Corporate Aviation makes up a good amount of the air travel
at many airports around the United States as well as the world. With struggling economic times and CEO’s getting
larger payout than ever, corporate aviation has gotten a bad rap in the last
few years, but the question remains…is corporate aviation justifiable for an
organization, or is it just an excuse for CEO’s and other top management to fly
in style.
To gauge a sense if corporate aviation has a place, you must
first figure out exactly what reason the company has a corporate aircraft. Is it to fly management around to multiple
factories to check on operations? Or is it to impress potential investors to
join the organization? These are just a
few of the reasons that an organization utilizes aviation in its everyday
operation. Now there will always be
organizations that will have an aircraft or two for the simple reason that the
CEO wants to fly to destinations around the world for personal use such
as play a round of golf in one location, or eat at a fancy restaurant in
another. I do agree that if used for
the correct reasons, there is a justification for corporate aviation to help an
organization grow.
To truly understand the importance of corporate aviation one
must look at all the benefits it brings to the company. Corporate aircrafts allow its members the
ability to get to their locations faster than commercial aviation. In addition, airports that might be closer to
the final destination might be able to be utilized despite the fact that
commercial air service is not offered there.
Case in point, if your ultimate destination is let’s say…. Worcester
Massachusetts, your only option with commercial aviation is to fly into either
Boston’s Logan airport or Providence Rhode Island and spend well over an hour
in traffic to get to Worcester. In a
corporate aircraft setting, the aircraft is able to land in Worcester and only
have a 10-15 minute car ride to your destination.
Corporate aviation also allows for employees or board
members to be much more rested in preparation for whatever official business
they need to attend to. There is no need
to spend time waiting in lines to get past security only to wait even longer at
the gate. Corporate aircraft have a much
less chance of delays that commercial aviation has. Even if the aircraft has to be delayed by
weather, corporate aircraft are able to pick alternate airports to fly
into. For example, if a commercial
aircraft is scheduled to fly into Midway in Chicago and it is closed because of
the weather, the flight will not be flown to Milwaukee and shuttle the
passengers by bus to Midway. In
corporate aviation it would not be unfeasible to land in Milwaukee and find
ground transportation to get to Chicago if needed.
In my career in aviation management, corporate aviation will
pay a role depending on where I end up working.
As I would currently like to work at a smaller reliever type airport, I
could foresee an organization that might utilize the airport to conduct their
operations out of. As I am currently in
the process of obtaining my dispatchers certification, I could see this as an
added bonus if I was to ever management a corporate aviation department. Being that corporate aviation falls under FAR
Part 91, there is no need for the department to employ FAA certified
dispatchers, having the knowledge gained in obtaining the dispatchers
certification would help file flight plans and conduct proper weight and
balance if that is what the company was looking for.
A company that utilizes a large corporate aviation fleet,
one that I feel it is essential for its operations, is Hendrick Motorsports. Hendrick Motorsports is a NASCAR race team
that is based just outside of Concord North Carolina. With a fleet that consists of 3 Saab 2000, a
Gulfstream V, a Falcon 900 and a Bell 430, they are able to transport many of
its employees to racetracks all around the United States throughout the
year. With over 30 races each year,
Hendrick Motorsports transports well over 50 employees that make up the four
race teams under the Hendrick Motorsports umbrella. With this many employees that have to travel
each weekend, it would not make economical sense, but would be a logistical
nightmare to rely on commercial aviation to get the job done. The hiring requirements to manage such a
fleet as Hendrick Motorsports has would require multiple years of
experience. Management experience would
be a must as well as strong organizational qualities. Depending on how exactly flights are
conducted, management might have a major role in flight planning so experience
in this would be highly sought after.