I meant that the crew would not count as passengers. I know nothing about fuel usage, but let’s say a trip is going to use 200lbs of fuel. 1 passenger would give a ratio of 200:1, add 6 crew, the ratio is still 200:1. The only way to have lower tax is to have more passengers on the flight.

There should be a tax based on how many gallons of fuel per person on the flight. The tax should grow experimentally related to that ratio. Crew and staff should be excluded. Sorry it’s going to be 90,000$ for you to take off today. Maybe even double the tax every time you have to pay the tax on a single month. 90,000 this week, 180,000 next. Resets every month or maybe every quarter.

Eventually an airline for the super wealthy would form. Cheaper than owning your own jet but afford some level of privacy and exclusivity by doing group bookings to lower or eliminate the tax.

FYI PBS gets very little from public funding.