The ad showed the nose of a Pilatus PC-12 turboprop with the words “Escape from Terminal C” written in boldface type across the sky. Now, I’m sure there are plenty of escape-worthy Terminal Cs in the world, but for me the tag line immediately brought to mind the infamous Terminal C at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey. 

It’s not that Newark’s Terminal C is necessarily worse than any number of faceless airline terminals at other mega international airports around the world–especially if newness is your gauge of what constitutes an acceptable passenger waiting area. It’s just that Newark’s Terminal C–an expansive space ruined by a thoroughly weird layout–happens to be the concourse where I’ve spent far too much time.

A few days before seeing the PlaneSense ad I was raised to Olympic sprinter status trying to catch a Continental flight from Newark for my grandmother’s 100th birthday celebration in Florida. My dad and one of my brothers were still stuck somewhere in an obscenely long security line, and would reach the gate just in time to have the airline representative shut the jetway door in their faces. I was luckier in that my Elite status allowed me to join a shorter security line and make the flight with minutes to spare.

Admittedly our late arrivals to the gate had less to do with the long check-in and security lines than with a cellphone gone haywire and several ill-timed miscommunications that started hours before our scheduled departure time. Still, as I raced through Terminal C I couldn’t help but think of all the fortunate travelers who get to stroll through some tastefully decorated FBO lobby to the door of their waiting Gulfstream, Falcon or Challenger and be whisked airborne minutes later. 

Out of breath and straining to see the distant speck that was my departure gate, I started doing the math in my head, calculating what it would cost to transport the whole family to Fort Lauderdale on a charter flight. Maybe it was a similar experience that led you to business aviation–some mad dash through Terminal Whichever as you tried to catch a connecting flight to wherever it was you were flying next. One missed flight, one quashed business deal, and the numbers can start swinging convincingly in favor of private jet travel.

The advantages of business aviation far outnumber those of airline travel. The only advantages I can think of that pertain to the airlines are 1) the tickets are still reasonably cheap and 2) I can get my shoes shined while I wait for my flight to be called (though I can’t avoid having to remove them for the security check). 

The advantages of private jet travel, on the other hand, are numerous and substantial. A special section in our next issue, in fact, will focus on the many reasons for flying privately, starting with a clear, dollars-and-cents case for business jet travel and continuing with articles that highlight the tangible and intangible benefits of private aviation. We’ll also include ways to save, how to make the most of your time on board and the reasons many of the luminaries we’ve interviewed for BJT say they fly privately. We’ll be offering expanded distribution of the issue at the National Business Aviation Association Convention in October so that this information can reach an even wider audience. 

Meanwhile, the issue you hold in your hands is packed with information you can use to make better travel choices. There are also interviews with a jazz legend and a hot Hollywood director, who give their reasons for flying privately. And we’ve got reviews of two notable business jets, the large-cabin Gulfstream GIV and a brand new ride, Embraer’s game-changing Phenom 300 light jet.

Most regular BJT readers probably don’t need convincing to accept the arguments in favor of operating business aircraft. But listing the advantages can serve to underscore the reasons you should continue doing so. And if you know people who have yet to escape from Terminal C, by all means, pass your issue of BJT on to them.

Still, the airport presents challenges. It does not have a control tower and there is only one FBO, Burrows Aviation, which is small and spartan by comparison with major metropolitan FBOs. 

Burrows Aviation general manager Mindy Smith said the company generally handles one or two jets a day–not the 1,200 in one week that are expected for the PGA. This includes 70 to 80 professional golfers who will be flying in on private aircraft. 

The FBO is preparing for the challenge by adding line workers from outlying airports and ensuring it has plenty of fuel. Fortunately, hundreds of rental cars and dozens of airport volunteers will again become available in the aftermath of the 11,000-airplane, 800,000-spectator, week-long aviation Woodstock called EAA AirVenture. It ends August 1 just across Lake Winnebago in Oshkosh, Wis. So too will some spare FAA air traffic controllers who will man a temporary control tower at Sheboygan Airport beginning August 7. The temporary tower will operate most days from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. through August 16. 

The FAA has a Special Traffic Management Plan for this year’s PGA and is likely to publish other advisories closer to the event that will shut down the airspace over the tournament course. There will also be additional security on the airport, including extra surveillance cameras, more local and state police and officials from the Transportation Security Administration. Native Wisconsin cheese and bratwurst companies will also set up temporary residence at the airport. 

Sheboygan doesn’t have much transient hangar space and it is likely that the 5,000-foot crosswind runway will be shut down and used for aircraft parking. Technicians from Gulfstream in Appleton, Wis., and the Milwaukee Cessna Citation Service Center will provide maintenance on the field during the tournament. At least one other aircraft manufacturer plans a client hospitality event at the PGA. 

Smith said her staff can accommodate special requests, but advises those planning on attending to call Burrows Aviation and their rental car companies to make arrangements beforehand. 

About Whistling Straits

The Whistling Straits links course, the site of this year’s PGA, is on the shores of Lake Michigan near tiny Haven, Wis. The tournament was last held there in 2004, when it attracted 94,000 spectators and 1,200 private aircraft to nearby Sheboygan County Airport. 

Whistling Straits is one of several area golf courses operated by Kohler, a company best known for turning indoor plumbing into “gracious living” worldwide. For years, Kohler has operated several resort properties nearby, among them the famous American Club. Whistling Straits was constructed on the remnants of an abandoned military base and is often called the best approximation of a classic Irish links course in America. Kohler spared no expense on it, as you’ll see when you approach the elegant stone clubhouse, surrounded by imported Irish Blackface sheep grazing on the fescue. It is consistently rated as one of the top 10 golf courses in the country–even if your game isn’t magical, the place is.

Source: The New York Times

Trained as a classical musician starting at age seven, Hancock became captivated by the jazz scene in high school. Since then, he has won 12 Grammy awards as well as an Oscar for scoring the movie Round Midnight, in which he also acted. In 2008, his River: The Joni Letters–a tribute to his friend Joni Mitchell–became only the second jazz record to win an album-of-the-year Grammy.

Hancock has a long-time love of technology and pioneered the use of new types of instruments, especially synthesizers. But what seems to excite him most these days is not his iPad or his musical endeavors but his spiritual life as a chapter leader at the Buddhist temple near his home in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles. 

What influenced your interest in jazz?

When I was 13 I saw a performance of a jazz trio. And this trio had a piano player who was improvising with a bass player and a drummer and doing something I didn’t know how to do. So it was kind of curiosity, maybe a little jealousy, but also I liked what I heard and I wanted to learn how to do that. 

Classical music, which you started with, can be very rigid.

You’re playing someone else’s composition and it’s always basically the same notes. What intrigued me about jazz and pulled me like a magnet was that I could create my own notes and chord sequences. And I learned more about the structure of music than when I was playing classical music. I learned harmony and a little bit about orchestration and about the creation of melodies from playing jazz and hanging out with musicians and asking them questions and going to jam sessions. Back in those days, they weren’t teaching jazz in many schools. 

Is it important for musicians to learn the fundamentals before starting to improvise? 

I could read music. I didn’t know anything about the fundamentals of harmony or the structure of music. Yes, I knew what a major chord was and a minor chord and a diminished chord, but beyond that I didn’t know anything. If you’re going to be an instrumental performer in classical music, they don’t emphasize any of that. They emphasize repertoire, just learning to play pieces. They don’t emphasize structure. Whereas playing jazz, it’s really necessary to learn those things.

How do you like your iPad?

It’s fantastic. I use it for e-mail. I also use my iPhone for e-mail. And for entertainment things. When I really want to relax? Solitaire. It’s so basic that it just calms you down completely. 

So did you wait for the 3G iPad? Or did you get the first one, with Wi-Fi?

Both. 

Have you always incorporated technology into your music?

I’ve had an interest in science since I was a kid. I always want to know what makes things tick. I was one of the people who pushed the music world toward the use of technology. I got my first computer in 1979. An Apple II Plus. And I’ve had basically all the Apple products since then, including a Lisa that I still own. 

You could start a museum.

One time I did that, at the National Association of Music Merchants [convention]. I had my own display of early instruments, early synthesizers and one of the first Rhodes pianos.

How do you feel about the way technology has transformed music distribution?

I completely embrace it. In fact, this record [The Imagine Project] is not on a major label. It’s on Hancock Records and it’s distributed by an independent company. And I hired my own companies to handle the manufacturing. I didn’t go to a major company to do that. 

Do you often travel on business jets?

As often as I can. I’ve been flying privately since the 1980s and I love it.

Do you have a favorite business jet?

Yeah, the Gulfstream G550. It’s my preferred airplane when I’m flying in the U.S. because of its spaciousness, comfort level, seat design, speed, reliability and safety. Of course there are some other great companies. I’ve been on some Falcons and Embraers. Those are nice planes.  

Will you fly privately on the upcoming European leg of your tour?

Yes, on an ATR 42-300 [twin turboprop] chartered from Hangar8 in the UK. It will carry me, my five-piece band, my tour and production managers, techs and all our gear. There’s often a  show in a different city every night, so this was definitely the way to go. We usually leave first thing in the morning for the next stop to allow time to unload, get gear to the venue, check into the hotel, freshen up and make it to soundcheck by late afternoon.

You’ve accomplished a lot. Is there anything on your bucket list?

I want to get back into classical music but in a new way, and also I want to get more into writing for larger structures, like orchestras. That’s something that’s gotten harder for me to do over the years. It’s like the ink gets a little dry if you don’t use the pen. So you gotta refill the pen and continue that process.

What do you do for fun when you’re not thinking about music?

Play with computers. But also, in my practice of Buddhism I’m a chapter leader so there are members that I’m responsible for. You’re dealing with people’s inner lives, so it’s a big responsibility.

It’s not something you can just jump into.

You wouldn’t jump into being the chapter leader. Practicing you can jump into. To start practice is easy. There’s a phrase that we say: “Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.”  Chanting that over and over is the fundamental part of the practice. It’s the recitation of the law, the sound of the law of life. You’re dealing with cause and effect. So it’s very compatible with the scientific method in a way. 

The interesting thing about Buddhism is that Buddhism is the middle way. I think that what they’re saying is that they don’t believe in how most people define God. Buddhism would say the same thing. We think of God as something that’s not external. It’s internal. It’s the essence of life. We just don’t use the word “God.” It’s not that we’re godless; it doesn’t mean that. 

What led you to create The Imagine Project?

This one is about peace through global collaboration. It’s more about taking steps proactively toward creating the kind of environment that we want our children and our children’s children to live in. Rather than waiting for someone else to create it for us. Or rather than just complaining about how awful it might be. In a way, this record is a call to arms for people to start actively participating in writing their own future.

Does music still have the power to influence people?

Hopefully music has power to change people to what they really are. 

Is The Imagine Project about more than Herbie Hancock?

It’s my vision, but I believe the essence of it is within the human spirit. 

And were the artists you collaborated with chosen because of something about their spirit? 

For many it was that. When we started putting together names of who we might like to have on the record, I remember the name Juanes was brought up. There was a video on YouTube. It’s him performing in Havana. You see a banner behind him that says “paz sin fronteras,” which means peace without borders. So I said, “That’s great–that’s exactly the spirit of what this record is about.” And then I got the chance to meet him, to discuss putting a track together with him. He was really pleased with the purpose of this record and he said this is where he lives in his heart and he was excited about being a part of it. 

Jazz is all about improvisation. Has your life been an improvisation, too?

Very much so. I think that’s the beauty of life–learning to develop the confidence to not be afraid of circumstances that may confront you. 

In other words, don’t resist?

Right. Life would be dull without obstacles. You’d never learn anything, you’d never grow, you’d be bored and try to commit suicide. Certainly you can’t be happy without obstacles, because true happiness is the victory of turning an obstacle into something of value. That’s the hidden beauty with struggle.

What kind of obstacles have you faced?

Getting up in the morning [laughs]. Musicians are not used to getting up in the morning, but I’ve changed that. Practicing Buddhism, I’ve gotten to the point where I want to get up and go down to the center and do the morning prayers with some other members. It’s a good way to start my day.

Kind of a spiritual jump-start?

Exactly. But you asked me a serious question: what kind of obstacles have I faced? Let’s just take this situation of making this record. The first thing I thought about was, why do I want to make a record? What purpose would it serve? There’s an obstacle in a sense. It’s a quandary, but to make that kind of decision is an important first step. If I hadn’t made that step, this kind of record would never have happened.

It’s got to have a purpose?

I’ve come to the point in my life where this is the new reality for me. I feel a more value-creating approach to making music. 

Fast Facts

NAME: Herbert Jeffrey “Herbie” Hancock

BIRTHDATE: April 12, 1940

OCCUPATION: Jazz pianist and composer, winner of 12 Grammy awards and one Oscar. Producer of dozens of albums. 

FAVORED TRANSPORTATION: Gulfstream G550

PERSONAL: Lives in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles with wife Gigi. One daughter.

The 300 seems likely to take market share from the more expensive Bombardier Learjet 40XR and the Cessna Citation CJ4. It may also dissuade Hawker Beechcraft from launching the Hawker 450XP, the long-awaited successor to the venerable Beechjet. In marketing parlance, the Phenom 300 is a category killer.

