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One of the trends reported upon but not discussed at the General Aviation Manufacturers Association press event on Wednesday was the fact that business aircraft use in the United States was up last year by around 20 percent. That’s a huge increase, and it comes at a time when fuel is more expensive than ever, when businesses are working hard to stay ahead of the game and when customers are holding tight to their cash for fear of the economy crashing and the most reliable mode of transportation suddenly becoming Mel Gibson in some kind of homemade post-apocalyptical flying Humvee. (There’s no way he’s going to have a Part 135 certificate for that thing.) 

All kidding aside, the message here is clear. Even with all the uncertainty of the down economy and the continued commitment-phobic attitude of consumers and lenders alike, smart businesses are flying their aircraft, and not just as much as they used to but more than they used to. And they’re flying because they know it gives them a distinct business advantage. If you want to make money in the market, figure out what companies are flying their business aircraft and buy stock.
 
A couple of years ago when it finally sunk in that the downturn was more of a wide valley than a pothole, I said that smart businesses would find opportunities there and that business aviation would be a key to unlocking that door. If they were ahead of the wave, I said, they would climb into their King Airs, Citations, Falcons and Gulfstreams, get out to their customer and spread the word that they were there to stay.

While their competitors were selling their airplanes, caving in to pressure from the public and the accountants, companies that saw five years down the road instead of five weeks woud see that flying would get them farther than retreating into a cave would. And a lot of smart companies have quietly done just that.

Once they get to where they’re going, they’ll find a lot less company, too, as their competition will be gone or less relevant. The message that flying the company airplane sends is clear. It says, “We are a serious company that invests in our customers and invests in the future.” Who wouldn’t want to be that kind of company instead of the one that buries its head in the sand and waits until its absolutely safe to go outside. Ask any seven-year-old kid: The good stuff always happens before it’s totally safe outside.
 
In this case the relationships that are solidified and the foundations for new business that are laid are invaluable and they’re absolutely impossible to create after the fact or create on a conference call. If there’s anything we’ve learned from the advent of web meetings, it’s that web meetings are cheaper than face-face-to-face meetings and they’re inferior in every single other way.
 
In comparison, business aircraft are an extremely expensive way to meet, expensive, that is, until you figure in the growth that they create. The businesses that figure that out first won’t be called survivors; they’ll be called winners.

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