How the One Big Beautiful Bill Act Works For Private Jet Fliers

The fireworks over Washington, D.C., were barely out when President Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act into law on July 4, 2025. Billed as a once-in-a-generation tax-and-spending package, the measure sweeps across energy, health care, infrastructure, and defense — but few industries feel its impact as directly as private aviation.

By permanently restoring 100 percent bonus depreciation for business aircraft and earmarking billions to modernize the air-traffic-control system, Congress signaled that corporate and high-net-worth flyers remain central to America’s transportation strategy. For flight departments weighing fleet upgrades, brokers matching travelers with lift, and charter clients keeping an eye on reliability, the legislation creates both immediate opportunities and longer-term ripple effects.

Full Expensing for Private Aircraft Purchases is Back — and here to stay

Under the new law, companies that put a new or pre-owned business aircraft into service on or after January 19, 2025 can now deduct the entire purchase price in the first year, so long as more than half of the flying is for bona-fide business. This revival of 100 percent bonus depreciation overturns the previous phase-down, which had already clipped the write-off to sixty percent and would have dropped it even further next year.

For profitable firms, that means a single jet purchase can erase a large federal tax bill and free up cash that would otherwise go to the Treasury. Because the deduction is now permanent, buyers no longer have to rush to close before a sunset date, making long-range fleet planning much easier. The quid pro quo is that record-keeping rules stay strict: operators must log every passenger and note the purpose of every leg, and aggressive first-year write-downs can leave a balance sheet looking heavily leveraged if the aircraft is financed.

A $12.5 Billion Jump-Start for Next-Gen Air Traffic Control

With President Trump’s signature, the new law also injects $12.5 billion into a multi-year overhaul of the nation’s air-traffic-control system, which has experienced several outages so far this year. The FAA plans to spend the money on advanced automation, digital towers at congestion-prone airports, and a larger controller workforce — investments that should mean fewer ground delays at places such as Teterboro, Van Nuys, and Westchester once the new tools come online.

Real-time routing is expected to improve as well, trimming flight times and fuel burn while allowing general-aviation and airline traffic to blend more smoothly in crowded airspace. The trade-off is that operators should budget for future avionics updates, because big technology shifts almost always usher in fresh equipment mandates. Even so, the prospect of shorter queues and more predictable arrival slots is welcome news to charter clients and corporate flight departments that have seen delay codes multiply over the past decade.

Aviation Infrastructure and Airport Workforce Gains

Beyond the headline provisions, the Act funnels several billion dollars into runway resurfacing, hangar construction, and cargo-ramp upgrades at regional airports that are crucial to private air travel. New scholarships and grants are aimed at FAA-approved Airframe and Powerplant (A & P) mechanic schools and university flight programs, a direct response to the nationwide shortage of skilled technicians and pilots.

A new fee framework for space-launch operators rounds out the package, hinting that lawmakers may lean more heavily on “user-pays” ideas in the next FAA funding debate. Taken together, these investments promise sturdier infrastructure and a larger talent pipeline, both of which support a more reliable charter marketplace and help counter the perception that private aviation is expanding without accountability.

Big Beautiful Bill, Beyond Private Aviation

Beyond aviation, the Big Beautiful Bill carries a sweeping tax package. Simply put, it makes the temporary individual-rate cuts from 2017 permanent, lifts the standard deduction by roughly 15 percent, and boosts the child-tax credit to $2,200 per child with future inflation indexing. Additionally, it doubles the state-and-local-tax deduction cap to $20,000 for joint filers, and exempts the first $6,000 of combined tip and overtime pay for most filers.

Turning to the boardroom, small businesses gain a sweeter Section 199A deal with the qualified-business-income deduction rising to 23 percent and no longer having a sunset clause. Meanwhile, the act locks in full expenses for R&D and other short-lived assets, complementing the 100 percent aircraft bonus depreciation.

To offset its generous tax cuts, the bill claws back billions in unspent climate-and-equity funds, sunsets most clean-energy tax credits, and tightens Medicaid and SNAP eligibility with new work-requirement and cost-sharing rules. Altogether, those trims are projected to save hundreds of billions of dollars over the next decade, partially balancing the package’s multitrillion-dollar revenue loss. Still, the Congressional Budget Office estimates it will add roughly $3.4 trillion to the national debt over the next decade after accounting for its spending offsets and program cuts.

Turning the Bill into Action

If you plan to buy a jet, talk with your tax adviser first. Make sure at least half of your trips will be for business and check that a big first-year write-off won’t clash with any loan covenants. If you charter, expect more aircraft to enter the market and rates to soften as new owners place jets with management companies to offset costs.

Flight departments should pencil in avionics upgrades during the next major inspection so they stay ahead of new ATC requirements. Brokers and advisers must weigh the tax upside against each client’s cash-flow, financing, and sustainability goals; bonus depreciation is powerful, but it is not a fit for everyone.