“It delivers all the things Embraer said it would,” commented Terry Vance, the retired motorcycle drag-racing champion who now runs several motorcycle-related ventures. He took delivery of the second U.S.-based Phenom 300 at the end of January and had flown on it 115 hours by the end of June. Vance said the 300 has the potential to become an iconic aircraft. “From a customer-satisfaction standpoint, Embraer has just made the ’55 Chevy,” he said. “I think the 300 might be a home run.” 

Embraer delivered the first U.S. Phenom 300 last December to Executive Flight Service, which operates it on a Part 135 charter certificate on behalf of a Texas customer. EFS’s sister company, Executive AirShare, is selling fractional shares in the airplane and has six on order. Adam Letts is EFS’s vice president of operations and, as pilot in command, has logged about 127 hours in the aircraft.  He said the 300 is “about 98 percent of the way to the perfect airplane.” 

Vance and Letts agree that the Phenom 300 is a game-changer, with more passenger legroom and 20 percent less fuel burn than a Beechjet, a sustained 4,000-foot-per-minute climb rate and brakes that can stop the aircraft in as little as 2,200 feet after touch down. Operators said the stopping power was impressive even though the Phenom 300 lacks thrust reversers and the full flaps setting is limited to 26 degrees. 

Embraer called that limitation temporary and reported that the aircraft will soon be certified for an additional notch of flaps and steep approaches into places like London City Airport. Meanwhile, if you want to take your Phenom 300 into mountainous airports, your pilot needs to bring his A game. The reason: The flap-setting limitation, combined with the aircraft’s slick wing, makes it loathe to slow and renders approaches into places like Aspen a bit tricky. “You’ve got to really plan ahead,” said Letts. “At the top of the approach at power idle going into Aspen or other high-terrain areas, we are building up too much speed.”

Yet most of the time, the Phenom 300’s speed works to its advantage. Vance has seen speeds of 453 knots at 45,000 feet and Letts reported some impressive trip times in the airplane, including Dallas to Calgary, Canada, in 3 hours, 18 minutes and Seattle to Fort Worth in 3 hours, 16 minutes. 

Inside the Phenom 300's cabin, Embraer offers a generous selection of options for an aircraft in the light-jet category. Basic available color pallets include agate, citrine, obsidian, onyx, quartz, topaz, and tourmaline; however, customers can select fabric and color combinations beyond these offerings. Cabins feature enclosed, pleated window shades; Ultraleather upper sidewalls; carpet or wood floors; laminate, gloss or veneer cabinet finishes; and carpeted or fabric-covered lower sidewalls. In-flight entertainment options include satellite radio, seat power outlets, audio source for mp3 players, speakers, subwoofers and a VIP control panel. There are separate passenger and cockpit environmental controls.

The 18-inch-wide cabin seats feature longitudinal tracking, adjustable recline, three-point seatbelts, breakover backs and inboard armrests. Maximum seat pitch is 42 inches. 

The cabin’s cool, clean lines and appearance are reminiscent of upscale automobiles. That’s no accident. For interior design, Embraer turned to BMW DesignWorksUSA in Newbury Park, Calif.

The 300 comes in two basic floor plans that accommodate six to nine passengers and customers can choose between a full wardrobe or a sink in the externally serviced lavatory. The 300’s galley can be equipped with a hot jug and a wine rack. The large baggage hold can carry golf clubs and skis. 

Despite its BMW influence, the 300’s cabin isn’t as refined as the one you’ll find on Cessna’s CJ4, perhaps belying Embraer’s lineage as a commercial airline builder. Letts knocked the passenger seats for their “ratchety” adjustment functions, although he said seat comfort is adequate. Vance said the seats should have better armrests. Embraer is reportedly working with its seat supplier to improve them. 

Letts also pointed out that in-flight entertainment input jacks are only in the cockpit, not in the cabin, and that the main cabin lighting and lavatory lights are all on the same circuit–there is no separate lavatory lighting switch.  

An Embraer spokesman said the company was looking into these items. Those minor criticisms aside, operators seem happy with the 300’s cabin. Letts called it “comfortable, quiet and spacious” and added, “Passengers really like it.”

How well the Phenom 300 eventually does in the market may have less to do with the aircraft’s performance than with how well the manufacturer supports it, said Vance. “The Embraer guys are in a sweet spot if they maintain the customer service they need to maintain,” he commented. “That is the real key.

.

1. The industry will be healthier. 

Forecasters have dialed down pre-recession optimistic views to an arguably more realistic outlook of stable sales and deliveries of business aircraft during the next 18 months followed by gradual growth. “We recognize that business aviation closely tracks the economy,” said National Business Aviation Association president and CEO Ed Bolen. 

Said Roger Whyte, Cessna’s senior vice president of sales and marketing, “After a downturn, economies do gather pace. People get creative and economies start to grow again.” 

Cessna expects growing interest in countries that haven’t cultivated business aviation, and Bombardier Aerospace also anticipates that will be the case. “We expect the global economy to continue growing,” said Bombardier Business Aircraft manager of industry relations Leo Knappen, “with a real GDP annual growth rate of between 3 and 4 percent over the next five years. The strongest growth will be in emerging economies such as China and India. Business jet fleets in some of these markets are relatively small, so combined with strong economic growth we expect to see compound annual fleet growth rates in these emerging markets in the magnitude of 10 to 20 percent.”

Walter Kraujalis, founder of aircraft sales and acquisition and consulting firm AeronomX, predicted that “in five years we will be back to a normal market that is better than previous normal markets.” The market peak before the recession and last year’s lows will be replaced by more moderate sustainable growth, he predicted.

2. Business aviation’s image will improve. 

“The political and public relations pendulum is shifting,” said Jim Coyne, president of the National Air Transportation Association. “We’re going to see a doubling of the global supply of wealthy people in the next five to 10 years. Our products are most attractive to people who put a high value on saving time, and there are going to be millions more people who want to spend money to save time and get to places more safely and efficiently.”

According to Cessna’s Whyte, “Since we had the three CEOs of the big auto companies in Washington being cross-examined, a lot has happened and at a political level there is a better understanding of what business aviation does.” Cessna owners who stopped flying because of the economy and concern about their image have begun flying again, he said. “They realized they could not conduct business efficiently without their airplanes.”

Robert Poole, director of transportation policy at the Reason Foundation, said he sees a shift in the way people travel on business aircraft. “I will speculate that as time goes on, more companies will opt for fractional and other forms of using business jets and turboprops without outright ownership, both to reduce overhead costs and to maintain a lower profile.”

3. Technology will make aircraft safer and more reliable. 

The FAA’s plan to equip airplanes with the ability to monitor and report on their location both to ATC and other aircraft is part of the massively expensive NextGen effort that should see implementation by 2020. “The whole suite of NextGen capabilities,” said Reason’s Poole, “will lead to most flights being carried out on user-preferred, optimal trajectories, whether that’s to minimize fuel burn or minimize door-to-door time.”

Jet engines will continue to improve, according to Shawn O’Day, GE Aviation’s manager of business and general aviation marketing. “Engines keep getting more reliable,” he said. “It’s about continuing to improve efficiency, using materials to reduce weight and operate at higher temperatures.” Looking at GE’s massive GE90 engine, it’s easy to see how the composite fan blades on the front are radically twisted, compared with metal fan blades on older engines. “We know how air flows from the root to the tip,” he said, “and how to turn that airfoil and make it more efficient. And better efficiency means lower fuel burn.”

On the airframe side, business aircraft design is moving toward not only advanced avionics for the pilots and more useful telecom tools in the cabin but also increased system redundancy. Cessna’s newest jet, the CJ4, offers four sources of electrical power, according to Whyte, “such that it’s virtually impossible to lose all the avionics.” Other new developments include communication with air traffic controllers via datalink, reducing the need for radio-based voice communications. Increased use of situational-awareness tools will help eliminate runway and taxiway accidents with cockpit displays showing pilots their own aircraft’s location on airports, and also information about other aircraft and ground vehicles. “Runway incursions should be a thing of the past,” Whyte said. 

4. U.S. government regulation will increase. 

In America, at least, business aviation users can still fly when and where they want without first having to obtain permission. That may change in the next few years as the Transportation Security Administration has expressed a strong desire to apply airline-like security standards to business aviation, including the need to obtain security clearance for crew and passengers before takeoff. 

Overall, according to Bombardier’s Knappen, “Business aviation has fared well in the current regulatory climate, both in America and now increasingly in international markets. However, we are also now experiencing increased levels of policy development at ICAO [International Civil Aviation Organization] and a renewed focus by most major national regulators worldwide. Many regulations are under consideration or about to be written or introduced that our industry will have to comply with. This new wave of rulemaking will undoubtedly increase the burden for manufacturers, operators and maintenance and training providers worldwide.”

Kraujalis also believes that international authorities will soon seek to regulate business aircraft operators, but he sees a positive side. “I predict that in a little over five years, ICAO will come up with a corporate flight department’s air operating certificate similar to a charter company holding an air carrier certificate,” Kraujalis said. “This will benefit business aviation immensely. The regulatory environment that we use now is confusing. A corporate airplane legally flies only because of the crew’s personal pilot’s licenses.”

Whyte of Cessna, meanwhile, said he considers less regulation a possibility, at least internationally. “In other parts of the world,” he said, “we’re hoping it will go the other way and some regulations will be relaxed so that it makes all of aviation more viable. I’m thinking of China and India, where growth is being held back by over-restriction and over-regulation.”

5. Carbon emissions will drop. 

The global-warming issue has ensnared aviation and the industry will face growing pressure from the public and governments to keep emissions to a minimum. “It’s clear that additional environmental regulations are going to be a reality in the U.S.,” said the NBAA’s Bolen. “They have already moved forward in other parts of the world.” Added Whyte: “We are going to have to deal with it and expect that there will be a cost for the emissions that we do make.” 

On the hardware side, GE Aviation is working on development of engine efficiency improvements with its twin annular pre-swirl combustion technology, which greatly lowers greenhouse gas emissions in all modes of operation. GE is also working with organizations that are developing alternative fuels.

According to Bombardier’s Knappen, meanwhile, “We have a commitment by the general aviation manufacturing and aircraft operator communities to achieve carbon-neutral growth by 2020 and a 50-percent reduction in total carbon emissions by 2050 [relative to 2005]. We will achieve this through expected advances in technology, infrastructure and operational improvements, alternative fuels and market-based measures.”

“Everyone expects that the government will impose more tax in all areas of life,” said Avfuel’s Sincock, “with business aviation not being an exception. The challenge will be to strike a balance so that increases in taxes for environmental conservation and other issues will not be so large that they stifle the use and growth of business.”

NATA’s Coyne said he doesn’t think taxes will provide a solution. “Technology is going to bring down our carbon footprint as we figure out ways to use energy more efficiently.”

Football, in fact, played a major role in We Are Marshall, one of the most important movies directed by McG, who was born Joseph McGinty Nichol. (McG, pronounced muk-jee, is an appellation his mother gave him.) But while football provided the movie with its framework, what inspired McG to direct it was the 1970 crash of a chartered Boeing 727, which killed all 75 people on board, including most of the Marshall University football team and its coach. The film chronicles how the town of Huntington, W.Va., a rebuilt team and new coach Jack Lengyel (convincingly played by Matthew McConaughey) overcame the crash and returned the squad to glory.

Dealing with issues surrounding the crash forced the now 42-year-old McG to face his fear of flying–a fear so strong it kept him from going to Australia to direct Superman Returns. Having since overcome that fear, he now travels all over in his own Hawker 800 and is even thinking about learning to fly.

When we met, McG told us his career began when he and friend Mark McGrath started the rock band Sugar Ray. McG produced its albums and shot photos of the band, then transitioned into shooting music videos and directing and producing television shows and movies. 

Known for his iconic music videos and an ever multiplying series of television shows that he executive produces (Chuck, Human Target, Super Natural), and films he directed and/or produced that include Charlie’s Angles, Charlie’s Angles: Full Throttle, the 2006 horror film Stay Alive and Terminator Salvation, the prolific and creative McG has several interesting projects up his sleeve.

What gets your creative juices flowing? 

Being the best director I can possibly be. I’m trying to continue to develop my voice as a filmmaker, but I love music and film. That’s why I called my company Wonderland Sound and Vision. It’s the marriage of my two favorite mediums. My life was very humdrum growing up, and I dreamed about a world bigger than mine. Therefore, my expression in film and music is always about a world bigger than my own. 

One of your first efforts was cofounding the band Sugar Ray. 

I was surrounded by a great deal of musical talent and I thought I’d put together a bunch of recording sessions. I ended up producing all those records. Because I was a still photographer it was organic for me to start shooting the videos in the great age of MTV. I realized I was more at home behind the camera than just about anywhere else.

We Are Marshall was a change from what you’d done before. What made you want to do that movie?

I was making Superman, and I was supposed to get on one of Warner Brothers’ GVs and go to Australia. I was terrified of flying and it resulted in my being thrown off the movie. It was a really sobering moment for me as a man and as a filmmaker.

So I started to see these two women at UCLA who helped me understand and get over my fear of flying. That’s what led me to TWC Aviation [in Van Nuys, Calif.]. I chartered a GII for months and I remember walking around the plane and getting on and off and taxiing around and then being afraid to take off and fly. 

