CAA: GA News, "Demand For Corporate Jets Soars"

["Stephen Irwin" <stepheni@xxxxxxxxx>]

Wednesday, October 3, 2001 

Demand For Corporate Jets Soars 
By RINKER BUCK
The Hartford (CT) Courant


BRIDGEPORT - They were once thought of as the exclusive wings of wealthy
corporate CEOs, the trophy vehicle of European playboys. Only the rich
and famous flew on Learjets.

But for many more Americans now - even Middle America - shuttling from
appointment to appointment via the "bizjet" may become commonplace in
corporate life. Add this to the list of things that have "changed
forever" since Sept. 11. 

Spooked by the security and safety concerns raised by the terrorist
attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center, American business
executives are taking to the air in sleek corporate planes as never
before. 

Commercial pilot David Faile of Fairfield is one of those who noticed
the change, as soon as U.S. airspace was reopened three days after the
Sept. 11 attacks. Faile is a familiar figure around Bridgeport's
Sikorsky Memorial Airport, a tall, angular man best known for his
designation, in 1999, as the national "Flight Instructor of the Year."
But he hasn't been doing as much instructing lately. 

"I would say that since Sept. 11 I've seen a 200 percent increase in the
amount of cross-country flying services I've provided," Faile says. 

He is not alone. The terrorist attacks and their impact on the
commercial airline industry are accelerating a trend that many experts
had forecast would happen anyway. 

Fed up with the delays and the endless changing of planes wrought by the
airline "spoke and hub" system, in which travelers are routed through
major "hubs" rather than fly point to point, business travelers are
deserting United and Delta for privately owned Gulfstreams and Learjet
45s. 

The sudden spike in interest in business jet travel is expected to be
reflected in broad changes now sweeping through the aviation industry. 

Air Charter Guide, a national clearinghouse for information on private
jet travel that also operates its own booking system for business jets,
surveyed 100 air-charter companies on Sept. 25 and 26. More than 80 of
the companies showed increases in bookings since Sept. 11, for an
average increase of just over 100 percent. 

"Companies are doing everything they can to include new fliers in their
corporate jets," said Air Charter Guide's Meara McLaughlin. "They are
combining trips by two executives, changing their corporate polices to
allow more middle managers to fly corporate and even flying longer
distances in smaller jets to cut costs and thus include more employees
of the company in corporate air travel. The business was brisk already,
and we've never quite seen anything like this." 

Meanwhile, UAL Corp., the parent of United Airlines, is investing
heavily in a new subsidiary that will fly and maintain a fleet of
business jets for corporate and private clients. Eclipse Aviation of New
Mexico, which is developing a new, six-seat Eclipse 500 jet, announced
on Sept. 17 that it has received a $1 billion order for 1,000 of the
planes, which will be operated as air taxis between small cities in
North and South America. 

James Fallows, the national correspondent for The Atlantic Monthly and a
pilot himself, caused a stir in aviation circles this spring by
predicting in his latest book, "Free Flight," that America's misery over
airline delays would propel a surge toward bizjet flying. At the same
time, a new generation of low-cost, efficient six- and eight-passenger
jets is challenging not simply the airline industry but the dominance of
Learjet and Gulfstream as well. 

"Regardless of what happens with airlines because of Sept. 11, we can
say one thing for certain," Fallows said in an interview. "Commercial
air travel is getting slower and slower. There are two-hour delays now
just to get on a plane. So, the two things that made airlines attractive
- speed and convenience - aren't there anymore. High-speed rail travel
along the East Coast corridor is one alternative. But for many business
and private travelers who have farther to go, the bizjet boom is going
to be the new wave." 

Medium-size destinations such as Hartford, and states such as
Connecticut, are likely to be most affected by the shift toward smaller
corporate jets. 

The jets can land easily at any number of relatively uncrowded airports,
such as Sikorsky in Bridgeport, Tweed-New Haven and Hartford's Brainard.


Connecticut has a long history of building aircraft engines and
technology, and its proximity to New York and Boston makes it a
convenient location for servicing the growing class of business jets. 

Bombardier Aerospace of Montreal, Canada, the largest manufacturer of
corporate jets and 50-seat "regional jets" flown by commuter airlines,
operates a 300-employee maintenance and service center for its line of
Learjets and Canadair planes at Bradley International Airport. The
company also has a large presence in corporate flying through its
Flexjet and Skyjet subsidiaries, which offer both fractional ownership
deals and charter flights to business and private fliers. 

"The phone is literally ringing off the hook at our Flexjet and Skyjet
divisions now," Bombardier spokesman Leo Knaapen said. "There's no
question that this is due to the events of Sept. 11."

   Post your opinion on this story in the CAA General Aviation Forum
http://www.californiaaviation.org/cgi-bin/dcforum/dcboard.cgi?conf=DCConfID2

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