When the heads of the nation’s top three automakers flew separate business jets to Washington to ask for a government bail-out, Congress balked. To state the obvious, this was probably a time the three should have flown the airlines or flew in on one corporate jet, rather than three. Or drive.
Now, Ford says it will sell off its five corporate jets, and GM will sell four of its seven jets. Chrysler said it doesn’t own jets, but leases them as needed.
The three companies unwittingly helped fuel a perception problem about the use of business jets. As one industry expert said, “it’s a gaffe of major proportions.”
In response, the National Business Aviation Association has crafted a letter and a fact sheet to clear up misperceptions about the use of general aviation aircraft for business purposes.
The NBAA points out that business jets are used to access communities with little or no airline service, to help reach multiple destinations quickly, to support the travel needs of a number of company employees, to move equipment, to have schedule flexibility, to increase productivity and provide security and to stay in contact.