What do you think was behind your fear of flying?

It wasn’t so much, “Hey, this thing is going to crash.” It was more, “I’m in a steel tube seven miles above the Earth and there’s nothing I can do to get out of here.” It’s just a lack of control and an inability to say, “Just get me out of here.” 

So how did you overcome your fear?

I kept putting one foot in front of the other and getting more and more used to it. And I slowly and steadily started to overcome my fear. And it built this great passion for aviation, and then I kept putting my professional life together until I was in a position to buy the Hawker 800. It’s like the moment in Batman where Bruce Wayne is most afraid of bats but he knows to be the man he wants to be he’s got to go into the bat cave, spread his arms and let the bats just flood over him so he can become what he’s most afraid of. 

Did you have a moment like that when you finally took off?

Indeed. And that’s what led me to We Are Marshall. It’s about the plane crash and about a community coming back in the face of overwhelming grief. It’s a very inspirational story about how, if you fall off of life, you’ve got to get up and keep on trucking. I knew I’d have to fly into that airport in West Virginia every time I went to shoot the picture and it was very much a personal statement about overcoming that which I was most afraid of. 

The way you showed the crash in the film was understated–some noise, then a black screen for long enough that I wondered whether the movie was broken.

I wanted it to be impactful, and sometimes less is more. You just see the beginnings of a tree trunk coming through the fuselage–it’s nothing but two or three frames–and then you go to black for a long time. And that was the intention: stay in black long enough to have people wonder if the film snapped in the projector.

You’re one of the few directors working with Matthew McConaughey who draws out his skills as an actor.

He’s had great success in the romantic comedy genre but I know that he can also go to that other place. You see it in the John Grisham film [A Time to Kill], and he’s done it a few other times throughout his career, and I thought he was wonderful [in We Are Marshall].

Would you like to work with him again?

I would indeed. In fact, we got on one of those Warner Gulfstreams and got into a wrestling match where he destroyed me. It led to a very humiliating moment at 40,000 feet in front of the Warner Brothers brass that they still kid about to this day. So, McConaughey, when you read this, I want a rematch. 

You went from not wanting to get on that Warner Gulfstream to having an airborne wrestling match?

Yeah, but to me, that’s what life is about. What defines us is how we respond to adversity. There are a lot of challenges along the way and I’m not done seeing my share of them.

What drew you to the Hawker 800?

It seemed mission-appropriate. I like that it’s an L.A.-to-New York nonstop aircraft. I was attracted to the winglets that this particular Hawker had. I thought it was great, added more fuel economy, more lift, and seemed attractive. It was in my price point and seemed like the most reliable airframe. 

Do you charter out your Hawker?

Yes, because we feel it’s intelligent for the airplane to fly about 400 hours a year. And I don’t fly 400 hours a year. While making a movie, I’m probably [flying] 150 to 200 hours, but I don’t like the idea of the airplane not flying for 10 or 15 days in a row. 

How does flying privately help you when you’re working?

It’s terribly, terribly effective. For example, while we shot Terminator. Albuquerque is about 1,000 miles from L.A. and I came home every weekend and was able to recharge my batteries and get work done on the flight. And the stars would come home with great regularity, and it kept them happy because they could see their families. And I would stay on top of my other business interests in Los Angeles with a personal touch as opposed to being stuck in Albuquerque. 

What is Airshow about?

It’s a thriller that takes place in the body of an air show. The bad guys take over some of the military hardware that’s at the Chicago air show. It’s a big summer action movie, and hopefully that’ll come to fruition. 

Are you still trying to do a movie a year?

I think that’s too ambitious. I mean, movies take longer than a year, especially the big visual-effects movies. And movies fall apart for any number of reasons. As [Avatar director] Jim Cameron has said, “When a movie comes together, it’s nothing short of a miracle.”

You’re doing a movie version of the rock musical Spring Awakening?

We’ve just finished the script for that, and it’s likely to be my next movie. That’s something I’m passionate about. I love stories where boy loves girl, girl loves boy and society will tear them apart. I think that’s timeless and every generation has their Splendor in the Grass or Love Story or Titanic that they can relate to and I’m confident that Spring Awakening is going to strike that chord with youth around the world and the youth in all of us. 

You’ve said that you’re proud of keeping on budget. 

Yeah, because the more you can stick to what you say you’re going to do, the more autonomy you get from the studio. When you say I can get this done in X days for X dollars and then you do it, you earn a great deal of credibility and therefore you earn artistic freedom. 

A lot of people assume artists can’t control a budget.

I don’t know that that’s true. I’m passionate and I can yell and scream with the best of them, but in the spirit of getting done what I need to get done. And I just simply have the experience at this point to deconstruct what we’re trying to achieve and know how long it’s going to take to get it done in exactly the way that I want to get it done. 

What did you learn from your years of making music videos?

Music video allows you an opportunity to put a lot of film through the camera and develop your own style. So as opposed to being someone who went to film school and maybe got the chance to shoot a seven-minute short as the totality of their film experience in a multi-year program, we were out there shooting hundreds of thousands of feet of film on a weekly basis. And when you’ve shot on the mountaintop and on the water and in the desert and in the day and in the night and you’ve dealt with the difficult personalities and you’ve done the visual effects and you’ve done the long single take, you get a lot of experience.

What movie desperately needs to be made that hasn’t been done yet? 

Spring Awakening. It’s a 19th century Frank Wedekind play that was banned in Germany. And to see it redefined as a contemporary rock and roll musical I just think is so original. I think any kid who couldn’t get to Broadway or L.A. to the theater has a right to see that at the multiplex in Duluth. 

Is it hard to turn a Broadway show into a movie?

It’s hard to make a movie, period. 

But then there are those other trips.

Traffic, construction detours, the boredom of the same old scenery–even just plain fatigue–can turn an innocent-looking road trip into a tortuous nightmare. And for me, there’s the added gotcha that comes from glancing up at the sky and cursing at myself: “Shoulda flown, dummy.”

I have friends who regularly drive eight hours or more to summer homes in Maine. And others who endure the double whammy of hours on New England’s traffic-choked highways followed by the interminable wait for the ferry to Martha’s Vineyard or Nantucket. Some of these folks will actually drive back mid-vacation for important meetings and then retrace their steps to rejoin their families.

Because you’re reading this magazine, you probably don’t do that. But maybe you know someone who does. I have a suggestion to pass along to your friend: consider charter flying, or even a fractional share. At least chide him to look into it, especially if the first reaction is to dismiss it as exorbitant. 

Most people who haven’t considered charter flying think their only option is a jet. They might be surprised to visit a small local airport and talk to the charter department. That airport is likely less than half an hour from their front door, and chances are good there is a selection of aircraft to choose from on the business’s FAA Part 135 charter certificate. It could be as small as a four-seat single-engine model, handy for those quick out-and-back trips for one or two passengers with baggage. But more likely, the operation will also have a comfortable twin-engine airplane available, with club seating for the entire family. It’ll turn that eight-hour crawl into a few hours of soaring above the landscape. 

If the idea of trusting life and limb to a mom-and-pop business sounds risky, your friend should consider that any FAA-approved fly-for-hire operation must comply with rules that far exceed those required for private pilots. Those rules govern maintenance, pilot qualifications and safety of flight operations in general. Even so, it is never unwise to perform personal due diligence when such precious cargo is at stake. Your friend should ask for references from satisfied customers, get to know the charter firm’s employees and then judge for himself whether the operation merits his trust.

The grand adventure of the first one or two charter flights will open up new realities when it comes to scheduling invaluable time off. Destinations out of practical driving range are suddenly back on the table for discussion. A month’s getaway that would have been impossible due to a work obligation midway through can now go on as planned, with the charter flight covering the mid-month back-and-forth in a fraction of the drive time. And with far less stress and fatigue.

First-time charter customers often come back for more, as they find that the convenience and flexibility easily trump the cost. And that’s when long-term deals with the charter operators, or even a fractional share, can become cost effective. Some of the logic may even spill over to business travel, opening up options that could lead to new markets or better serve existing customers or clients.

And maybe best of all, the small-airplane flying experience is totally different from the airline grind in so many ways. The schedule is yours, the lines non-existent and the view fantastic.

Typically priced at around $8 million, a good used GIV represents an enormous value in terms of speed, range, cabin size and passenger capacity. You can fly it with all 14 seats full 3,800 nautical miles at speeds up to 476 knots–faster than anything else in its class. 

However, picking the wrong GIV can open the gates of misery. “Buying a 20-year-old, complex airplane, you have to ask where it has been based, how it has been operated and who has maintained it,” cautioned jet broker Josh Mesinger. “Underneath the skin, you could have a real junker.” 

Mesinger said that in May, 45 used GIVs were on the market, but most of them weren’t worth consideration because of high hours, damage, poor maintenance history and high prices. Still, if you desire a standup cabin and more than transcontinental range, you need to seriously consider putting the GIV on your shopping list. 

The GIV’s main attribute is its versatility, said retired corporate pilot Darcy Eggeman, who has logged 3,500 hours in the airplane. “You can get into the smaller airports and yet travel anywhere in the world with it,” noted Eggeman, who praised the GIV’s aggressive climb performance, durability and comparatively low maintenance needs. “It’s such a workhorse.”

First delivered in 1987, the GIV followed the wildly popular GIII. The GIII debuted in 1976, was first delivered in 1979 and cemented Gulfstream’s reputation as the leading business jet provider of the 1980s. It set speed and distance records in its category, could be configured to seat 15 passengers and was the first business jet to feature winglets as standard equipment. But the GIII’s twin Rolls-Royce Spey engines used classic 1950s technology: they were powerful, dirty, noisy fuel suckers that were robust but hideously expensive to maintain. While the GIII was fine for jumping to Europe from the East Coast, Gulfstream’s customers told the company they wanted even more range and better operating economics. 

Gulfstream began designing a four-engine, follow-on aircraft to the GIII in the early 1980s. But reconfiguring the airplane to accommodate four engines added complexity and weight and reduced performance margins. Late in the program’s design, Gulfstream opted to keep the GIV a twinjet, using a new Rolls-Royce engine being developed for the airlines called the Tay. The Tay’s larger fan gave the engine better operating economics, cleaner emissions and a lower noise signature, while still providing 13,850 pounds of thrust. However, the aircraft also needed a new wing that weighed less, could hold 1,000 more gallons of fuel than the GIII and had less aerodynamic drag.    

The GIV was the first business jet to feature an all-glass digital cockpit and a digital flight-management computer. When certified in 1987, the aircraft had a top speed of 500 knots, a range of 4,220 nautical miles and a ceiling of 45,000 feet. Between 1987 and 1993, 213 were produced. 

Over the years, GIV maintenance has been simplified considerably, as Gulfstream has moved away from the traditional hours/months paradigm still used by most of today’s private aircraft and toward a “task-oriented” program like the ones used to maintain airliners. Nevertheless, properly maintaining a GIV is not a low-cost proposition. Maintenance cost per hour of operation exceeds $1,300 and the bill for engine overhauls can top $1.5 million each. And while the Tays ingest less fuel than the GIII’s Speys, the GIV remains the thirstiest jet in class. A fully loaded GIV weighs 73,000 pounds, and 29,000 of that is fuel. 

Overall, the airplane weighs 30,000 pounds more than a Dassault Falcon 900 or Bombardier Challenger 601. 

GIV customers were able to have completely custom interiors installed, but most featured seating for 12 to 16 with forward or rear galleys, a forward crew lavatory and a main executive lavatory in the rear of the aircraft. A stateroom, complete with one or two berthing divans, can be created in the rear of the aircraft forward of the main lavatory. The cavernous 169-cubic-foot baggage compartment is externally accessible. Eggeman said she “rarely had issues with the size of the baggage compartment. It almost always could accommodate passenger and crew needs.”  It also can be accessed in flight through the rear of the lavatory. The galley can be equipped with a microwave, high-speed/-temperature convection oven, two coffeemakers and refrigerated storage. There is ample space for two meal services.

The right completion center can refurbish the interior of a GIV to the point that it is virtually indistinguishable from a new G450, though the job generally costs at least $1 million and the bill can go a lot higher. If you are going to pull out the ceiling and the sidewalls anyway, look at adding acoustic sound-dampening ($50,000 to $100,000). Other popular refurbishment options for the GIV, according to Gulfstream, include the Broad Band Multi-Link Internet and communications system; Aircraft Service Change (ASC) 190, which modifies the wing and landing gear to accommodate higher gross weight and increased range and payload; and ASC 465A, for installation of an improved Honeywell auxiliary power unit, which provides better airflow in the cabin and more starting power for the engines.

Follow-on aircraft, including the incrementally better GIV-SP and the G400, were produced through 2003. The current G450 may look similar, but it offers more range, new avionics and digital engine controls, a larger cockpit and redesigned cabin entryway, improved cabin altitude and environmental controls, lower fuel burn and better high/hot performance. Of course, you’ll pay a lot more for these incremental improvements: New G450s start at $49 million and even an average used GIV-SP can command $15 million. 

