Hoofing it to that far away destination may be an alternative, but not a viable one. Flying, on the other hand, now that makes far more sense.
Typically, most Americans figure they get things done faster because they have a car to get from point A to point B. Many of them also forget that they spend about half the day on the road getting to all the places they need to go. Don’t forget that it isn’t just going from home to work either; it’s taking the dry cleaning in, drop the kids at school, go for a hair appointment, hit the post office, the grocery store, pick up your cat at the vet and so on. That’s a small snapshot of a day in the life of an average American needing to travel a whole lot in one day to get things done.
The average American is much like the average (to not so average) business that has to travel a whole lot in one day to get things done. The major exception here, of course, is the fact that the point A to point B journey typically involves thousands of miles and may mean having to get to different countries as well. Obviously driving is out of the question. Enter the necessity of flying to do business.
Here is the problem though. Most Americans think that corporate jets are just for joyriding. Really, who could blame them for that impression given some of the stories they’ve read in the news lately, and now the rest of the business aviation industry is suffering because of it.
Not everyone or every business that uses jets to get around is doing it because they have the money to do so. This isn’t about wealth. This is about doing business in a country so vast that it is impossible to accomplish much unless one has the ability to respond quickly to various business developments.
It’s almost a no-brainer to look at the thousands of miles some companies need to navigate to understand why they need business aviation at their disposal. They fly because they need to in order to stay in operation. If they didn’t fly, they wouldn’t have a company and would not be contributing to the economy.
Think that company executives should be taking commercial airline flights? You’re right, they should when it makes sense. However, there is no sense in trying to book a commercial flight to a place where no commercial airlines fly and there is no airport. In other words, if you can’t get to where you are going commercially, then you should utilize corporate aviation.
That makes sense to those in business. It doesn’t make sense to the general public, because they have not been there and done that. So really, it’s a matter of education about the business aviation industry and why it is vital to America. Company operated aircraft are about flexibility and productivity, about making money that goes into the nation’s coffers, and about providing jobs to Americans. What more could you ask for?
Stewart H. Lapayowker, P.A. is an aviation attorney and aviation transaction lawyer, focusing on airplane and jet transactions. To learn more, visit Businessaviationcounsel.com.
