Sept. 19, 2016
While the role of business aviation is sometimes misunderstood by the public, more than 97 percent of those surveyed recently by JETNET iQ said a business airplane is an effective competitive and economic asset, and more than 70 percent believe public perception of the industry has improved in the past five years.
These were among the findings presented at the sixth annual JETNET iQ Global Business Aviation Summit, held last week in New York City.
Additionally, nearly 90 percent of those surveyed agreed that the public image of general aviation can be improved through measures taken by trade organizations, such as NBAA.
Association President and CEO Ed Bolen was among those who spoke at the event, which looks at the overall health of the industry, as well as factors such as financing, residual value of airplanes and transaction figures.
“We have a constant need that we have to promote who we really are, which is a very positive industry that generates a lot of jobs, provides economic development, helps companies to be competitive and flies a lot of humanitarian flights,” Bolen said. “The importance of talking about that is really everybody’s responsibility.”
The No Plane No Gain advocacy campaign, jointly sponsored by NBAA and the General Aviation Manufacturers Association, is designed to highlight the vital role business aviation plays for citizens, companies and communities across the U.S. Learn more about No plane No Gain.
Industry Challenges
Bolen also discussed the various challenges facing the industry, most notably proposals – which have been put forward as part of a debate in Congress over reauthorization of the FAA – to create a privatized ATC system, funded through new user fees. While Congress set that proposal aside for the remainder of this year – and voted to fund the FAA through September 2017 – the fight isn’t yet over, he said.
“We talked about the challenges that our industry has at federal, local and international levels, so key to that of course is the proposal to privatize the ATC system and essentially take it away from the public’s elected representatives and turn it over to a combination of special interests dominated by the airlines,” Bolen said. Read NBAA’s FAA reauthorization and modernization resources.
“We talked at length about the way our community has effectively battled against that, and focused on finding targeted solutions to identified problems such as airport issues and international issues such as the emissions issue that is being discussed at the International Civil Aviation Organization,” he added.
International Business Aviation Council Ltd.