You should be able to find a well-maintained GIV for about half that latter price. This is a model that delivers solid, predictable performance for an acquisition cost that is decidedly in-bounds.

Not so fast. You still face one big question–the same one that those acquiring whole aircraft must grapple with: Should you buy outright, finance the purchase or opt for a lease? This isn’t a simple decision and, given the amounts of money involved, it’s as important as it is complex. So your best bet may be to seek help from a professional adviser. Before you do, though, it’s smart to have at least a basic understanding of the choices that confront you.

Buying a share outright, which is what most fractional customers do, is the easiest option to grasp and the most expensive in terms of initial outlay. You simply pay the cost in full up front, own the share for the contract term and then sell it back to the provider or renew your contract. Advantages include the ability to recoup residual value and, if your situation permits, to deduct depreciation on your taxes. A major disadvantage is that you tie up a large sum for an extended period–money that you might be able to use more productively elsewhere. (Fractional contracts typically run five years, though you can generally resell your share to the company after three years at most.) Also, your investment could be at risk if the provider goes bankrupt.

If you don’t want to buy outright–or can’t spare the cash–you might consider financing, which still allows you to build equity. Here, your alternatives range from traditional financing of all or part of the purchase price to interest-only payments. Keep in mind, though, that financing isn’t as easy to get or as flexible as it used to be and that you’d better have great credit if you’re shopping for a no-money-down deal.

Your third option is leasing, and it makes sense if you simply don’t want to own a share, financed or otherwise. Why might that be? Maybe you’d prefer not to show an owned aircraft on your company’s balance sheet. (A lease will be mentioned only in the footnotes.) Or perhaps you plan to use the airplane primarily for pleasure and therefore can’t take advantage of tax-depreciation benefits. 

Perhaps, too, you don’t want to worry about what portion of a large investment you’d recoup when your contract ends–a serious matter these days, when values of many models are declining faster than usual. If you lease, the aircraft’s fair market value at the end of the term isn’t your concern. Also, you may not be in a position to take on additional debt–something you don’t have to do if you lease.

Though fractional providers’ profit margins tend to be lower for leases than for purchases, several companies do offer them. You can also opt for fractional jet cards, which often represent subleases of fractional shares, or arrange for a lease through aircraft financing firms. 

You can choose from several lease types, including operating leases, tax leases, hybrid or synthetic leases, step-down or step-up leases and sale-and-leaseback deals. A discussion of how they work and their pros and cons is beyond the scope of this article. Consult your tax advisor to determine which lease type makes most sense for you.

Some fractional operators have been tweaking their lease products to entice you to sign on the dotted line despite the economy’s woes. Flight Options, for example, offers leases with fixed rates, terms as short as two years, no formal credit approval and minimal up-front payments (just the first month’s fee plus a refundable security deposit). Flexjet, meanwhile, now touts a “Walkaway Lease” that lets you cancel your contract without penalty anytime with 90 days’ notice. You’re still talking about a much bigger commitment than charter involves, but three months is a far cry from the multi-year obligation that a fractional share typically requires.

Whether or not he’s right about the world economy, I think the term “new normal” applies to today’s used aircraft market. It was buyers’ and sellers’ non-acceptance of pricing that caused values to sink until about a year ago, courtesy of a combination of some foreclosed jets and desperation sales that began to carve out the market bottom, or the lowest point of El-Erain’s square-root analogy.

Consider that roughly a year ago about 40 Gulfstream GIV-SPs were for sale and today half that many are on the market (see chart). The reason for this is the new normal, which includes an accepted pricing structure nearly 50 percent lower than it was 24 months ago. Consider, too, the Hawker 850XP market: 20 are currently on the sales block–only five of which are U.S. registered. That’s another example of the new normal.

So what will the recovery look like in the preowned aircraft market? I think it will be less reminiscent of alphabet letters and square-root symbols than of the Cyclone rollercoaster at Coney Island. The good news appears to be that everyone’s stomach has already churned after the dramatic drop. Keep your seat belts fastened for the rest of the wild ride.

That’s worth considering, because the charter aircraft you fly on are likely owned by individuals and companies that use them fairly regularly and rent them out to offset costs. And since owners must approve the rates and terms at which their airplanes are chartered–usually on a trip-by-trip basis–they drive prices.

If you think today’s relatively soft demand gives you leverage to negotiate lowball rates, you’re not thinking the way many business jet owners do.

“Some [owners] will tell you it’s a matter of principle,” said Robert Seidel, senior vice president and general manager of charter and aircraft management company Jet Aviation in Teterboro, N.J. “They’re not going to, in essence, subsidize a cheap trip.”

Jeff Vasey, founder and president of charter broker Beam Aviation, agreed. Asked about owners’ reactions to requests for discounted rates, he said, “Even if it’s an empty plane and it’s almost a perfect [charter flight] match and pure money in the bank, a lot of owners will say flat out, ‘No–no one should be able to fly for that little.’” For many owners, resistance to lower rates has more to do with economic reality than with principle; they’ve simply concluded that reduced prices won’t cover their costs. Charter companies and owners stay in close contact, and both groups would rather hold the line on rates than chase bottom-fishing customers.

“The owners of the aircraft we manage are sophisticated, successful people,” said David Rimmer, executive vice president of charter operator ExcelAire in Ronkonkoma, N.Y. “When we discuss what the market pricing has been, generally [owners] say, ‘Why would we price it that way? Just to move the airplane? How do I benefit from that?’”

Added Toby Batchelder, sales manager of charter operator Elliott Aviation in Minneapolis: “For these owners to put their aircraft on someone’s charter certificate, it’s not a get-rich-quick scheme. The margins are thin. If I ask them to lower rates, they’re going to say, ‘Why do I even have it on a charter certificate?’”

True, a handful of charter operators own their fleets and can set whatever prices they want–and some have been cutting their rates. XOJet of San Carlos, Calif., for example, owns a fleet of Cessna Citation Xs and Bombardier Challenger 300s and offers discounted point-to-point transcontinental flights. But if you’re hoping reduced rates will percolate through the rest of the charter fleet, you may have a long wait in the departure lounge.

“I think [discounted rates from a few charter operators] trained some people in the market to expect an unreasonably low price to fly on private jets,” Rimmer said. “For a period of time, we had people asking for these low fares on our aircraft. I guess we’re not getting the calls anymore. Our customers understand our pricing structure and that our obligation is to the owners of the aircraft we manage.”

Echoed Batchelder, “You’ll have a client or two, usually a first-time caller, who prices me against rates on the Internet or a national program. But most of my regular customers understand the business model: All the planes are privately owned, and most of the money I collect goes back to the airplane owner.”

To be sure, some owners have made concessions in this market. Many, for example, are waiving minimum flight times, waiting times and fuel surcharges. And doubtless some are not holding as firm as others on rates. That means deals of various sorts are out there. But trolling for low rates has costs of its own.

“If [charter customers] want to go out and find what they think is absolutely the lowest price, going down that path becomes a very cumbersome process, which takes away a lot of the convenience of flying privately,” noted Marty Guinoo, CEO of Sentient Jet in Weymouth, Mass., which  supplements its jet card offering with charter service. 

It’s a valid point. As a charter customer, you want a good deal but you likely don’t want to invest lots of time searching for one. The optimum solution is to find one or two reliable providers who offer competitive prices rather than seeking the ultimate deal for every flight.

Keep in mind that while charter rates may not be going lower they remain well below what they were before the recession turned the economy upside down. If the cost of charter is headed anywhere, it’s likely upward. Enjoy current pricing while you can.

The FAA imposes stringent requirements with regard to charging for air transportation, even if this simply amounts to sharing the costs of a flight. Any payment or reimbursement–indeed any kind of compensation–for transportation on an aircraft generally renders a flight “commercial” for FAA purposes, in which case the aircraft operator must have a commercial certificate and manage the flight under Part 135 rules (or worse, under Part 125 or 121 rules, which apply to very large aircraft and the airlines).

The FAA set down its position in 1993 in response to an inquiry on behalf of Charles Schwab & Co. (The FAA response, which is famous among aviation attorneys, has thus come to be known as the “Schwab opinion.”) The Schwab company, which operated a business jet under the noncommercial rules of Part 91, asked the FAA whether it could charge its founder for his personal use of the aircraft, advancing several arguments for why this should be permitted, including the firm’s desire to keep in touch with him. Predictably, the FAA took exception: “It may very well be that the Company wants to maintain prompt communications with Mr. Schwab when he is on pleasure trips,” wrote the agency. “That desire, however, does not alter the fact that he is traveling for pleasure…Such carriage is not within the scope of or incidental to the company’s business.”

The difficulties of navigating FAA prohibitions on paying for flights can be especially frustrating when other federal agencies–the IRS or the Securities and Exchange Commission, for example–impose dire consequences if employees or executives fly for free. When employees get free flights on corporate aircraft, they have taxable income that in the case of public companies may give rise to an SEC reporting obligation. In addition, under recent rules, companies may forfeit tax deductions to the extent that costs attributable to non-business flights exceed what employees pay for the flights (or recognize as income). Thus, the more the executive can pay, the more the company can deduct. But as the FAA observed in the Schwab opinion, “application of aviation safety regulations is not dependent on, or affected by, what may be consistent with IRS regulations.”

Opportunities to mitigate or eliminate IRS or SEC difficulties by paying for the flights are hardly voluminous. Unless you can operate under Part 135, the best bet is usually a time-sharing agreement, which permits the executive to pay two times the fuel cost of the flight, plus certain incidental expenses. In addition to requiring a written agreement that must usually be filed with the FAA, the permissible charges are less than the fully allocated cost of the flight and often don’t satisfy the company’s or the executive’s regulatory or business objectives.

As a result, many companies are putting their aircraft on Part 135 certificates–often an expensive proposition by itself–and allowing their executives to use the airplane for personal trips at standard charter rates (and with standard charter taxes).

In an attempt to ameliorate this situation, the National Business Aviation Association wrote to the FAA earlier this year and requested that it recognize that “in certain limited circumstances,” a company may determine that it is within the scope of its business for certain individuals to use its aircraft for personal purposes. Although the arguments made by the NBAA in the letter are reminiscent of some of those made on behalf of Schwab (such as the need to remain in constant communication), they also rely on the need for key employees to depart and return from personal trips on a moment’s notice in an increasingly global business environment. Essentially, the NBAA’s argument is that, under these circumstances, use of the corporate aircraft for personal flights by key executives may be within the scope of the company’s business, in which case reimbursements of flight costs by the executives should not be prohibited. In other words, rather than seeking to overturn the Schwab opinion, the NBAA is asking the FAA to concede that personal and business use needn’t be mutually exclusive.

The NBAA wisely refrains from dictating to the FAA exactly how to provide relief, but it does make several important suggestions. First, there must be a way to distinguish key company personnel–employees and officers who should be allowed to pay for non-business flights as within the scope of the company’s business–from everyone else. The NBAA helpfully points to the concept of “specified individuals,” which is deployed by both the IRS and SEC to draw comparable distinctions, and generally refers to directors, specific high-level officers and those who own more than 10 percent of the company. Second, the NBAA suggests that the company (the board of directors, for example) make a determination that use of the aircraft by a certain “specified individual” is within the scope of its business even when the trip is personal.

As this article went to press, the FAA reported that it has “tentatively determined” that a company may be reimbursed for routine travel by its high-level employees under certain circumstances. Stay tuned for further updates.

Picture the setting: 2.3 million acres of glacier-carved mountains soaring to just shy of 13,000 feet above sparkling lakes and rushing streams, alpine beaver meadows and glowing aspen groves, thick fragrant forests of fir and spruce.

Who owns this splendid spread? You do, if you live in America. It’s the breathtaking Flat Tops Wilderness Area in the White River National Forest, an hour or so north (as the golden eagle flies) from Interstate 70, the great intermountain highway slicing through the canyons and peaks of western Colorado’s Continental Divide. And it is home to one of the most robust populations of wild elk in the U.S. 

Elk are impressive creatures. Female or cow elk are six and a half feet long, nose to tail; weigh 500 pounds; and stand four and half feet at the shoulder. Male or bull elk are eight feet long, weigh 700 pounds and stand five feet at the shoulder. Bulls grow yearly-regenerating bone antlers, which—on a seven-year-old mature animal—spread more than four feet across. When elk mate in late summer and early autumn the bulls swagger and release piercing guttural cries (called “bugling”) day and night.

While the Flat Tops Wilderness is public land, it is real wilderness. Some Coloradans have spent years equipping themselves and pursuing elk on their own, but unless you are Jeremiah Johnson, I don’t recommend it. Instead, do what I did: turn to the experts. I hired Winterhawk Outfitters, a local company that has been guiding hunters to elk in the Flat Tops since 1982. I wanted to experience a true hunt by horseback, up before daybreak and in the saddle, following the ancient and honorable ethic of fair chase–a far cry from the phony fenced-in game-farm operations offering cushy pickup-truck transport afield, early cocktail hour and guaranteed kills for a steep price. That is not true sport.

I wanted to experience the real thing. And I can’t wait until next season.

