Why are we vilifying a $100 billion sector of our manufacturing economy? The business jet is an important tool that permits businesses to compete effectively in multiple locations domestically and internationally. It has been documented that the most profitable companies own business aircraft. Cessna Aircraft (Textron), Gulfstream (General Dynamics) and others are tightening their belts against the economic tsunami, but perception may be their greatest challenge.Who is responsible for the economic mess we are in? We all are, says Steven Pearlstein in a column in the Washington Post, “Let’s Put Down the Pitchforks.” Today the villains are the AIG bonus recipients, the Treasury Secretary, members of Congress, and so on. For the last few months it has been almost anyone seen stepping on or off a business jet.
On Super Bowl Sunday the New York Times published an Op-Ed piece by Bill Garvey “The Mile High Office.” Bill gives the example of two competing companies. Both travel to a prospective client’s office. One company travels by a business aircraft that can fly directly to almost any airport. The other takes the commercial airlines. The latter suffered through security lines, perhaps changed planes and maybe missed a connection and arrived, well let’s just say hassled.
Guess which company has the best opportunity to close the sale? The business people with the corporate jet won’t just arrive faster; they’ll also show up better prepared, rested and alert. In their own airplane they were free to discuss confidential information or polish up a PowerPoint presentation. They were able to use phones, BlackBerries and the Internet en route. In other words, they were in their office while they were traveling.
Malcolm Forbes called his business jet, "The Capitalist Tool." Warren Buffett called his first business jet "The Indefensible," and then quickly renamed it "The Indispensable," and then bought NetJets, the largest operator of business jets in the world.
The business jet manufacturers are seeing orders canceled and backlogs shrink. Major suppliers like General Electric (engines), Honeywell (engines and avionics) and many others are feeling the effects of the slow down. This manufacturing industry is far different from the auto industry. Not one business jet manufacturer has asked for bailout funds, and I predict none will. The biggest threat is the negative public image inflicted by grandstanding members of Congress and a President who is trying to distract attention from a failing financial system, a broken economy, and mistakes by his own administration. CEOs do not disappear on business jets. They are off closing deals, fixing assembly lines, and yes, flying to Washington to raise funds to save the auto industry.
