Business Aviation in Hard Times

Business Aviation Headlines.fractional now want the flexibility or don't want the
Bombardier Aerospace said business jet cancellationscapital commitment and the five-year contract and
and a difficult economic environment continue to takethe risk of residual value. Those are the people who
their toll as the manufacturer reported its secondtoday are buying jet cards. A year or two ago, the
quarter results. The decrease is mainly due to apeople who were buying jet cards were new
decrease in manufacturing revenues due to lowerentrants who were frequent charter customers. Small
deliveries and selling prices for business aircraft.business aviation operators are experiencing an
Cancellations for business jets outnumbered newexpense spiral, particularly when required to comply
orders, with 80 cancellations and 27 new orders.with all the regulatory requirements and come up
Increased prices for commercial aircraft partiallywith a profitable venture, a profitable business.
offset the fall off in the business jet sector.The air charter world needs to change. There will
Commercial aircraft deliveries in the quarter increasedcontinue to be a demand for high-quality business
and in Bombardier's own particular case, the CSeriesaviation transportation. The airlines are making life
aircraft is a cause for optimism longer term, bringingmore miserable every day, and business needs will
the company up against Boeing and Airbus.continue to require people to be in hard-to-reach
Business aviation sees necessity as the mother ofdestinations where they just can't get any other way
invention.than through business aviation. The best way to
Historically, every time the aviation industry has had aaccess business aviation is via charter, and right now
downturn, had difficult times, it's re-invented itself. Inthere are plenty of charter airplanes available, and as
the 1960s it was the introduction of the business jet.long as there is a wide variety of good quality
There were managed aircraft in the 1970s when weaircraft in the market, people are going to continue
had downturns...instead of everybody having theirto charter because they don't have to make big
own individual flight department, they went tocapital commitments. Charter will be the first part of
aircraft management companies. You saw thatour overall market to bounce back.
evolve. In the downturns in the 1990s, you sawAfter that, the market will gravitate towards first
fractional ownership come out of that. What will theclass operators who can demonstrate a real value
next invention be? Aviation is an inventive industry,proposition in providing a higher standard of safety
and the goal will always be how to make the productand service quality, multiple locations and worldwide
more accessible and more affordable as the worldauthority, and have systems and procedures in place
changes.that add value for the client. An operator with 25 or
Jet cards have been one of those successfulmore aircraft can best cater for a clientele who will
inventions in recent years, which has altered the airwant and who will appreciate that highly personalized
charter market once again.service that's delivered with quality and consistency.
People who a year ago would have gone with