During the Holidays, Business Aviation Keeps Commerce Moving

Nov. 22, 2023

As another hectic travel season gets underway, the moment offers a helpful reminder about the role of business aviation in smoothly, unobtrusively facilitating commerce for businesses of all sizes, during the holidays and throughout the year.

Particularly in towns with little or no airline service, business aviation provides a critical link for companies to reach clients and customers, mostly from community airports located away from the large hub airports used by the airlines, and apart from the surge of airline passengers traveling through those airports for Thanksgiving and the December holidays.

In fact, business aviation comprises only about 1% of the traffic at the nation’s largest airports and has never been a cause of passenger delays. Rather, studies have repeatedly shown that most delays are caused by weather and the airlines themselves.

Independent research further illustrates the true operating model for business aviation: Most companies using a business airplane employ fewer than 500 people, the passengers aboard business airplanes are typically technical specialists, managers and other company employees and a significant portion of business aviation flights are for humanitarian missions.

This all adds up to good news for citizens, companies and communities: The business aviation sector plays a critical economic role, helping support 1.2 million jobs and contributing $150 billion to the U.S. economy each year.

Business aviation will continue climbing fast into 2024 and beyond – serving as a key component in the nation’s economy and transportation system, and a sector leading the way in the safety, security and sustainability of flight.