Much of the focus on the armada of private jets descending on Augusta, Georgia, this week for the Masters centers on hospitality from companies that sell flight time on private aircraft. In an industry that values its customers' privacy, top executives can't help but reel off the litany of musical acts, athletes, celebrities, business and lifestyle influencers who will be on hand, earning money to be there, snapping photos, and entertaining their customers and prospects. Beyond that, 365247 Sports reports some $120 million flows into the local economy each year during the famed tournament.

Real SLX and its private jet charter brokerage, Real Jet, will spend over $500,000 with local vendors, according to its founder and chairman, Kenny Dichter. It expanded its Rao's pop-up by taking over a local Augusta bar and transforming the space into McSorley's Old Ale House, the oldest continuously operated New York City saloon.

Augusta area companies and individuals can earn as much as 20% of their annual income during the week of the tournament. Homeowners earn enough from renting their houses to pay their mortgage for the entire year, say executives familiar with organizing activations. The financial benefits flow across the border to South Carolina with Uber and Lyft drives reportedly coming in from as far as Charleston, some 150 miles to the east. Earlier today, prices were averaging $70 to $100 for the 12-mile route from Augusta Regional Airport to Augusta National Golf Club, where the tournament is being held.

WingX reports Augusta Regional Airport saw an average of 95 arrivals per week during the first 14 weeks of 2026. The Masters typically sees activity ranging from 17 to 20 times higher than normal, which could mean nearly 2,000 landings and an equivalent number of departures. Additional flights will use nearby Daniel Field, where its 4,002-foot-long runway limits the types of aircraft that can visit, as well as Aiken Regional Airport, which is 27 miles from the tournament.

At Augusta Regional Airport, NetJets is building its own terminal facility, plus 432,000 square feet of ramp space, which opened earlier this week in time for what could be as many as 775 landings and takeoffs. Airport Executive Director Herbert L. Judon, Jr. called the project “a significant economic infusion for the airport and the region.”

Nationwide, private aviation supports over 1.3 million jobs and contributes $339 billion to the U.S. economy, according to a 2025 study by PwC US Tax LLP.

"This study powerfully demonstrates general aviation's essential and growing role in creating jobs, supporting economic activity, connecting communities, and helping companies of all sizes succeed, nationally and in every state," said NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen.

A spokesperson for NBAA says those jobs and economic output noted in the study don't include off-airport impacts, such as those seen in concentration during the Masters, but that also take place anywhere private flyers land.

Next week, this time in Augusta, will look a bit like what's happening now in Palm Beach County, Florida, where the soon-to-be Donald J. Trump International Airport is reflecting how aviation, particularly private aviation, can be a fickle friend.

In Palm Beach, President Trump's frequent flights to PBI and home at Mar-a-Lago, just four miles east of the airport, result in something called a TFR, short for temporary flight restrictions. For users of private aviation, it can create delays as movements at the field halt when POTUS is arriving or departing. While he is staying in Palm Beach, it also means longer flight times, delays, more stringent security procedures, including the need for inbound aircraft to clear security at one of several intermediate stops.

In 2025, during the first 12 months since Trump returned to the White House, PBI saw an 18% year-over-year decline. According to a report in the Palm Beach Post, in December, when Trump was frequently at his Florida club, private aviation activity was down 35%. In January 2026, it was down 25% year over year.

While the ban-the-private-jets folks will probably get a laugh out of the fact that Trump himself is curtailing private jet flights at his local airport, they will, as usual, miss the point.

Palm Beach airport officials told The Palm Beach Post that businesses impacted by the TFRs report revenues off by as much as 50% when Trump is at Mar-a-Lago. One maintenance business at the airport said its revenues were down by more than $2 million, with aircraft owners hesitant to bring their jets to the airport due to current restrictions.

Not everyone is impacted. Private jet companies say their customers merely fly to alternative airports.

The newspaper noted that when TFRs are in place at PBI, Boca Raton Airport, 24 miles to the south, sees a 24% increase in movements.

TLC Jet, based at Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport, 39 miles south of PBI, launched TLC Does TFRs, offering free SUV transfers and access to its private lounge at FXE.

Mike Linder, the owner of Silver Lining Inflight Catering, says the TFRs don't impact his business. It just shifts catering orders to the locations where customers are departing.

While anti-wealth lobbyists often forget to mention that aviation accounts for only about 2% of global carbon emissions, and private aviation accounts for just 2% of that, they seek to reduce private flights without much discussion of how their efforts will impact those who pay rent and support their families by working in jobs the industry supports.

In some cases, such as in Boston and Los Angeles, groups are seeking to block the construction of new hangar and ramp space that would actually reduce the number of empty flights created when users are dropped off, but then their airplanes have to fly to another airport to find parking space.

A petition directed at Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey titled "Stop Private Jet Expansion at Hanscom or Anywhere" waxes on about efforts to ban private jets from Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport and the detrimental impact of greenhouse gas emissions, forgetting to note that worldwide private aviation contributes just 0.0004 of those emissions. As with similar petitions, there is no mention of what their plan is for the workers and businesses that will lose jobs, work hours, and revenue as part of their plans to restrict and ban private aviation.

So far, there are no reports of groups seeking to curtail the influx of private jets during the Masters this week. One executive who is in Augusta says, “I don’t think they would be well-received in the community.”