where she tends to people's faces — not their egos. 'It's less glamorous,' she said with a laugh, 'but way more peaceful.'
Condé Nast Traveler
6 days ago
- Business
- Condé Nast Traveler
On Pan Am's Private Jet Journeys, Nostalgia Goes for $60,000 a Pop
Pan Am is back—but not in the same way you may remember it. A new private jet travel experience is retracing the iconic routes of Pan Am, once the largest and most famous airline in the United States. Operated on board a chartered Boeing 757 complete with the famous Pan Am livery, the brand has been brought back to life by Beyond Capricorn and Bartelings, two companies that specialize in bespoke luxury tours, with an official license from Pan American World Airways. The inaugural trip took off this June, following Pan Am's original transatlantic circle route to Europe. This route was originally flown by the famous Pan Am Clippers, long-range flying boats used in the 1920s and 1930s. At the time, an airline ticket would cost between $200 and $400 one way, depending on the destination (equivalent to between $4,000 and $8,000 today). While Pan Am is associated with the golden age of commercial air travel, its latest act as 'Pan Am Journeys by Private Air' offers an even more exclusive product. The 757 aircraft named Yankee Clipper II features 50 fully-flat business class seats, each with a $60,000 price tag. That price includes a scenic 12-night tour from New York-JFK with stops in Bermuda, Lisbon, Marseille, London, and Shannon in Ireland, where travelers stayed in luxury hotels like St. Regis in New York, the Four Seasons Hotel Ritz in Lisbon, The Savoy in London, and Adare Manor in Ireland.
Daily Mail
22-07-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Ex-Unite boss Len McCluskey took private jet flights and football tickets arranged by firm behind controversial multi-million hotel project
Len McCluskey enjoyed private jet travel and football tickets from a firm which allegedly overcharged his union millions on a controversial building project, a report found. The probe, ordered by his replacement as Unite general secretary, concluded Liverpool-based firm the Flanagan Group was appointed to build the hotel and conference venue in Birmingham 'with no competitive tendering process, and despite having a history of poor performance, delays, cost overruns' and alleged incompetence on previous contracts. It also found Mr McCluskey 'signed the contracts, overruled Unite staff who raised questions about the firm, and overruled lawyers who advised against' the contracts. His predecessor Sharon Graham tonight admitted: 'Money left our union when it should not have. And other money that should have come into the union did not.' Mr McCluskey, nicknamed 'Red Len', was one of the most powerful men in the industry and was a close ally of former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn before quitting the trade union in 2021. He had been an enthusiastic supporter of the Unite hotel project, which intended to be a financial investment for union members. But it ran massively over budget - indeed, the report found Unite paid roughly triple the actual value of the Birmingham Hotel Development. In fact, the union - which represents more than a million workers across the UK - forked out at least £110 million for the project, despite being valued at only £37.5 million. The contract to build it was awarded to the Flanagan Group, whose bosses McCluskey described as his 'good friends', the report found. Scrutiny of Unite emails subsequently showed the firm arranged and paid for tickets to matches including to the Champions League finals in 2018 and 2019, as well as matchday hospitality Liverpool home matches against Premier League rivals including Manchester City and Arsenal. McCluskey also received flights, including at least one private jet flight, to their Champions League final success against Tottenham in Madrid in 2019. It also identified a £500,000 payment to the firm without an explanation - something the report described as 'very unusual'. The report found emails also show how Flanagan Group bosses 'sought to leverage their relationship with Len McCluskey (and Len McCluskey's own political connections) to assist with their business dealings.' Ms Graham said the situation was summed up by unforgettable examples of egregious spending, including paying £1.3 million to 'drill holes in walls' that should have cost just £90,000. She said: 'Of course, incompetency isn't a crime. Nor is lending money. But how could this eye-watering overcharging happen not once, but on multiple occasions?' The report found 'potential wrongdoing by a few was enabled by what Unite's auditors called a pervasive fraud environment.' Mr McCluskey told the report investigators that the Birmingham project was not his 'brainchild', and 'the view that Unite's monies were best invested in property was generally endorsed by other individuals' he spoke to. He said he signed the contract without seeing the legal advice raising concerns, and was 'totally unaware of the escalating costs of the project, he had no visibility of them, and hardly ever' spoke to the Flanagan Group. The Serious Fraud Office and the police are now investigating, including a possible criminal investigation into bribery, fraud and money laundering. This does not include Unite or any current member of its staff. The Flanagan Group declined to comment tonight.
