I have been listening to the uninformed bash and slash business aviation … “the fat cats whisking their girlfriends / mistresses / lovers away to the islands …” or “those that can afford to own their own airplane don’t really need it … look at the Big Three!  How dare they fly on their own airplane and ask us taxpayers to pay for it!” and the list goes on and on.

Let me ask you … what do you really know about business aviation?  Do you know that they are an integral part of the economy of thousands of cities and towns?  Consider the direct employees: pilots, maintenance technicians, schedulers and dispatchers, flight attendants, management.  Then consider the fixed base operators that service the aircraft: customer service reps, caterers, maintenance and avionics technicians, fuelers, management.  Take it one step further to the manufacturers: Cessna, Gulfstream, Dassault to name a few.  Add to this mix the periphery people:  upholsterers, carpet layers, radio suppliers, windshield repairers.  See where I’m going?

Watch this video for another perspective:  

No Plane No Gain: The Truth about Business Aviation

The next time someone is criticizing an industry, a person, an idea … ask what they are basing their opinion on .. is it the truth or is it hearsay?

It isn’t what they said, it’s what I think I heard.