... there is business aviation, which is experiencing a slowdown, but to nowhere near the extent of what’s happening with the U.S. airlines. The growing importance of business aviation is reinforced by a study from the Stanford Transportation Group (www.stgsf.com), a research and consulting firm based in San Francisco. The study, released June 10, reports that travelers on business aircraft now generate a record 41 percent of the number of passenger trips of those made by airline first-class, business-class, and full-fare coach passengers combined.
STG analyzed the number of one-way U.S. domestic passenger-trips by fare category and developed estimates of ridership on business aircraft (jets and turboprops). Premium airline traffic is defined as those passengers traveling on first class, discounted first class, business class, discounted business class, and full-fare coach tickets as reported by the U.S. Department of Transportation. “As a group, the number of premium trips has fallen from 20 percent of overall airline travel prior to 9/11 to less than 10 percent of airline travel,†comments STG managing director Gerald Bernstein. According to STG, some 16 million one-way trips are taken annually on business jets and turboprops. Just eight years ago, business aviation travel accounted for only 16 percent of the number of premium airline trips.
Of course, business aviation is rapidly becoming integrated into the global marketplace, which accounts for the strong order books at the general aviation manufacturers. Yet, in the U.S., bizjet owners more and more are shopping fuel price at fixed base operators and, according to one key source, are changing flight procedures to cut back on fuel usage. In fact, some 93 percent are changing flight procedures, while some 19 percent are cutting back on hours flown, according to one report.
For FBOs, the good news is that bizav remains a solid player. Their best customers haven’t thrown in the towel. The bad news is the impact on revenues and profits, which ultimately will impact how FBOs do business.
Should the U.S. Congress ever return to its responsibility of passing long-term aviation reauthorization, it might want to make sure it doesn’t overtax the one segment of aviation that continues to be stable.
Thanks for reading. jfi