Corporate Aviation...Is there a need?

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.   

Robert Crutchfield was a pilot at Hendrick Motorsports for a number of years and explained how the job had changed for him while working there.  His experiences can be found at http://www.hendrickmotorsports.com/news/article/2009/09/16/Getting-to-know-Robert-Crutchfield-Hendrick-Motorsports-aviation