Common Misconceptions of Business Aviation
In working with several regional businesses through their initial stages of exploring business aviation, we’ve encountered several myths and misconceptions held by individuals at all levels within organizations. Whether you’re in the early phases of exploring corporate aviation to meet your business travel needs, or you need some additional proof to help you build a strong and compelling case, we’re here to help set the record straight on many common misconceptions we hear.
Our Company Isn’t Large Enough to Benefit from Business Aviation – According to the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA), only about three percent of business aircraft in the U.S. is flown by Fortune 500 companies. The vast majority of corporate flights are utilized by a diverse group of organizations, which include governments, universities, charitable organizations, and large, medium and small businesses. Furthermore, smaller companies account for the lion’s share of business aircraft operations, with 59 percent having fewer than 500 employees and seven in 10 organizations having less than 1,000 employees.
Corporate Aviation is Reserved for Only Senior Level Executives – Surprisingly, most business aviation flights are time-sensitive trips made by teams of sales, technical and other mid-level managers who depend on fast, flexible and effective access to travel for meeting with customers, managing issues in the field and building relationships. Additionally, corporate aircraft are often dispatched to bring customers in for meetings, factory tours, training sessions or presentations.
Of course, many executives enjoy the benefits of corporate travel, but when you consider that the majority of senior leaders in organizations work several more hours each week than their 40-hour-per week counterparts, leveraging business aviation allows them to maximize their productivity and minimize the inconveniences and delays often experienced by those traveling commercially.
Commercial Airlines Can Meet All of Our Needs – The consolidation of many commercial carriers, combined with many airlines reducing or eliminating service in several communities throughout the country has left many business travelers with exceptionally few options to efficiently reach remote locations. As a result, many organizations are finding that corporate aviation provides an essential and dependable connection, allowing them access to more destinations across the country and around the world.
And, if your business needs to ship sensitive, critical or oversized equipment quickly, business aviation also offers effective solutions that can’t always be matched by airlines or other freight services.
Business Aviation is Cost-Prohibitive – While leveraging business aviation is a significant investment, many companies view their corporate aircraft or partnerships with aircraft management companies as valuable business tools. That’s because business aviation provides the ability to be more responsive to customer needs and new business opportunities, reduces the number of hours logged by employees as non-productive travel time and can actually prove to be much more cost-effective when needing to transport a large team to a meeting or event.
Coordinating Charter Aircraft Takes Too Much Time – In the initial stages of engaging business aviation to meet your travel needs, reaching out to area charter aircraft companies is the most efficient way to ensure that all of your trip requirements are met. Prior to making contact with a charter service near you, we recommend creating a list of essential facts to convey to a charter consultant, which will help their knowledgeable staff to quickly and simultaneously assess your needs, along with their fleet, and pair you with the optimal flight solution.
We Don’t Have the Expertise Required to Acquire and Operate Our Own Flight Department – If your organization has chartered business aircraft previously, or has already purchased a fractional share, you may be contemplating the next steps – owning your own aircraft. For this, we recommend working closely with an aviation consultant to evaluate all of your current and potential travel needs and develop a plan to help you structure a flight department that will suit your requirements.
Fortunately, if you are not quite ready to create your own stand-alone flight department, aircraft management companies put aircraft ownership in reach for scores of businesses because they carefully manage an entire flight operation. They have the expertise and resources to handle all aspects of aircraft acquisition, maintenance, inspections, insurance, pilots, pilot training, flight crew coordination, fueling, paperwork and much more.
If you’re ready to put corporate aviation to work for your business, we can help you evaluate all options available to you, develop a plan and pair you with the exact resources you need.
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