P L A N E ADVANTAG E
SMOOTH SKIES The pandemic and new arrivals to the market continue to bolster business jet travel. BY DALE BUSS
THE PANDEMIC CREATED PROMISING new contours for the corporate-aviation market that should continue well into 2021. But the post-virus recovery will test whether industry dynamics have changed for good—or are just one-year wrinkles. “People still have travel needs they want to meet, and they’re not comfortable with airlines,” says Elis Olsson, director of operations for Martinair, an aircraft-management outfit in Richmond, Virginia. “But the days of having hundreds of private jets lining up at Teterboro Airport [for general aviation, in New Jersey] and no ramps to park them—will that come back?” Business-jet usage rebounded to as much as 85 percent of 2019 levels by late 2020 and should fully rebound by mid-2021, Honeywell Aerospace forecasted in October. In Honeywell’s annual survey of business-jet operators, their five-year purchase plans were down less than one percentage point compared with the 2019 survey. Here are looks at several of the major dynamics for private aviation in 2021:
head of Aviation Personnel International. “We’re seeing more engineers going from one plant to another to help with retooling, for example.” Post-Covid, companies may want to avoid any new Transportation Safety Administration protocols at airports that could slow things down. “Flying commercial, even in first class, is viewed with trepidation as an increasingly brutal and hazardous affair,” says Paul Jebely, aviation partner at Pillsbury Law. What’s more, says Mark Dombroff, partner at the Fox Rothschild law firm, “It now is somewhat easier [for CEOs] to justify adding corporate flight departments to the board and shareholders.” Yet, such first-time buyers are why some believe used jets will experience more growth than new-plane sales in 2021. “The market that’s going to flourish now is pre-owned turboprops up to low-cost, pre-owned jet aircraft,” says Ken Qualls, president and CEO of Flight Management Solutions in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Expanding customer base. Virus effects on airlines have brought new corporate customers to the private-aviation fold. “Use of business jets is being pushed lower down into organizations,” says Sheryl Barden,
Flourishing of time shares. Choices
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including charters, fractional ownership, leasing and “jet cards” should fare well as demand for private flights grows—yet many customers hesitate to purchase their own
