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This Billionaire Flies Coach. Here's His Ruthless Logic.

By Palmer Luckey · Leadership · 1 min read

Even when I use my own money, I fly coach. If I'm going to ask my employees to do it, I need to do it too. Otherwise I wouldn't just appear out of touch — I would literally be out of touch.

Key Points

Anduril only covers coach travel — with exceptions for long international flights
If he asks employees to fly coach, he needs to do it too — even with his own money
His grandfather flew for United Airlines for 40 years — mass-market air travel is romantic to him

If I'm going to ask my employees to do it, I need to do it too. Even when it's my own money. I would literally be out of touch.

A Bad Use of Company Money

Luckey: I don't fly private and I do fly coach. We only cover coach travel for our employees, with exceptions for long international travel. It's only a few hours. It is a very bad use of company money for us to be buying business or first class for people.

We have so much travel at the company. We could easily spend a very serious fraction of our resources on just people traveling in slightly better seats.

We could easily spend a very serious fraction of our resources on people traveling in slightly better seats.

I Need to Do It Too

Luckey: Even when I use my own money, I fly coach. People say — why don't you just fly first class? Here's why. If I'm going to ask my employees to do it, I need to do it too. Even when it's my own money. Even when it's my own cost.

Otherwise — it's not just that I appear out of touch. I would literally be out of touch. Maybe one day coach gets so bad that I tell everyone — guys, you know what? I hear you. We're all going business now. But today is not that day.

It's not just that I'd appear out of touch. I would literally be out of touch.

The Back of the Plane

Luckey: I love the back of the plane on the window. Nobody bothers you. You can let everybody get off the plane before you do. You don't have to fight anybody.

My grandpa was a pilot for United Airlines for over 40 years. I grew up around commercial airlines. There is a certain romanticism to mass-market, mass-available air travel. What an incredible thing. America did it. We figured out how to make it economically viable and we build everyone else's airplanes.

My grandpa flew for United for 40 years. There's a romanticism to mass-market air travel. America did it.