“Within the next decade we’ll be flying people to Australia from New York in about two hours, developing spaceships that will cross continents outside the Earth’s atmosphere and then pop them back into the atmosphere. Then we’ll move on to much bigger commercial jets [traveling] at many times the speed of sound.”
—Sir Richard Branson, in the April/May 2014 issue of Business Jet Traveler magazine
November 3, 2026
5:32 AM—Still dark here in New York but I’d better get moving if I’m to see Boris in Moscow in two hours. Leaving my iWatch on Eastern Time, hoping that will help make today less confusing than yesterday.
7:58 AM—In Russia for brief early dinner meeting, but it’s scrambled eggs for me. Thank God for Kremlin Starbucks’s double espresso.
10:02 AM—Back in Manhattan with a few minutes to catch up on news on Google Glass. Then a quick hop to Australia.
12:15 PM—Arrived in Sydney, where they tell me it’s spring. No matter; I’ll be gone in 15 minutes.
12:31 PM—All aboard for Paris for a quick huddle with one of our VPs and perhaps a croissant.
2:39 PM—No time for croissant but maybe I can grab sushi in Japan.
4:41 PM—Excellent temaki at Tokyo airport. Now off to Massachusetts to meet my son.
6:40 PM—Arrived in Boston but no son—just a note: “Gone to Brazil. Back after dinner.” Should I try to catch up with him or wait here?
6:46 PM—Decided instead to surprise wife in California and splurged on Branson’s new supersonic. A little pricey at 60 bitcoins but it’ll get me to the coast in 23 minutes.
7:09 PM—Barely time to open peanuts bag before flight touched down in L.A. Unfortunately, iWatch tells me wife just left to meet me in Boston. Heading back so we can catch dinner before my next flight.
Jeff Burger joined Business Jet Traveler in March 2004, a few months after the publication’s launch. Besides editing the magazine, he has written many articles for it and conducted its interviews with such luminaries as Sir Richard Branson, James Carville, Suze Orman, Donald Trump, F. Lee Bailey, and Steve Van Zandt. Burger helped to oversee the introduction of BJT’s annual Readers' Choice surveys and Buyers’ Guide.
During his years with the magazine, it has won well over a hundred editorial awards. In 2011, Burger received the Gold Wing Award for Reporting Excellence from the National Business Aviation Association and the Aviation Journalism Award from the National Air Transportation Association. He has also won writing and editing awards from the American Society of Business Publication Editors. BJT, meanwhile, was named Best International Publication in 2017 in the Aerospace Media Awards. It was also a Magazine of the Year finalist in 2011, 2013, and 2016 and an Overall Excellence winner in 2018 in competitions sponsored by the American Society of Business Publication Editors.
Before coming to BJT, Burger spent 14 years at Medical Economics, the nation’s leading business magazine for doctors, where he served on the editorial board; directed staff recruiting; oversaw a $2 million annual budget; and was financial editor, news editor, and director of special projects. He has been editor of several publications, including Phoenix Magazine in Arizona, and has been a consulting editor at Time Inc. His articles have appeared in more than 75 magazines and newspapers, among them The Los Angeles Times, Barron’s, Reader’s Digest, Gentlemen’s Quarterly , and Family Circle. Chicago Review Press published his books, Springsteen on Springsteen: Interviews, Speeches, and Encounters, Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen: Interviews and Encounter, Lennon on Lennon: Conversations with John Lennon, and Dylan on Dylan: Interviews and Encounters. His music writing appears on multiple websites, including his own byjeffburger.com.
Burger, a summa cum laude graduate of the State University of New York at Albany, lives in Ridgewood, N.J. He and his wife, Madeleine, have two grown children. His off-hours passions include cooking, travel, technology, movies, and music.