The Magnificent Wapiti

About 10 million wapiti or elk once grazed prime grassy habitats from the Olympic Mountains to the banks of the Potomac. By 1900 the species was extinct east of the Mississippi and reduced to remnant populations throughout the West, including as few as several hundred animals in Colorado. Today that state is home to the largest concentration of the regal Cervus elaphus in North America; hunters harvest more than 50,000 each year. This wildlife success story is not an accident. 

The Colorado Division of Wildlife charges hunters handsomely for the privilege of chasing elk ($546 for a non-resident season license) and uses the funds to studiously manage the herds. To pull the trigger legally, a hunter must make sure the elk in his sights has at least eight points on its crowning rack of antlers. 

Colorado also conducts an elaborate series of openings and closings during the hunting season, from archery-only weeks beginning when the high-elevation aspens turn brilliant yellow in late August to rifle weeks stretching through the snows of early November. It makes licenses for the most desirable openings available only through a public lottery or draw. (Visit www.wildlife.co.us for information.)

Traveler Information:

To book a trip, contact Winterhawk Outfitters, 19561 Kimball Creek Road, Collbran, Colo. 81625, (970) 487-3011, www.winterhawk.com. 

The closest airport is Eagle County Regional in Vail, Colo. 

Bingham, an auto-industry veteran who started at the Italian company last year, was named president and CEO of the Piaggio America division in February. The firm completes, delivers and supports the P.180 Avanti and Avanti II turboprop aircraft in the North American and Latin American markets. 

The Avanti II is the world’s fastest business turboprop, cruising at 402 knots, and is a staple of U.S.-based fractional provider Avantair, which operates more than 50 of the airplanes. The model is the sole survivor of a trio of fast pusher turboprops developed in response to the energy crisis of the 1970s. 

Over the last several years, Piaggio has been buoyed by major international investments and production has increased at stable rates. The manufacturer, which first delivered the Avanti to customers in 1990, updated it in 2005 as the Avanti II with glass-panel avionics and slightly more powerful Pratt & Whitney engines. The aircraft has speed comparable to that of a light jet, interior dimensions nearly equal to those of a midsize Hawker jet and better fuel efficiency than a King Air 350 turboprop.

Piaggio manufactures the Avanti II at its venerable Finale Ligouri plant in Genoa, Italy, and then flies it to the U.S., where updated executive interiors are installed. The company–which is also developing a new jet–sells 70 percent of its Avantis in North America.

Bingham talked to BJT about the latest developments at Piaggio Aero and his take on the overall business jet market. 

You spent a lot of time last year rebranding the company. How important is branding to sustaining sales over time? 

You’ve got to gain an identity. I think the image we have now is far more modern and we are hearing from people that we’ve never heard from before. The reason is that we’re actively pursuing print, digital and social media to make sure that the brand is understood and that we show our aircraft in as many places as possible.

What lessons did you learn at Bentley and Rolls-Royce that you can apply to the corporate aircraft market? 

Before I worked there, I worked at Renault, the French car company, where I gained a volume perspective on cars, and then I went to high luxury and Rolls-Royce, and there is a clear differentiation. 

Then I went to work for Cirrus and now Piaggio and there again we are talking volume against more of a luxury product. 

People understand the touch and feel of quality. At Piaggio we understand the human factors beyond the basics of how an aircraft works and its ability to go from Point A to Point B. We appreciate the customer’s desires and motivation. 

How do you get around the perception in some quarters–especially with customers who have owned exotic Italian sports cars–that while Italians build beautiful vehicles, they are difficult to maintain? 

[Laughs] You know, the Avanti is called the Ferrari of the skies. And I think Ferraris are very reliable. [The Ferrari family owns a stake in Piaggio Aero.—Ed.] But in all seriousness, we try to be competitive in every aspect of customer support. Our plane is remarkably well put together but it is a mechanical object and things will break. When they do, our aim is to support it properly. Our engines are Pratt & Whitneys that are fantastically supported throughout the world.

You have greatly expanded your number of service centers recently. How many do you have in North America now? 

We started last year with only five service centers and we ended with 11, and we have another three or four we are working with for appointment. Our objective is clear: None of our owners will have to fly more than about an hour to get to a service center. The 11 centers are in Scottsdale [Ariz.], Sacramento [Calif.], Boise [Idaho], Denver, Denton [Texas], St. Louis, Moline [Ill.], Groton [Conn.], Greensboro [N.C.], Fort Lauderdale [Fla.] and Calgary [Canada]. 

We are looking to improve our customer support. It’s an area where we had to catch up and we have caught up well. We are available through the customer-service line at the factory in Italy and directly through the service centers all the time. We can get customers parts seven days a week.

How do you sell a turboprop that costs nearly $8 million when buyers can purchase a faster jet that costs less? 

When we show the Avanti to people they are amazed. Look at Avantair and why they are the only fractional operator to have grown throughout the recession. It comes down to the equipment they use–our airplane. It is 33 percent more economical than a midsize jet. The cabin is the biggest in its class–way bigger than any midsize jet. It’s a full stand-up cabin. It is much quieter [inside] than a midsize jet because the wings and engines are behind the passenger compartment. It has lower operating costs and is fast–468 miles per hour. It has a range just under 1,500 nautical miles. 

Your main customer in the U.S. is Avantair. Given that it can be dangerous for manufacturers to rely heavily on fractional companies for sales in a down market, what is Piaggio Aero doing to diversify its client base? 

We are looking for new markets such as Brazil and other countries in South America. We just got the aircraft certified for Brazil and we are starting to open our businesses down there and choose our partner there. Brazil is a massive aviation market. As for our domestic market, we’ve doubled the size of our sales force in the U.S. so we are talking to a lot more people than we have in the past. We are confident that we will be increasing the level of private deals we do versus fractional so that ratio will change as we go forward into 2011. 

Other than Avantair, who is the typical Avanti II customer in the U.S.? 

There are two types–private individuals and small companies that are not located near commercial hub airports. The plane works well for them. One key feature of the Avanti II is the narrow track of the wheels. They’re less than 10 feet apart, while a King Air’s are 17 feet. So the Avanti can go on much narrower taxiways. It also has great short-runway performance, so it can access a lot of places that other airplanes can’t. 

What kind of year did Piaggio Aero have in 2009? 

We suffered like everyone else. We are fortunate that we have a solid backlog of orders and were able to build on that as well, but it wasn’t a brilliant year. We think 2010 will get progressively better. Certainly there are already a lot more [sales] conversations occurring. 

How is the Piaggio Jet progressing?

As the market slowed it would have been folly for us to be charging full speed ahead, so we slowed the pace of that. Development of that [aircraft] is in line for when we want to bring the plane to market. While a lot of people have shut down their new developments, we are in the fortunate position where we didn’t have to. 

Résumé: John Bingham

Position: President and CEO, Piaggio America (since February 2010)

Previous Positions: Joined Piaggio America in 2009 as executive vice president and chief marketing officer. Previously vice president, Rolls-Royce & Bentley Motor Cars; executive vice president, Cirrus Design; and managing director, Cirrus International.  

Personal: Passionate soccer and Rugby Union fan. Loves high-performance British cars and rides a Harley-Davidson. 

Remember that you, the owner or customer, set the agenda for your trips. Your first priority must be an unwavering insistence on the highest levels of safety. When it comes to other factors, if you want your pilots and service providers to spend Marriott-style dollars on hotels and other services, then don’t set Ritz-Carlton expectations. Here are 10 ways to save: 

1. TAKE ADVANTAGE OF A BUYER’S MARKET. If you’re thinking of purchasing an aircraft, now would probably be a good time, as prices remain relatively low for many used models. Meanwhile, charter prices have firmed since bottoming last year but aircraft availability is high and there is more competition in the jet card marketplace. In the fractional world, preowned shares are readily available at depressed prices. Just make sure your “bargain” really is one: Necessary maintenance and upgrades to older airplanes can add hundreds of thousands of dollars to the cost. And if you buy a fractional share, keep in mind that you will likely have to pay current monthly management fees no matter how low the purchase price, so that will boost your total cost. Also, don’t skip pre-purchase technical inspections, and be wary of any turbine-powered aircraft that has sat unflown since damage can occur if engines aren’t run regularly.

2. OPERATE EFFICIENTLY. Make sure your investment in private jet transportation is in line with your usage–you’ll waste money if you charter constantly and fly a lot, or if you buy your own jet but rarely use it. The traditional rule is that if you fly fewer than 50 hours a year, you should charter or buy a jet card. For 50 to 400 hours a year, a fractional share can make sense. If you fly more than 400 hours a year, it can be more economical to buy a jet and hire your own pilots or contract with a management company. 

3. CHOOSE YOUR DESTINATIONS WISELY. You’re the ultimate arbiter of where your airplane goes and you shouldn’t leave that up to pilots or management company dispatchers. Realize that destination decisions can have a huge effect on what you pay for fuel and services. If you tell your pilot you want to go to Miami, for example, he or she may assume you want to land at Miami International. But if your meeting is near enough to alternative airports like Kendall-Tamiami or Opa-Locka, you can save hundreds or even thousands of dollars on a tank of gas. The same is true of many other large metropolitan areas.

4. KEEP AN EYE ON FBO COSTS. Don’t let the pilots pick a fixed-base operator (FBO) simply because they like the free steaks that come with a tank of jet-A. If you’d rather patronize the lower-priced, less majestic FBO at an airport with multiple competing facilities, then say so. And while you’re at it, ask the pilots to make sure they’re pulling out all the stops to get the best fuel-price discount at the selected FBO, or switch to one that is more competitive.

5. SLOW DOWN. Unless you’ve had the “fly efficiently” conversation with your flight crew, pilots may assume you want to get where you’re going with all haste. But pulling back the throttles and flying at the most efficient altitude for the winds can save significant money over the long term. Generally, you want to fly fast into headwinds and throttle back with tailwinds. But any trip can be more efficient at slower speeds, which also result in less wear on the aircraft. And if you’ve equipped your airplane as an office-in-the-sky, more time in the air could mean you get more work done.

6. PAY LESS FOR FUEL. Savvy fliers know that fuel prices vary considerably. They’re highest at major airports with only one FBO and lowest at out-of-the-way airports that see little traffic. But no matter where you fly, you can save on fuel. Your charter company or fractional provider will already have pre-negotiated fuel rates, but you should ask them to confirm that their surcharges match the actual cost of fuel, which fluctuates with oil prices. Flying your own airplane? Ask your pilot to negotiate a lower rate with the FBO or to sign up for one of the many contract fuel programs–AML Global, Avfuel, Avcard, Colt, Mercury, Multi Service, UVair, World Fuels and others–that offer significant savings. Or consider an account with FuelerLinx, which aggregates pricing from multiple contract and FBO sources, arranges a fuel release with the chosen provider, then follows up with your invoicing to ensure that you paid for what you bought. “How often are flight departments checking their invoices?” asked Suzanne Moller, FuelerLinx director of business development. “Do they have a system in place or are they hoping what was quoted actually matches up to the invoice sent after the fact?”

7. SAY NO TO OVERPRICED SERVICES. Business airplanes cost lots of money, but a well-timed question or two can help keep a little more of it in your pocket. You’ll hear the same excuses for high prices everywhere you go: it’s FAA-certified, so it costs more; everything at airports is more expensive because property costs are higher; insurance is expensive because of the high liability; jet engines are unimaginably costly because of the close-tolerance, high-temperature parts. There’s some truth in all of these statements, but it’s also true that if you don’t ask for a discount, you won’t get it. And now may be a good time to ask, because service center hangars have been less crowded during the downturn and service providers are willing to negotiate on everything from maintenance to avionics upgrades, interior refurbs and paint to keep their crews busy.

8. BUY POWER BY THE HOUR. Prepaying doesn’t always save money in the long-term, but it does help preserve the value of your asset (since programs can be transferred to new buyers) and simplifies budgeting. And when that million-dollar-plus invoice for the turbine engine overhauls arrives, you’ll be happier that your engines are already covered. Most engine and aircraft manufacturers as well as independent provider JSSI offer some kind of program covering parts to whole aircraft and anything that can happen to engines. 

9. CONSIDER SKIPPING THE LATEST GIZMOS. There is no end to the ways you can spend money on cool new technology for your aircraft, from gee-whiz cockpit avionics that set your pilots’ mouths salivating to endlessly entertaining cabin electronics. But do you really need that stuff? Ask your pilots to demonstrate how a new black box will benefit you and quantify the return on investment. Unless there is a government mandate (a big one is coming with the FAA’s plans for NextGen air traffic control) or a safety consideration, you might not have to spend those dollars. 

10. THINK ABOUT SELLING–BEFORE YOU BUY. You’ve heard the adage that the happiest days in a boater’s life are the day he buys the boat and the day he sells it. That line could sometimes apply to aircraft owners. You need to consider the disposal of the asset before you buy–not when you’re under pressure to recoup as much from the investment as possible during an economic downturn. Carefully read the fractional-share contract and the part about how much you can get for the share if you need to sell it back to the provider. Most contracts specify market value, but that can vary considerably, and you need to be prepared for downturns like the recent one that slashed used aircraft values by double-digit percentages. You may also want to consult your tax expert to determine what ownership period will maximize depreciation benefits. The amount you save by doing so could offset a big chunk of your expenses.

But private aircraft carrying fewer than 19 passengers aren’t required to carry a flight attendant. And even when one is on board, he or she may lack sufficient training to help in an emergency.

