June 22, 2020
A recent Forbes article chose an “outlier flight” to promote a caricature of business aviation, offering readers an uninformed view into an important industry that has been devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic, NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen recently wrote in a letter to the publication.
“As we slowly recover from this crisis, mobility will be essential to restoring our economy, and business aviation will play a vital role in helping the nation emerge from a moment unseen in recent history,” Bolen wrote. “Instead of presenting a rare, even peculiar airplane mission as some kind of norm, let’s focus on the centrality of business aviation to America’s economy and transportation system.”
Read the full letter to Forbes.
Dear Editor,
Your recent story chose an outlier flight to promote a caricature of business aviation in this COVID-19 moment, offering readers only a limited, largely uninformed view into an important industry that has been devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
To start with, your fact-starved account misstated what business aviation even is: the production and use of an airplane to meet transportation needs. The manufacture and use of business airplanes supports more than a million jobs, and billions of dollars in economic activity – anything that debilitates this essential American industry has an immediate and real impact for workers, companies and communities everywhere.
So, then, why didn’t your story mention the business aviation flights that slowed to a trickle as the virus progressed? What about the many thousands of employees who have been laid off or furloughed? Was any thought given to the maintenance companies, brokerages, insurers, management firms and countless other aviation businesses downsized or shuttered? What about the impact from the river of red ink spilling from the cancelled purchase of airplanes, new avionics and other aviation investments? These aren’t just questions: they’re realities for the people and companies in business aviation.
Here’s another, equally important reality, also ignored in your story: despite the pandemic’s toll, business aviation companies have stepped up their volunteer humanitarian efforts to help communities in need, flying PPE, doctors and medical supplies to hospitals and health facilities. They have transported critically ill patients, delivered COVID-19 tests to speed up treatment in communities nationwide and repurposed whole production lines in the effort to fight COVID-19. Unfortunately, the unsung heroes leading these efforts didn’t warrant a mention in your account.
As we slowly recover from this crisis, mobility will be essential to restoring our economy, and business aviation will play a vital role in helping the nation emerge from a moment unseen in recent history. Instead of presenting a rare, even peculiar airplane mission as some kind of norm, let’s focus on the centrality of business aviation to America’s economy and transportation system.
Ed Bolen
President and CEO
National Business Aviation Association
International Business Aviation Council Ltd.