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Subject: To the Wall Street Journal

Corporate Jets are a Valuable Business Tool

It has been hard not to notice the rather snide attitude in the press toward corporate jet travel since the automakers went to Washington DC begging for a handout. This is another manifestation of class envy and shows a lack of understanding about the use of aircraft by businesses. Studies show that corporations utilizing business aircraft generate 140% more profits for their shareholders compared to companies that send their employees on missions using commercial airline service. 86% of these trips do not involve top-level management.
Globalization is a powerful impetus for business jet travel. The number of companies operating business aircraft has grown 60% in the last ten years as more firms recognize the benefits of safety, security, efficiency, and flexibility. Business jets give executives the one thing they cannot create more of: Time.
Utilizing this powerful tool enables employees to make single-day trips to several locations saving their companies thousands of dollars on hotel rooms, rental cars, meals and other expenses. More importantly, companies realize tremendous savings in regard to executive salaries by using aircraft. It is estimated that it will cost Ford Motor Company five times as much to have its executives drive to Washington DC instead of flying on the company Gulfstream; when salaries are calculated into the equation.
Unlike scheduled airline service, which only serves 500 airports in the U.S. and only 30 major “hubs,” business aircraft can use 4000 airports thereby allowing companies to save time by traveling more directly to their ultimate destinations. On board, business aircraft employees can conduct private strategy meetings on the way to their destinations; and meetings on their way home, discussing the results of their trip, which adds to the cost-effectiveness. Upon receiving a call on the flight phone a business plane can immediately change its destination mid-air to take advantage of a sudden opportunity. And companies never have to worry about a missed flight and cutting an important meeting short because of airline schedules.
General Aviation---defined as all aviation other than scheduled airlines and military aircraft---is one of our nation's most important industries, flying 27 million miles and transporting 166 million passengers annually. 65% of these hours flown are=2 0for business and commercial purposes. Aircraft have become an essential form of transportation around the globe. There are 17,000 corporate aircraft in the United States. The industry contributes more than $150,000,000 to the U.S. economy each year and employs well over one million people, many of whom work for aircraft or aircraft component manufacturers.
There are also 15,000 General Aviation service providers in America that contribute greatly to local economies across the country. These employers include 4000 aircraft maintenance shops that employ most of the 323,000 licensed aircraft technicians in our nation; 3600 fixed base operations that sell 1,500,000,000 gallons of aviation fuel per year; 3200 flight schools that employ many of the 90,000 certified flight instructors in the United States; 3000 charter operators utilizing 11,000 aircraft and employing 42,000 people.
While there certainly has been use of corporate aircraft for recreational purposes, this is the exception rather than the rule. The use of business aircraft should not be denigrated because of a lack of understanding in the media and especially to a public with even less information about the true facts of the matter. The lifestyle and standard of living enjoyed by Americans---unprecedented in all human history---has been created by American business and facilitated by business aviation. And business aviation is a vital segment of our national economy. The public and the media should be grateful; not spiteful.

James A Watkins