May 22, 2020
A recent CNBC story misrepresented business aviation charter company Clay Lacy, and the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on many companies like it, NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen and National Air Transportation Association President and CEO Tim Obitts wrote in a letter to the network.
“Clay Lacy Aviation – and the community-based companies like it, spread across all 50 states – are a critical part of business aviation, which supports more than 1 million jobs and $247 billion in economic activity,” the letter reads. “As our country grapples with the COVID-19 crisis, charter airplanes are flying medicines, specimens and testing supplies, medical personnel and patients in need of specialized care (including patients with compromised immune systems), repatriation flights and other critical missions.
“The failure of any of these businesses will deal a serious blow to the ability of American companies and communities to connect with one another, to foster business success and to provide critically needed transport in times of crisis,” Bolen and Obitts wrote. “Your readers and viewers deserve serious, informed coverage of the importance of these companies, and their employees, families and communities.”
Read the letter in its entirety.
CNBC:
Your recent story mischaracterized business aviation, including its misrepresentation of a charter company, and the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on many companies like it. We respectfully request the opportunity to set the record straight.
First, your description of charter businesses failed to note that most of them are small, employing a couple dozen people. Customers rely on charter aircraft to boost employee efficiency, productivity and scheduling flexibility. But, with travel at a standstill for many companies, charter flights have fallen to a trickle. Air-taxi providers therefore requested aid for the same reason countless other small businesses did: to keep employees on the job.
So it is with Clay Lacy Aviation, the company subjected to your highly selective depiction. Founded more than 50 years ago at Southern California’s Van Nuys Airport by distinguished military pilot Clay Lacy, this family-owned business is a cornerstone of the local community. In addition to the specialized workers who manage, maintain and fly the company’s charter aircraft, this business provides jobs for over 500 line workers, technicians, customer-service representatives, facility managers and other professionals, in the local area and beyond. This organization is a model of corporate citizenship, supporting aviation scholarships for countless students, in California and elsewhere.
Clay Lacy Aviation – and the community-based companies like it, spread across all 50 states – are a critical part of business aviation, which supports more than one million jobs and $247 billion in economic activity. As our country grapples with the COVID-19 crisis, charter airplanes are flying medicines, specimens and testing supplies, medical personnel and patients in need of specialized care (including patients with compromised immune systems), repatriation flights, and other critical missions.
The failure of any of these businesses will deal a serious blow to the ability of American companies and communities to connect with one another, to foster business success and to provide critically needed transport in times of crisis. Your readers and viewers deserve serious, informed coverage of the importance of these companies, and their employees, families and communities.
Sincerely,
Tim Obitts
President and CEO
National Air Transportation Association
Ed Bolen
President and CEO
National Business Aviation Association
International Business Aviation Council Ltd.