By Jack Olcott
Editorial Director/Publisher
AvBuyer
Let me be clear. Without hesitation, I admit to being an unabashed advocate for Business Aviation.
I believe that society needs the ability to travel quickly, efficiently and safely. Throughout history, advances in quality of life and economic development have been dependent upon transportation. In biblical times, King Solomon facilitated trade routes that linked the lands from Egypt to Bagdad and beyond. George Washington, as our nation’s first president, urged congress to build roads and canals to advance commerce and public wellbeing. Abraham Lincoln called for the completion of the first transcendental railroad, and President Eisenhower’s support for the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956 created our nation’s system of interstates. Transportation is an enabling technology for growth. It has been ever thus. It will be forever so.
Aviation is today’s principle means of travel beyond a few hundred miles. Time is a perishable commodity that demands efficient means of interacting with counterparties, whether they are business associates, family or simply friends. Cellphones and other electronic marvels allow people to communicate but they do not substitute for face-to-face interaction. Rather, they simply quicken the pace of business and increase our desire to be where things are happening. Mostly we travel to reach destinations, not to spend time enroute. Thus we fly.
Scheduled Airlines do a reasonable job providing air travel to selected locations. In the USA, where the airline system is well developed, the vast majority of flights are to less than 50 hubs. Commerce and social action, however, extend across the many cities and towns with limited or no airline connections. Business aircraft have access to about 10 times the locations served by Scheduled Airlines and nearly 100 times the cities with frequent airline service. Hence the need for on-demand air transportation—that technology we call Business Aviation, which is available via Part 135 charter to the public and via Part 91 private operations to companies as well as individuals who own business aircraft.
The Scheduled Airlines and Business Aviation are essential partners in providing efficient and safe transportation. Together, they advance quality of life and the economic wellbeing of society in general.
Unlike automobiles, aircraft are designed to last a long time. Typically business aircraft, which are built to the same regulatory standards as airliners, fly only 10 to 20 percent of the hours of counterparts in Scheduled Airline service. They retain their value and have the capability to be useful for decades. As travel needs change and companies or entrepreneurs with business aircraft elect to increase their travel resources, movement to newer or more capable equipment requires a healthy market for existing aircraft. In 2013, for example, nearly 3.5 pre-owned business jets were sold for every new business jet that was manufactured in that year. Furthermore, potential owners of business jets typically enter the marketplace through the pre-owned route.
Thus dealers and brokers engaged in transactions of pre-owned business aircraft are necessary to the vital role that Business Aviation plays within air transportation.
About the Author and AvBuyer – avbuyer.com
Jack Olcott is Editorial Director/Publisher of AvBuyer. He was previously President of the National Business Aviation Association and Editorial Director/Publisher of Business and Commercial Aviation Magazine. AvBuyer.com - the global aircraft market online - was launched in 1998. It features advertising for corporate & general aviation aircraft for sale, which are also advertised in AvBuyer Magazine and GA Buyer Europe print & digital magazines.
About NARA – NARAaircraft.com
NARA is a professional trade association comprised of selected aircraft sales and brokerage businesses that are NARA Certified, and aircraft product/services companies that adhere to the highest professional standards. Promoting the growth and public understanding of the aircraft resale industry, NARA’s members abide by an elite 14-point Code of Ethics that provides standards of business conduct regarding aircraft transactions.