“When a CEO walks on a business airplane and sees a well-dressed employee performing safety briefings, most would believe the person to be a [trained] flight attendant,” said Susan C. Friedenberg, president and CEO of Corporate Flight Attendant Training & Consulting Services. In reality, she noted, “the person might not know anything about the airplane.”

Accident investigations have provided evidence for the validity of Friedenberg’s point. In November 2004, a chartered Bombardier Challenger 601 carrying NBC Sports chairman Dick Ebersol and his two sons crashed, killing the captain, the flight attendant and Ebersol’s youngest son. The other pilot was injured and unable to assist the passengers with an evacuation. 

The flight attendant was working his first corporate flight; how much training he had received about the intricacies of opening the main and emergency exits is unknown. In any case, the attendant apparently did not conduct a safety briefing before takeoff. In another Challenger crash, this one in February 2005 at New Jersey’s Teterboro Airport, the extent of the flight attendant’s training was also unclear. This flight also began without a safety briefing. 

In an emergency, a business-aircraft passenger may quickly learn how important it is to have a trained flight attendant on board. “Many believe they won’t make it out alive [from a crash] anyway, so why bother [preparing for emergencies]?” said psychologist Beau Altman, who runs HBA Corp., an aircrew member emergency training company. “But four out of five people live through most crashes and 65 percent of them simply sit there waiting for directions.” 

Why don’t passengers pay more attention to flight attendants and their training? Friedenberg explained that on private aircraft, passengers often value privacy over everything else. “Sometimes the flight attendant is expected to simply disappear once food and drinks have been served,” she said. Sometimes, too, jet owners simply don’t want to invest in training, though annual recurrent training for a flight attendant costs a relatively modest $5,000 to $7,000. Another factor could be that some executives simply believe emergencies won’t happen on their flights.

Friedenberg offered some advice: “When an executive climbs aboard an airplane, ask if the person meeting them at the top of the stairs is actually a flight attendant. Ask how much aircraft-specific experience the person has and where they were last trained and when. I’ve watched executives waste catering that costs more than a flight attendant’s annual recurrent training. Passengers in back need to start thinking about what their lives are worth.”

The name applies to all three, but only the Emerald Isle of the Caribbean beckons with shamrocks, sunshine and the still-smoldering Soufriere volcano. Travelers savvy enough to venture beyond neighboring Antigua, Guadeloupe or St. Kitts find a tropical throwback to another time. The British-governed territory endears itself to divers, nature lovers and villa vacationers with unspoiled reefs and a unique Irish-Caribbean culture. Montserrat’s people maintain phoenix- like hope, despite the fact that the volcano has rendered two-thirds of their island off-limits.

Back in the eighties and early nineties, music ignited this tiny (39 square miles) mountainous isle. Sir George Martin, the former Beatles producer, built AIR Studios for recording stars like Paul McCartney, Sting and Elton John. Mick Jagger flew down too, along with Arrow, Dire Straits and Jimmy Buffett, who recorded his album Volcano here. Reggae beats pulsed in discos and nightclubs while calypso simmered through posh villas and restaurants of brightly colored stucco.

Then, on July 18, 1995, a loud rumble, like a jet roar, swept over the tropical landscape. Longtime resident and expat Carol Osborne recalls seeing smoke rise from a green mountain–not wispy puffs but powerful columns shooting skyward. The plumes kept churning and the noise kept pounding, day and night. Plymouth, the capital, and the surrounding southern hills were emptied–no small problem given that the north end of the island had little in the way of housing or other facilities for 10,000 residents. 

Finally, the Soufriere Hills volcano went back to sleep, but the temperamental toddler wasn’t through with her tantrums. She acted up again and again, spewing ash, which necessitated masks for breathing and numerous evacuations. Then she blew her top, exploding like a wild child flinging off her clothes, the verdant peak transformed into gray shale.

Today, she continues, a turbulent teen. One day she’s gentle and kind, approaching sweet sixteen; the next day, she rages. Life with teenage Souffi, as I nicknamed her, teeters on the edge, and Montserrat is still without a new capital. Its remaining 4,500 residents will never be the same.

Still, a retreat to her simple lifestyle blesses one with a laid-back escape. Rent an inflatable kayak at Scuba Montserrat and paddle around the corner to Rendezvous Bay, the only golden-hued beach. All the others glimmer with sparkly black sand and typically lie empty, except in the fall when the green and hawksbills turtles nest ashore. Woodlands Beach, which has restrooms and showers, offers views of migratory humpback whales in the spring. 

Divers plunge into the slightly warmer aquamarine Caribbean Sea (79 to 85 degrees) due to the volcano, which formed boulders, pinnacles and walls that now anchor new coral reefs. Troy Depperman at Green Monkey Dive Shop guides visitors into caves and rock formations where spotted morays, porcupine fish and octopuses hang. Deep-sea fishing benefits from the lack of cruise-ship traffic. Wahoo, bonito, shark, marlin and tasty yellowfin tuna cavort just two to three miles offshore. 

Tourists, especially the eco-kind, enjoy hiking on the 14 well-marked trails established by the National Trust. At 2,437 feet, Katy Hill requires a guide, as the often-overgrown route easily leads visitors astray. The trail demands a high level of fitness and about five strenuous hours. Oriole Trail, the most frequented, provides 1,287-foot scenic outlooks and, if you’re lucky, a sighting of the endangered Montserrat Oriole. James Scriber, a former forest ranger, leads hikes and recounts local lore. With his thumb, mouth and voice, he mimics their song, luring the melodic creatures out of the bush and almost into his hand. A boat ride to see the ruins of Plymouth, frequently called the modern-day Pompeii, is a must. Worldwide, no other destination compares with the ghostly apparition of the lost capital. The now-forbidden city stands as if Medusa turned it to stone. 

Soufriere doesn’t spew lava; she heaves red-hot rocks and boulders over the dome like popcorn, along with blasting steam currents called pyroclastic flow. They travel up to 100 miles per hour, mushrooming like clouds of an atomic bomb. During Montserrat’s rainy season (usually July) gushers gather trees, rocks, ash and mud in a mixture resembling wet concrete, then flow in torrents down the ghuats (ruts) created over time. Gradually Plymouth has sunk deeper and deeper, buried in a cement stew. Sightseers cruise her shores but aren’t allowed to stop. Nonetheless, the outing engulfs the senses with dusty smells, eerie quiet and a stark vision of a once-vibrant village. 

Plymouth took a direct hit, but her suburbs on the neighboring emerald mountainside suffered, too. The lavish villas and Creole cottages paint a memorable still life in the government-quarantined exclusion zone.

Don’t miss the Montserrat Volcano Observatory, where scientists monitor the situation 24 hours a day. Watch the 3-D documentary of past eruptions to understand the volcano’s dynamic force. An eruption this past February sent ash billowing 40,000 feet and carpeted the last remnants of the control tower at the former W.H. Bramble Airport. Pyroclastic flows create new land, leaving the seawater at shoreline a gorgeous luminescent turquoise and increasing the mass from 39 square miles to more like 41. But no one can use the additional property–temperatures below the ground simmer around 300 degrees.

Folks have high hopes for the geo-thermal wattage in the volcano’s core. David Lea, a longtime resident and documentary videographer, said Montserrat could become “the breadbasket of power in the Caribbean.” If only the Montserratians could finance and pull off such a grand, eco-friendly project.

Passport entries come stamped in the shape of a shamrock, recalling a distinctive Irish heritage. Outside Ireland, Montserrat is the only place to declare St. Patrick’s Day a national holiday. Celebrations honor the 17th-century Irish indentured servants who settled here after fleeing anti-Catholic violence and recall a failed slave uprising of March 17, 1789. Resilient islanders merge all traditions and ethnicities for a week-long party.

A parade starts near Little Bay, the proposed new capital, and marches to the Village Heritage Festival, where replicas of plantation slave huts and traditional African food take center stage. Try Duckna, a paste of shredded sweet potato, coconut and spices, wrapped in elephant-ear leaves (taro) and tied with strands of banana palm. The national dish, Goat Water, reigns most popular despite its less-than-enticing name. It looks, tastes and smells like spicy gumbo with pieces of tender goat meat. 

Expats and visitors from other Caribbean islands unite at the Green Monkey Bar. The Martin Healy Band from Dublin plays, while patrons quaff pints of Guinness along with mango rum punch.  But...no green beer. At Soca Cabana, reggae artist and Montserrat native Shaka Black belts a soulful tune. Music once brought prosperity to this island and now it simply unites. Mother Nature bubbles up clean mountain water, breezy trade winds and planetarium-worthy stargazing. But some days she also blows ash in the air. Come see the haunting beauty and listen to her song.

            Aeropodium has also announced its second annual summit on Aviation Asset Management in the Middle East. This event is set for Dec. 6, 2010, in Dubai. Sessions at the conference will cover such topics as Aviation Asset Management, a Lessee's Perspective; Repossession and Legal Implications in the Middle East; Finance and Strategic Planning for Business Aviation; and The Corporate Aircraft Market in the Middle East: Regional Requirements and Opportunities.

Airbus
Airbus entered the bizliner market in 1997 with the Airbus Corporate Jet (ACJ), a then $35 million executive version of its A319 airliner. Early on, ACJ sales lagged those of the Boeing Business Jet, which had been introduced to the market the year prior. More recently, ACJ sales have eclipsed Boeing’s on an annual basis. Encouraged by orders from the Middle East and Asia-Pacific regions, Airbus has added the longer-fuselage A320 Prestige and a shorter variant, the A318 Elite, to its executive lineup. For VVIP, government and other customers requiring the ultimate in space and long-distance capability, Airbus also offers executive versions of its A330, A340, A350 and A380 widebody jetliners.

Boeing Business Jets
A partnership between Boeing and General Electric (maker of the CFM-56 series of engines for newer-generation 737s) spawned the BBJ, which in 1996 combined components of two 737 models, the 737-700 series airframe and the larger 737-800 series wing, landing gear and center fuselage section. As many as 10 auxiliary fuel tanks can be installed in the belly of the airplane, giving the BBJ an unrefueled range of 6,196 nautical miles with eight passengers. A larger, stretched version called the BBJ2 boasts 25 percent more cabin capacity, but at the price of slightly reduced range. In 2005, Boeing announced the even larger BBJ3, based on the 737-900ER.

Bombardier Aerospace
Bombardier started out as a snowmobile manufacturer in 1942 and has grown into one of the world’s largest producers of business jets and regional airliners. Over the years, the company has expanded its aircraft business mainly through acquisitions, buying brands such as Canadair, DeHavilland, Learjet and Shorts. In the last 15 years the Montreal-based company has introduced several business jet models, including the Learjet 40 and 45, Challenger 300 and 605 and Global 5000 and Express XRS. The forthcoming Learjet 85 will be the first all-composite business jet.

Cessna Aircraft
Cessna is arguably the best known brand in all of aviation. The Wichita company built its first airplane in 1927 and has rolled out more than 190,000 in the eight decades since. Of the roughly 16,000 business jets in operation worldwide, Cessna has produced a third of them. The company’s nine business jet models span the Mustang very light jet and continue up the spectrum to the world’s fastest business jet, the Mach 0.92 Citation X. Cessna halted development of a large-cabin model known as the Citation Columbus soon after the financial crisis began.

Dassault Falcon
Dassault was already renowned for its Mirage fighter jets when it introduced the Falcon 20 business twinjet in the U.S. in 1963. Today Dassault Industries, EADS and a group of private investors own Dassault Aviation, of which Dassault Falcon Jet is its marketing and support subsidiary in the U.S. The company builds airframes at its factory in southwest France. Aircraft destined for U.S. buyers are then flown to Dassault’s Little Rock, Ark. maintenance and completion center to receive avionics, paint and interiors. Dassault offers the Falcon 900 and 2000 family of business jets, as well as the Falcon 7X trijet, featuring the latest in fly-by-wire flight control technology and fighter-jet-style sidesticks in the cockpit.

Embraer
Embraer has been building airplanes for more than 30 years, but it wasn’t until 1994 when the Brazilian government privatized the company that the business took off. Today, Embraer is the world’s fourth-largest commercial aircraft manufacturer. Its ERJ 135/145 airframe served as the foundation for the company’s first business jet, the Legacy 600, which was introduced in 1999. In the past decade Embraer has laid the foundation for a strong push into the business jet market by developing the Phenom 100 and 300 small-cabin jets, the Legacy 450 and 500 midsize jets and the Lineage 1000 bizliner.

Gulfstream Aerospace
Large-cabin Gulfstreams are instantly recognizable for their big oval windows and bullet noses. Today, Gulfstream’s line of business jets also includes the midsize G150 and super-midsize G200, built in Israel by partner IAI. Gulfstream is currently developing the G250, which will be an updated and improved G200, and the G650. The flagship G650 will have a larger and wider cabin than the G550, the Savannah, Ga. manufacturer’s current top model, and be able to fly 7,000 nautical miles unrefueled. The G650 will have a maximum operating speed of Mach 0.925, making it the world’s fastest civil airplane.