Yahoo
22-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Orgies, threats at breakfast and Champagne at any cost: Private jet attendant reveals what the super wealthy are really like at 45,000 feet
In 2015, Danielle Styron, then 32, was offered her dream job as a private jet flight attendant. It promised a six-figure salary, trips to luxury resorts and full benefits. It seemed too good to be true — and it was. Over the course of two phone interviews, the pilot continually hinted at the 'alternative lifestyle' of the plane's owner, a religious man who split his time flying with his family half the month and with his girlfriends the other half. As the conversation went on, it became clear the role involved participating in orgies with the girlfriends onboard while the owner watched. 'We only fly them once a month, so it's not like you have to be a lesbian, you would just need to have fun with them,' the pilot assured her. Styron writes about the seedy job interview — and the seven years she spent flying with the rich and famous — in her dishy new memoir 'The Mile High Club: Confessions of a Private Jet Flight Attendant' (Post Hill Press; out now), co-written with her brother, James Styron. 'Names have been changed to protect (us from) the malevolent,' the intro reads. 'Behaviors have been presented to humble them. You know who you are.' Styron, now 41, didn't end up taking the job with the orgy-loving jet owner, but she went on to work for for a number of difficult people. Some of her clients, she writes, were 'miserable, vampires of human joy.' One passenger berated her for not having the proper tequila stocked, even though it wasn't requested. Anorexic, food-obsessed wives micro-managed everything that came out of the galley kitchen. An assistant threatened to punch her in the face over a not-hot-enough breakfast sandwich. Then there was the time a woman shoved Styron into a bulkhead mid-turbulence because her beloved puppies got jostled. 'She treated the dogs better than any human on board,' Styron writes. One of her lowest points was being asked to source Champagne on the tropical island of St. Maarten, just after it had been devastated by a hurricane. The client demanded bubbles despite the natural disaster. 'I'm standing there thinking, 'There's no Champagne. There was just a major hurricane. People are standing outside waiting for bread, and you're asking me to spend $20,000 on bubbly,'' Styron told The Post. There was only one supermarket open, which Styron begrudgingly patronized in search of the requested Champs. 'It felt dystopian,' she said. Then there was the two-timing bigwig who would fly with his pregnant wife one day and his mistress a few days later. 'As a woman, it was hurtful to be a part of that,' she said. 'Even though I had no choice. What was I going to do, blow my life up to be like, 'Yo, your man's cheating on you?' She probably already knew.' Sometimes, as the title of the book suggests, passengers got intimated in flight. She and her crew knew the drill: retreat to the front, let the guests go at it, and deal with the cleanup later. 'It's usually in the bathroom, galley, or right there on the sofa,' she writes. 'It's their house, right? Private jets are like flying living rooms.' Despite the uncomfortable situations and challenging passengers, the jobs also entailed plenty of good times and perks. She partied in Las Vegas with pilots and jetted off to Costa Rica, Aspen and St. Barts. One time in LA, the plane broke down on the tarmac, a typical mechanical delay. Danielle was tasked with keeping the charter guests fed and entertained while the pilots tried to fix the plane. The lead passenger was none other than actor and comedian Jamie Foxx. Unlike most high-profile clients, he took the delay in stride. He was 'the most delightful celebrity,' she said. 'He was cracking jokes and telling stories. He was pure light. [After three hours on the ground,] we were out of food, the mimosas were gone, people were losing patience, but not Jamie. He was still smiling. Still gracious. It restored my faith in humanity.' Misery, however, seemed to be more the norm. 'You think these people have it all,' she said. 'But I saw the opposite. They're really insecure. Their friends are all about one-upmanship. One man owned several planes, had a beautiful wife, everything in the world, and he was obsessing about his hair plugs. Like who cares?' Styron ultimately retired from aviation and went back to doing what she'd done before, working as an aesthetician. She now owns Fluff NYC, a brow and skincare studio on the Upper East Side, where she tends to people's faces — not their egos. 'It's less glamorous,' she said with a laugh, 'but way more peaceful.' Solve the daily Crossword
Bloomberg
21-07-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Bernard Arnault's Private Equity Firm Leads $800 Million Investment in Flexjet
L Catterton, the private equity firm backed by French billionaire Bernard Arnault, led a $800 million equity investment in Flexjet, as demand for private jet travel around the world continues to surge. Flexjet, the world's second-largest private jet company, said the investment by L Catterton will bolster its strength in the luxury market and allow it to offer more bespoke experiences and curated events that are exclusive to its customers. Affiliates of KSL Capital Partners and the J. Safra Group also participated in the funding round, Flexjet said in a statement.
