Private jet firms are soaring in popularity after big COVID-19 bailouts. Were they a 'handout to the wealthy'?

A boom in private jet travel fueled by fears of flying commercial during the COVID-19 pandemic has led to scrutiny of the industry's taxpayer bailout.

Lingering health concerns about commercial air travel during the COVID-19 pandemic have fueled a boom in private jet travel, a trend that has led to fresh scrutiny of the industry's taxpayer bailout -- which some critics are calling a "handout to the wealthy."

The multi-trillion-dollar federal rescue for businesses clobbered by the coronavirus included billions for airlines grounded by travel restrictions and safety concerns -- and, according to one report, more than half a billion dollars for boutique aviation firms that deliver private jet travel to the super-rich.

"This was the rest of us paying to subsidize the luxury consumption of the very richest people in the country," Dean Baker, cofounder of the progressive think tank Center for Economic and Policy Research, told ABC News.

During the summer of 2020, at the time of the first of three bailout programs set aside for aviation, industry experts said that private jet operators -- just like the commercial airlines -- would be confronting substantial drops in revenue. Executives at private aviation firms said they needed the government's help to save the jobs of their employees.