Hawker Beechcraft
Hawker Beechcraft combines two of aviation’s most storied names. In 1937, Walter Beech introduced the Model 18, arguably the first cabin-class twin-engine business airplane. In 1964, Beech introduced the twin-turboprop King Air, which remains in production to this day. Raytheon bought Beech in 1980 and added the UK’s Hawker brand to the fold. It sold the company in 2007 to an investment group led by Goldman Sachs. Hawker Beechcraft pioneered the use of composites in business aircraft construction, including in the current Premier 1A and Hawker 4000 business jets.

Piaggio Aero Industries
The sleek, pusher-turboprop Piaggio Avanti was developed in response to the energy crisis of the 1970s. Italian airframe maker Piaggio teamed with Learjet on a design that eventually became the P.180 Avanti. Learjet, then awash in financial difficulties, dropped out of the program, but Piaggio soldiered on, delivering the first Avanti in 1990. In 2005, the aircraft was updated with the Rockwell Collins Pro Line 21 avionics system, given slightly more powerful Pratt & Whitney engines and branded the Avanti II. Piaggio has confirmed development of a business jet but has revealed few details about the product so far.

Pilatus Business Aircraft
Nestled among the Alps in Stans, Switzerland, Pilatus has been building airplanes since 1939. Today it is the world’s largest manufacturer of single-engine turboprops. The company’s top-selling model, the PC-12, was certified in 1994 and became an instant hit with buyers, who appreciated its ruggedness, spacious cabin and unmatched performance. Today, more than 1,000 PC-12s are in service. The newest version, the PC-12NG, features a more powerful Pratt & Whitney Canada engine and modern Honeywell Primus Apex avionics.   

Bombardier reports it has more than 60 orders for its 10-passenger midsize Learjet 85, which will be its first all-composite business airplane. The company anticipates certification and first customer deliveries in 2013. The Learjet 85 will fly at 470 knots and, with a range of 3,000 nautical miles, will be a true coast-to-coast airplane. Its $18.25 million list price places it neatly between the $13.86 million Learjet 60XR and Bombardier’s $24.275 million Challenger 300.

Cessna’s Citation CJ4, which the FAA certified in March, is the largest member of the popular CJ family. The Wichita-based manufacturer is ramping up production of the $9 million, five-passenger jet, for which deliveries began in April. Cessna lists the cruise speed at 389 knots and the range at 2,000 nautical miles.

The bad news from Cessna was the decision last July to cancel its large-cabin Citation Columbus, for which it had some 70 letters of intent from prospective buyers. CEO Jack Pelton has said that with sufficient demand the company might revive plans for the $27 million, eight-passenger twinjet, which was to have had a cruise speed of 480 knots and a range of 4,000 nautical miles. For now, Cessna continues to devote about 6 percent of revenues to research and development, “focusing on an existing market.”

At Dassault Aviation, work continues on a super-midsize aircraft dubbed the SMS but few details have been released. Last year, company CEO Charles Edelstenne announced that discussion had been reopened on design choices for the aircraft. According to a Falcon Jet spokesman, the France-based manufacturer is now finalizing technology choices, including selection of key partners for the project.

Meanwhile, development of the Falcon 900LX super-midsize follow-on to the Falcon 900EX is proceeding. The large-cabin trijet will have winglets that the company expects will reduce drag by 7 percent; range, meanwhile, will jump from 4,500 to 4,800 nautical miles and maximum cruise speed will be 560 knots. Certification had been anticipated early this year but has been pushed back to the second half of the year.

Brazil’s Embraer has three projects in the works. The first is the large-cabin Legacy 650, an upgrade of its Legacy 600. The $25.9 million Legacy 650 will carry 13 passengers in standard configuration and have a range of 3,800 nautical miles, approximately 500 nautical miles more than the Legacy 600. Embraer expects certification in the latter half of this year.

Further down the road are the Legacy 450 and Legacy 500 midsize business jets. Both will have fly-by-wire flight controls and feature flat-floor, stand-up cabins with room for nine passengers. The $15.25 million Legacy 450 will have a range of 2,200 nautical miles and a maximum cruise speed of Mach 0.78. The $18.4 million Legacy 500 will carry eight passengers 2,800 nautical miles at a maximum cruise speed of Mach 0.80.

Gulfstream, meanwhile, has two of the more advanced programs in its G250 and G650. The midsize G250, a derivative of the G200, made its first flight last December. A new transonic wing has given the aircraft a maximum cruise speed of Mach 0.85 and a range of 3,400 nautical miles, allowing flights between New York and London. Gulfstream expects certification and entry into service next year for the G250, which is being built by Israel Aerospace Industries.

But the jewel in the crown is the all-new G650, the largest of the large-cabin civil aircraft, which first flew in November 2009. Twin Rolls-Royce BR725 engines will propel the G650 to a maximum speed of Mach 0.925, making it the world’s fastest civil aircraft. It will have a range of 7,000 nautical miles. The oval passenger windows are 16-percent larger than those on the G550. Gulfstream expects certification of the G650 next year and entry into service in 2012 and anticipates that the model will cost $64.5 million (2013 dollars).

European and U.S. aviation authorities certified Hawker Beechcraft’s $6.7 million King Air 350i twin turboprop in January. The manufacturer bills it as the quietest King Air ever built, with cabin sound levels at 78 dBA “equal to or better than competitive business jets.” The upgrade is focused primarily on the cabin, with a Rockwell Collins Venue cabin-management system and high-definition video. Other features include electrochromic window dimming, LED lighting and optional seat warmers. A 350iER version pushes the range from 1,714 to 2,200 nautical miles.

The $7.065 million Premier II is Hawker Beechcraft’s follow-on to the Premier 1A. The upgrade comes with a maximum cruise speed of 473 knots. The aircraft first flew on March 13 and the manufacturer expects entry into service in late 2012 or early 2013. The company adjusted its timing, said a spokeswoman, to coordinate with the expected market recovery and demand renewal.

As for the small-cabin Hawker 450XP, announced in October 2008, the program is in question. There have been rumors that it has been canceled but Hawker Beechcraft has responded by saying only that “there will be another version.” A follow on to the 400XP, the 450XP had a projected range of 1,605 nautical miles and cruise speed of approximately 450 knots. The company had tentatively priced it at $7.7 million and originally expected certification in the second quarter of this year.

Honda Aircraft now anticipates that the first conforming model of its much-anticipated HondaJet will fly this November and that deliveries will begin in the third quarter of 2012, a year later than originally planned. Priced at $3.9 million, the light jet has room for six passengers and one pilot. The manufacturer expects it to have a maximum cruise speed of 420 knots and a visual-flight-rules range of 1,400 nautical miles. Its over-the-wing engine nacelles represent a departure from typical twin-engine-aft design. The light jet is being developed and will be built at Honda Aircraft’s  new Greenville, N.C. plant. A proof-of-concept airplane has accumulated nearly 1,000 flight test hours.

Spectrum Aeronautical’s S.40 Freedom is priced at $6.795 million. The only version now flying is a “fuselage manufacturing demonstrator” prototype. Unique to the nine-passenger, one-pilot twinjet is a co-cured composite structure that saves manufacturing time as well as weight. Spectrum says the Freedom will cruise at 440 knots and fly 2,250 nautical miles. The Carlsbad, Calif. company said it expects a prototype first flight in late 2010 or early 2011, and FAA certification in late 2011 or early 2012.

Nevertheless, things are looking up, and financial institutions are returning to the market. First Republic Bank’s Jim Simpson reported that he hasn’t been this busy in 18 months. And PNC Bank had its best year ever in terms of the dollars of aircraft financing, said the bank’s aircraft lending chief, Wayne Starling.

A key factor in aircraft finance since 2008 has been the backlog of repossessed airplanes. When borrowers began to default on loans and walk away from leased aircraft in 2008 and 2009, financial institutions  found themselves with a swollen inventory of repossessed jets, which have been hard to sell at anywhere near the amount of the institution’s investment in them. Given the many available aircraft and today’s lower prices, lenders and other jet owners often look for people willing to lease the airplanes for a few years to allow time for values to recover or at least let the owner postpone recognizing a loss.

Suitably chastened, lenders are extremely cautious– probably too cautious–about aircraft values. This caution is exemplified by an increase in the amount of due diligence financial institutions require to make sure the airplanes they finance are worth the prices clients are paying. 

Concern about values has also affected lenders’ appetites for certain models and vintages. As jet values fell over the last 18 months and more aircraft were listed for sale, the lower end of the market–older business jets and models–took an especial beating. As one lender told me, “We want to stay with aircraft in the five- to 10-year-old range or newer, if possible.” This is particularly true when the financial institution is buying the jet to lease it back to the customer. An airplane that’s 10 years old today may be 20 years old when the lease ends, and no lender wants to own an aged and potentially unsellable business jet.

The good news about the decline in aircraft prices is that it has encouraged buyers who were waiting in the wings to come forward. Thus, for some aircraft models, especially large and long-range jets, prices have actually started recovering, though they have yet to return to pre-2008 levels. Even so, lenders are likely to require a careful look at the value of the airplane being acquired. 

Lenders are also doing their homework on buyers. As one industry pundit noted, while a buyer with “pristine credit” will engender a “feeding frenzy” among lenders, other buyers are unlikely to encounter similar enthusiasm. Those coming from a troubled industry, like real estate, may face special scrutiny. Lenders are also taking a hard look at their own previous experience with the potential borrower. Has the borrower over-extended itself in the past or missed payments on other credit facilities? What changes have occurred in its financial position over the life of the relationship? Lenders are interested, too, in whether the buyer has another aircraft it will be trying to sell after taking delivery of the new jet–not only with regard to the buyer’s ability to bear the financial burden of two airplanes, but also because the lender may already have credit exposure on the first one.

The message in all this fuss about values and credit is simple: don’t wait until the last minute to seek financing. Finalizing an aircraft finance deal is no longer simply a question of preparing paperwork. Lenders need time to assess the airplane and the customer. What formerly could be accomplished in a week or two can now take a month–or longer (though as one industry expert observed, if the financing can’t be finalized in a month, it probably won’t get done at all). As the process drags on, many creditworthy borrowers lose patience and end up forgoing financing and paying cash. So if financing is important to your acquisition, plan ahead.

 Probably the biggest challenge in today’s market is arranging 100 percent financing. It’s not impossible, and many financial institutions claim to offer it for clients with “strong” credit, but in fact most transactions involve 10 percent down or more. One lender told me that he routinely begins with a request for 15 percent down, which he hopes he can reduce to 10 percent based on the customer’s credit position. The down payment may effectively be 100 percent at the outset if you’re financing progress payments on a factory-new aircraft. Many lenders will want you to have enough of your own money in the deal to cover any damages to which the aircraft manufacturer might be entitled if you default.

Interest-rate spreads are also much larger than before the 2008 market crash, but the rates themselves still represent a pretty good deal. As of this writing, 30-day LIBOR is well below 50 basis points, so even though the spreads are many times their pre-crash multiples, the overall interest rate remains relatively low–somewhere between 300 and 700 basis points, depending on the credit and whether the deal is fixed or floating. For this reason, said Joe Boles at Siemens Financial Services, “Most aircraft buyers today are choosing fixed rates.” Alternatively, borrowers should consider taking advantage of currently low floating rates and negotiate an option to switch to fixed rates if they become attractive. 

Of course, the flip side of low rates is low returns on investments. Thus, according to Michael Amalfitano at Bank of America, “Cash is now being used for about 75 percent of private aircraft purchases, versus about 50 percent prior to the downturn, because returns for idle money are not as high as in the past.”

Similarly, the term of financings these days is often relatively short. “Although amortization schedules today are longer,” said Sean Patrick at Commerce Bank’s CBI Leasing, “many of our business aircraft customers want shorter-term deals because the rates are lower.” He sees most lease financings at CBI in the five- to seven-year range and loan financings in the three- to five-year range.

Where should you look for jet financing today–banks, which common wisdom says are in trouble now, or financial institutions connected to aircraft manufacturers, insurance companies or other businesses? 

It’s an important question. Some banks shy away from aircraft lease financing while others actively look for it. A bank may also require you to be an existing or about-to-be significant client. In any case, being an existing customer can speed the credit approval process and encourage the bank to put an attractive offer on the table.

But it also can kill the deal. If the bank and its affiliates are already burdened by a layer of relationships with you (such as margin loans, loans against real estate or, in the case of corporate clients, membership in a bank loan syndicate), the bank may conclude that it has enough credit exposure to you already. A non-bank aircraft financial institution, on the other hand, is unlikely to have other credit relationships with you (except, perhaps, on an existing aircraft) and won’t be requiring deposits or some prior relationship to get the deal done. And some banks, such as Key Equipment Finance, attempt to insulate the aircraft lending business from their other credit exposures. In the end, both kinds of institutions may have something to offer and they both deserve consideration.

Specialized financing needs may narrow the field. Borrowers interested in non-recourse financing, for example, will be turned away at many banks, but not at PNC Aviation Finance, a leader in this area. Though you can count on having to make a hefty down payment with non-recourse financing, the actual interest rate can be close enough to recourse rates to make the deal appealing.

