[rsynnott]

So, currently, as I understand it, piston engine planes are attainable to people who merely have more money than sense (my possibly unfair mental image is the sort of person who buys a 100,000 EUR car while still having a mortgage), but private _jets_ are the domain of the actually very rich. Any cost increase is likely to hurt them in a way that it wouldn’t hurt private jets.

[ghaff]

You don't need to be particularly wealthy to own a single engine prop plane. My contractor who I had a decade or two ago flew one and, while successful enough, it's fair to describe him as working middle class.

[sokoloff]

I started flying in the 90s. Most of the pilots I met were not rich, but rather just enthusiasts with a particular hobby. The last 30 years have seen fewer people overall, but also skewing more wealthy as the costs have also risen faster than general inflation.

It’s like going to the marina; some people there are notably rich, but most aren’t and are instead just modestly successful folks who put their discretionary money into a hole in the water.