Because the passengers don’t know where the aircraft is.
So for instance Musk might say “Gwynne Shotwell needs to fly to Austin on my jet on July 1.” Shotwell says “I’ll fly out of XXX airport”. Then in June, Musk flies to YYY airport.
They aren’t going to call Shotwell before her flight and say, “Turns out the plane just landed very close to you. Do you mind flying out of YYY instead to save us some fuel?” They simply reposition the plane.
It’s justified because it’s how professional pilots are expected to operate, and there is no reason to make an exception in this case.
For that matter, it’s also how car-sharing is expected to operate. Imagine you took an Uber to your hotel, and the driver said “Hey, my next fare is two blocks from your hotel. So how about I drop you off there, it’s just a five minute walk the rest of the way. Plus, it would save me from driving with no passenger for a few minutes, thus wasting fuel.” I think the vast majority of us would say, “No thanks, drive me all the way to my hotel”.
Because the passengers don’t know where the aircraft is.
So for instance Musk might say “Gwynne Shotwell needs to fly to Austin on my jet on July 1.” Shotwell says “I’ll fly out of XXX airport”. Then in June, Musk flies to YYY airport.
They aren’t going to call Shotwell before her flight and say, “Turns out the plane just landed very close to you. Do you mind flying out of YYY instead to save us some fuel?” They simply reposition the plane.
So in other words, it’s to be convenient to Elon and his cohorts. Which is what I said earlier. I’m not sure why you think that’s justifiable.
It’s justified because it’s how professional pilots are expected to operate, and there is no reason to make an exception in this case.
For that matter, it’s also how car-sharing is expected to operate. Imagine you took an Uber to your hotel, and the driver said “Hey, my next fare is two blocks from your hotel. So how about I drop you off there, it’s just a five minute walk the rest of the way. Plus, it would save me from driving with no passenger for a few minutes, thus wasting fuel.” I think the vast majority of us would say, “No thanks, drive me all the way to my hotel”.