With financing becoming more challenging to obtain, it’s wise to solicit proposals form several institutions. You might also seek advice from a consultant. “We not only help find the best rates and terms,” said Stan Yockey of Strategic Aircraft Solutions, “we can also find financing where none appeared available.” Some consultants, like Mike Gaffney at JetEquity Solutions, have many years of experience working for corporate aviation lenders and know the business from the inside.

These are sobering days for aircraft finance. Lenders aren’t giving it away, but with a little effort, you should be able to find financing that is right for you.

These factors suggest that higher insurance rates may be looming. And just as you should have an emergency response plan to deal with the unlikely event of an accident involving your aircraft, you’d also be smart to start planning for a negative insurance scenario.

Here’s a closer look at why higher rates may be coming–and what you should do now.

At the end of 2005, there were 10 aviation insurance companies in the U.S.; by the end of 2008, there were 20. The increased competition led to a perfect buyer’s market but an unsustainable one. Of the 10 insurers that entered the field since 2006, Travelers was the first to cry uncle, announcing last October that it was exiting the aviation sector and would not renew policies that expired after January 1. AXA Insurance Company soon followed suit, saying that it would stop renewing aviation policies after January 8. And in April, International Aerospace Insurance Services was acquired by Starr Aviation and announced it would cease issuing policies on June 1.

None of these companies was in financial trouble; on the contrary, they were and still are strong and stable, but they simply decided this area of insurance was not an attractive place to put their extra capacity. Though none was a major player in aviation, their withdrawal clearly signals that the aviation insurance market is beginning to contract. For jet owners, this suggests that remaining insurers may soon be changing course toward a market characterized by higher premiums, reduced underwriting flexibility and more restrictive coverage. Exactly how quickly that might happen is unclear but signs point to a slow transition over the next two years.

One reason for this transition is the higher claims rate mentioned earlier. Business aviation had a commendable safety record last year, but the same insurers and reinsurers cover both airlines and general aviation aircraft, so poor loss experience by commercial carriers can impact the insurance environment for general aviation. And while the airlines’ fatal-accident rate has improved dramatically over the last two decades, with 2009 being one of the safest years yet, insurance claims for that year were the worst ever. Numerous major accidents–including the US Airways A320 landing in the Hudson River, the Air France A330 crash in the South Atlantic, the Yemenia Airways A310 crash near the Comoros Islands and the Colgan Air/Continental Dash 8 crash in Buffalo, N.Y.–combined to hammer the pocketbooks of aviation underwriters. Industry watchers expect 2009 losses to exceed premiums paid by more than $500 million.

Unfortunately, 2010 didn’t start much better. In January, an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 crashed into the Mediterranean Sea after takeoff from Beirut, killing all 90 people on board. Then a February storm in the U.S. capital dumped record amounts of snow, causing a hangar collapse at Dulles International Airport that crushed 13 corporate jets. This occurrence could result in one of the largest general aviation insurance claims ever presented. 

The extent to which a contracted market and an increase in claims will affect rates won’t be known until Jan. 1, 2011, when most of the major reinsurance treaties (insurance that insurance companies purchase) come up for renewal. One major insurer’s treaty renewed April 1 and the company has indicated that its reinsurer did not significantly tighten what it could offer for the next 12-month policy period–a sign that excess capacity remains in the market.

In the short term, this is promising news for jet owners, but the return to a hard insurance market seems inevitable. So let’s look at strategies to deal with it:

Plan for higher rates. Veteran insurance buyers know the market cycles back and forth from soft to hard and understand the need to plan for rate changes. When a market begins to harden, make sure you ask your insurance broker for a projection of next year’s premium so that you aren’t hit with a big surprise at renewal. Plan to absorb increases, even major ones, into the aircraft’s operating budget and keep in mind that while premiums have dropped dramatically in recent years, they can rise just as quickly. Buyers who purchased their first aircraft in the last few years may have a false sense of comfort and may be rudely awakened if caught unprepared. 

Shop around. Make sure your broker is shopping the market at renewal and ask to see what each insurance company quoted on your account. Be careful if you are considering moving your coverage to another insurer based on price, however. Unlike some other lines of insurance, aviation policies are not created equal–some are much broader than others. Before making any decision to move, you should thoroughly examine policy differences and consider how long you have been with the current insurer, as well as the benefits that loyalty may have earned you. Pay particular attention to the claims history and philosophy of competing insurers, as some are known to play hardball on claims while others have earned a reputation for always trying to find a way to pay them.

Focus on safety. Insurance underwriters will continue to fight for the business of premier flight departments that embrace a top-level safety culture. Consider pursuing IS-BAO certification and increasing the frequency of pilot recurrent training to more than the required once per year. This should help make your business attractive to insurers. But since the vast majority of aircraft accidents result from pilot error, you should be implementing these measures regardless of the state of the insurance arena.

So what about the business aircraft cabin? Are we still connected in flight? Imperfectly perhaps, but the answer is yes. And new technology is making the connection better and faster almost daily. In-flight Internet connectivity is approaching the speeds of ground-based connections, though not as inexpensively. Wi-Fi in the cabin can give passengers anywhere-in-the-world e-mail access through smartphones and personal digital assistants.

As for cabin entertainment, Blu-ray players are making high-definition audio and video a reality. For those bringing aboard their own entertainment, there are iPod and MP3 docks. And the ubiquitous moving-map display has been taken to a new level with satellite-derived imagery and real-time stock results and sports scores.

Will there come a day when aircraft cabin technology equals what you’d find in the most up-to-date home or office? Probably not, say those in the industry, because the latest electronics always appear first in ground-based systems. Then it takes years to certify the new technology to aviation requirements and bring it to the aircraft cabin. Even so, today’s cabin equipment far surpasses what was available only a few years ago.

Here’s a list of firms that contribute to this world of in-flight connectivity and entertainment.

One dramatic recent example of how this can pay off involves a Boeing 777 that the buyer purchased shortly after an airline retired it. The total cost–which covered acquiring the jet and having it gutted and finished in a government executive/VIP configuration–slightly exceeded $70 million. The big twinjet is now for sale in the $110 million range, and a representative for the buyer expects that if the market continues to recover, its value could approach $170 million by 2013. Others caution, however, that aircraft are depreciating assets and that one should never count on their values increasing over time, as the past two years have painfully illustrated to some owners.

A major cabin upgrade can make more sense than buying new even for those who want the latest and greatest, said Kevin Hoffman, president and CEO of Aerospace Concepts in Montreal. He noted that the wait for a new airplane, even now, might be two years, during which time the definition of “latest and greatest” could evolve, prompting work-order changes and delivery delays. On the other hand, if you purchase a low-time used jet, for which the upgrade isn’t likely to take more than six months, the technology you have added will still be relatively new when the airplane is delivered.

But the best reason to buy used and refurbish, said Hoffman, is that it simply costs less. You can purchase a relatively low-time Bombardier Global Express these days for about $24 million, and a major interior upgrade will bump up your cost by about $2 million. And that’s including the latest in high-speed Internet connectivity, a cabin-management system with Blu-ray video, a couple of 42-inch HD video screens, satellite television and docks for such carry-on entertainment as iPods and video games. Add another $500,000 to $1 million for cockpit avionics upgrades and exterior paint and you end up with nearly the equivalent of a new $53.25 million Global Express XRS at about half the price. The range will be about 1,000 nautical miles less, but if that limitation isn’t mission-critical, you’ve got yourself a bargain.

On the negative side, the crop of good used business jets is starting to dwindle and prices of some models are rising. According to brokers, a lot of buyers sat on the fence for the past year waiting to see how low the market would go. It did get low enough to buy a good used Gulfstream GIV-SP for about $20 million, some $10 million less than it was going for 18 months ago. But prices are inching up again, arousing interest among those fence sitters. Gulfstream Vs that were selling in the $20 million range are already up to $27 million, according to Bryan Comstock, a BJT columnist who is president of Jeteffect, a jet sales and acquisitions firm in Long Beach, Calif. Hoffman noted that clean, low-time midsize jets are also starting to move. 

Another factor to consider when deciding whether to refurbish or upgrade a used aircraft is the cost of the work. The recession has driven at least six small- and medium-sized refurbishment specialists out of business. Most of those that remain have cut refurbishment and upgrade charges down to little more than what they need to keep the doors open and a core of skilled employees working. But that’s starting to change as used aircraft inventory begins to shrink. 

A refurbishment or major upgrade is one of the first things a used aircraft buyer considers, and according to Jerry King, chairman and founder of King Aerospace, “We have more quotes out right now than we’ve had in years,” he said.

His company isn’t the only one keeping busy. “Maintenance shops are back up to about 75 percent of what they were before the recession,” said Randy Keeker of Comlux, whose Indianapolis-based business has seen an increase in maintenance and overhaul work and who expects refurbishment orders to follow suit. “It sure looks a lot better than 18 months ago.”

Despite these trends, refurbishment or a major upgrade of an older model can save you a substantial sum. But that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re the best solution for you. Refurbishing or upgrading can be time consuming and require lots of decision-making. And there’s nothing quite like a brand-new airplane–especially for the kind of buyer who wants to just say, “Here’s the money, give me the keys.”

Some announced layoffs, reduced hours, less-costly half-portion dishes and menus that were custom-designed to meet customers’ budgets. Some stopped serving the business aviation community. Still others simply closed up shop.

In recent months, industry associations have noted a slow yet steady increase in the number of monthly flight hours, as well as a climb in charter activity. That’s good news for caterers, though many business jet owners and operators appear to still be keeping a tight rein on budgets, giving up the exotic fruit platters and the Lobster Thermidor.

That doesn’t mean you can’t still find those dishes–or just about anything else you want. Plenty of first-rate caterers continue to serve the business aviation field, as our directory of the top bizav caterers suggests.

In AIN’s 2010 survey (see page 72), City of Sugarland, Texas, ranked as the top North American FBO for the second year in a row, after a steady climb toward the top. It’s unusual to see a city-owned and -operated facility score so well in the survey, but Sugarland benefits from strong community support; city leaders who appreciate having a dynamic, business-oriented airport in their backyard; and a management team that puts top priority on customer service.

Wilson Air Center’s Memphis base took second place, the same spot it held last year after a long run of first-place finishes. Owner Robert Wilson–whose father Kemmons Wilson founded the Holiday Inn chain–has focused on maintaining a high level of customer service during the recession, not only in Memphis but at his company’s other two FBOs, in Charlotte, N.C., and at Houston Hobby Airport. 

Tampa International Jet Center moved up from last year’s eighth place to capture third while AirFlite, the Toyota-owned FBO in Long Beach, Calif., took fourth place, up from the sixth spot last year. In fifth place was Pentastar Aviation’s Michigan base, which competes with six other FBOs at Oakland County International Airport in Pontiac, Mich.

Top-scoring North American FBOs outside the U.S. include Skyservice Avitat in Toronto; UVavemex in Toluca, Mexico; Irving Aviation Services in Gander, Newfoundland; and Skyservice Avitat in Calgary and Montreal. In the rest of the world, Tag Aviation’s Farnborough, England FBO scored top billing, followed by Signature Flight Support in Hong Kong. Third place went to Harrods Aviation at London Stansted Airport. Universal Aviation’s FBO at the same airport ranked fourth while Eccelsa General Aviation in Olbia, Sardinia, came in fifth.

AIN’s survey asks readers to rate FBOs that they frequent in four categories: line service; passenger amenities; pilot amenities and services; and facilities. Survey administrator Forecast International received 1,679 completed questionnaires for a return rate of 11.7 percent.

What, exactly, is an FBO?

FBOs are the aviation equivalent of full-service gas stations. They typically offer a wide range of services. The acronym stands for fixed-base operator or operation, and the name had its genesis in the early days of aviation, when itinerant barnstorming pilots flew from field to field and airport to airport, eking out a hardscrabble living selling their services to people who would pay them to fly their raggedy old airplanes. When one of these barnstormers decided to put down roots and run an airport-based business, that operator became “fixed,” in the sense of no longer traveling. Some of these operators built thriving businesses, and the company that provided fuel, hangars and other airport services became known as the FBO. The term is now widely used all over the world, despite some efforts to modify it. 

At a Glance

Price (2008 dollars): $8.75 million 
Passengers (standard): 8-9
Crew: 1-2
Range (six passengers and reserves): 1,963 nm
Maximum cruising speed: 453 kt
Cabin Width: 58 in
Cabin Height: 57 in   
Cabin Length: 17 ft 4 in
Cabin Volume: 398 cu ft

Résumé: Michael Green

POSITION: Executive chairman, Delta AirElite Business Jets
PREVIOUS POSITIONS: Pilot, Comair Airlines, and director of operations for Comair Jet Express
EDUCATION: University of Cincinnati
PERSONAL: Age 53, married with three children

Tips for Parents   

To help ensure a child’s in-flight safety:

• Understand FAA requirements with regard to child safety and make sure the crew meets them.

• If the child is under age two, confirm in advance that the aircraft operator can supply an approved child-restraint system. Better yet, bring your own.

• Use a rear-facing child seat for children under 20 pounds and a forward-facing system for larger children and ensure that the child’s weight doesn’t exceed the system’s approved limit.

• See that the child is properly restrained for takeoff and landing and during flight.

• Confirm that emergency oxygen masks are onboard for every child. Determine the masks’ location and how to access them.