For the wealthy, Tuesday’s inauguration is the dream party: a chance to rub elbows with the similarly rich and powerful, to become part of a historic moment, and (most importantly), to get access to the man of the moment.

It also is a chance to drown their financial sorrows in an emotional wave of optimism.

Yet it may come as a surprise that at a time of financial crisis and Green correctness, many of the wealthy are choosing to arrive by private jet.

According to an article in Bloomberg, as many as 600 private jets were expected to touch down in D.C. for the inauguration. The runway at Washington Dulles was closed Saturday to allow as many as 100 small planes to park. And the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority said it expected a total of 500 small jets to land from Jan. 16 through Jan 21.

“That would set a record, topping the 300 the airport accommodated for President George W. Bush’s 2004 inaugural,” an Airports Authority says in the article.

Of course, flying private to a celebration of a populist, pro-environment President is a bit like the Detroit execs jetting to Washington for bailout money. How do you call for social responsibility after touching down in a $40 million, gas-guzzling Gulfstream? (Maybe travelers will buy carbon credits).

Of course, as the jet industry will remind me, jets save time, they are important business tools and they are ideal for fliers with special needs. And just because the next president has vowed to raise their taxes doesn’t mean the wealthy can’t join the fun.

Many of the jets are probably filled with lobbyist-funded junkets, corporate groups and wealthy politicos taking along their friends. It is a chance for that Boca Raton, Fla., health-care entrepreneur who bundled donations for Barack to impress his friends and clients with an all-expense paid trip to the real party of change. It is a chance for that Hollywood producer to fly in some actor friends and bask in true celebrity, or the trial lawyer from Texas to get his “Barack-and-me” photo.

At a time when stuff is no longer cool, the best way to show status among the wealthy is through access. And nothing will turn heads at dinner parties like the line “When I met Barack at the inaugural ball….”

The presence of so many wealthy and their jets also underscores a stark reality of Mr. Obama’s election and presidency. As much as some people wish that Mr. Obama–the face that launched millions of grass-roots Internet donors–will eliminate the influence and impact of the wealthy on politics, the wealthy will always have a center table in Washington. And, of course, a prime spot to park their Gulfstreams.