NASA administrator to offer free private jet joyrides to 'exceptional' employees: 'Keep an eye out at rocket launches'

NASA's new chief, Jared Isaacman, hasn't led the agency for a month yet, but he's already introduced a controversial new employee incentive, according to Bloomberg.

Isaacman was confirmed Dec. 17, but his installation was not without significant controversy, the BBC reported.

A billionaire and close ally of Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Isaacman was first floated as a candidate to head NASA in late 2024, before the Trump administration took office. 

In May, President Donald Trump spiked Isaacman's nomination, a reversal largely chalked up to Trump's then-active feud with his on-again, off-again "first friend" Musk. 

Isaacman's close ties to the SpaceX CEO prompted concerns about a conflict of interest between public and private spaceflight. 

As the BBC reported, he was the "first non-professional astronaut to conduct a spacewalk" and the first NASA chief in decades to be handed the reins to the agency from outside of government. 

Concerns that Isaacman's installation would blur the line between spaceflight for public benefit and commercial leisure appeared prescient following a Jan. 6 statement shared to X by NASA spokesperson Bethany Stevens (@NASAspox).

Administrator Isaacman has an extensive background in aviation and has generously made his privately owned F-5 aircraft available for NASA workforce incentive flights, flyovers, participation in America's 250th birthday celebrations, and to inspire the next generation to take an… pic.twitter.com/GCVzJppHQS

— Bethany Stevens (@NASASpox) January 6, 2026

"Administrator Isaacman has an extensive background in aviation and has generously made his privately owned F-5 aircraft available for NASA workforce incentive flights," Stevens began, adding that flyovers and "America's 250th birthday celebrations" were part of the deal.

Stevens emphasized that these "workforce incentive flights" wouldn't happen on the taxpayer's dime.

"So keep an eye out at rocket launches and Space Coast airshows. If you are an accomplished @NASA employee doing exceptional work, there will be opportunities ahead to take to the skies with @NASAAdmin," she added.

Would you trust a wingless jet on a cross-country flight? No way 🙅 Maybe in a few years ⏳ Depends how fast it is 🤔 Sign me up 💯 Click your choice to see results and speak your mind.

When Isaacman's nomination was revived in November, an insider leaked his Project Athena plan for NASA, per CNN. 

The document contained several tendentious ideas, including the commercialization of NASA data and a proposal to end the agency's crucial atmospheric and climate monitoring missions.

On r/fednews, a subreddit for federal civil servants to talk shop, an astounded user who'd seen the announcement on X posed a question about NASA's new private spaceflight incentive: "Is this legal?"

"Legal? What's this legal you speak of? Everything's legal now," one user replied.

"Nothing is illegal anymore it seems," another griped.

"This might be a supplementation of salary violation — 18 USC 209 — but I doubt it'll be enforced," a third person speculated.

"Pro tip: If you have to ask 'Is this legal?' you should know where that answer is gonna land," someone else sagely surmised.

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