Treading the Waters of High Fuel Prices and an Economic Downturn...

…business aviation interests remain optimistic for the long term. Ed Bolen, president & CEO of the National Business Aviation Association, reports that fuel sales are significantly down for the year. Jet-A is off as much as 20 percent, says Bolen; avgas has dropped as much as 35 percent. While corporates are cutting back their operations and looking for ways to reduce costs, Bolen observes that we aren’t seeing the dramatic elimination of flight departments that has associated past downturns. Bolen says that what we are seeing is a reflection of the growth in importance in flight departments in the 21st Century business model. Companies use aircraft for numerous reasons – just-in-time inventory; productivity; distribution; customer visits; etc. – and the aircraft is now an integral part of the business. Bolen also points to the role bizav plays for many smaller communities who are now faced with declining commercial airline service, or the elimination of it entirely. Commerce still needs connectivity to the global marketplace, and that bodes well for business aviation. Yet, there is a noticeable lapse in the bullishness of recent times, even in Bolen’s voice. NBAA has been at the center of the bizav boom since the mid-1990s, and its annual convention, slated for Orlando this October, has grown exponentially. The upcoming 2008 event still looks strong, but we’ll likely get a firmer handle on the state of the U.S. business aviation community at that time. Look for more on our interview with Ed Bolen in the September issue of AIRPORT BUSINESS magazine. Thanks for reading. jfi