Bizjets Are Back, Says Trade Association CEO

The business jet industry is rebounding, according to a Wall Street Journal interview with Ed Bolen, president and CEO of the National Business Aviation Association. "Between 2008 and 2009, things dropped off about 30 percent," Bolen told the Journal. "This year versus last, between 2009 and the first half of 2010, things are up about 10 percent. So we're well below the 2008 peak, but we are coming off of the 2009 bottom." Asked whether companies now view corporate jets as taboo, Bolen said, "A CEO or a senior executive, board of directors and shareholders should all have an attitude of when the business airplane makes good sense, when it's the right tool for the mission, then it should be used. Flying as a status symbol is probably not an appropriate business philosophy or measurement stick, just as not flying [isn't one]. If a company could do more for its shareholders and for its employees by seeing four customers in one day instead of four customers in two weeks, then they really ought to do it."