1. Time Efficiency:
Private jets are often referred to as “time machines.” Private aviation offers unparalleled time efficiency, enabling executives and teams to travel directly to their destinations without the extra time required at airports, layovers, and flight delays commonly associated with commercial air travel. A team’s total travel time with the airlines, even a single nonstop flight, can be 3 hours more than the actual flight time. Changing flights or layovers adds hours more.
Contrast this with a single private jet flight- drive up to the airplane, load and go. The same at the arrival; the car is at the airplane, unload and drive away. When a CEO or upper management’s compensation is converted to an hourly cost, adding back these hours as productive time can be a smart move for the company. By minimizing travel time and maximizing productivity, businesses can gain a competitive edge in today’s dynamic market landscape.
2. Flexibility and Convenience:
Private jets provide unmatched flexibility and convenience, allowing companies to create customized travel itineraries for their specific needs. With access to ten times the number of airports than commercial airlines, businesses can fly directly to remote locations. A business team can make stops at multiple locations in a single day and be back home that evening, which cannot be done with the airline schedules, airports and the timing required. Additionally, the ability to take flights on short notice allows businesses to nimbly take advantage of opportunities, spontaneous meetings or short notice needs.
3. Enhanced Privacy and Security:
Privacy and security can be important concerns for businesses, especially when discussing sensitive matters or transporting valuable assets. Private jet charter and business aviation offers a level of privacy and confidentiality not possible with commercial airlines.
4. Productivity Onboard:
Business aircraft and private charters turn travel time into productive time for businesses and employees. Teams can meet or be connected with the home office via Wi-Fi and/or phone, transforming travel time into valuable working hours. Productivity is enhanced greatly with employees meeting, planning and working with each other in the time aboard business aircraft.
5. Competitive Advantage:
Companies that utilize jet charters and business aircraft outperform non-aviation users in several important financial measures, including annual earnings growth, stock and dividend growth, total share price, market capitalization and other financial yardsticks according to a study by the NBAA National Business Aviation Association.
Businesses of ALL sizes use private aircraft and it’s notable that large Fortune 500 companies fly only about 3 percent of the approximately 15,000 business aircraft registered in the U.S. Along with the other practical advantages of business aviation, it enables companies to safely transport tools and materials that cannot be carried aboard airlines.
6. Cost-Effectiveness and Time-Savings:
While private aviation is often portrayed in the media as a luxury reserved for the elite, it is most commonly used as a cost-effective solution for business employees of all levels. Flights for top management represent only 22% of business flights in the US. Lower managers are 50% and technical/sales/service personnel represent 20% of business jet flights.
In summary, for many businesses striving in an economy where time is money and adaptability equals survival – access to charter jets and business aircraft makes a significant difference. The vast majority of the U.S. companies that utilize business aircraft – 85 percent – are small and mid-size businesses, many of which are based in the dozens of communities across the country where the airlines have reduced or eliminated service. Thus, business aviation provides an essential transportation link – a lifeline – between these smaller companies and communities and the rest of the world.
The decision to use a private aircraft, jet charter or business jet comes from weighing what works best practically against how it can propel businesses towards their objectives. Why do companies take to the skies on their own terms? It boils down to getting from point A to B quickly (sometimes also to C and D), having the freedom to change plans when needed, ensuring peace of mind with enhanced security and privacy – all while working away in a flying office that turns travel time into productive work time. Gaining back those lost hours or days traveling makes business aviation a true “time machine”.
Some great resources:
