Business Aviation on the Road to Recovery: There are many indicators that business aviation is on the road to recovery. Just recently, ARGUS International published a white paper with some extremely interesting analysis on how the market in North America is coping with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as some positive projections about future recovery. The analysts studied data to determine how the pandemic has affected operations and how the market may look in the coming months and shared some intriguing insight.
April 2020 will surely go down as the darkest month for aviation. According to Argus’ data, May 2020 recorded an 84% increase in activity from April, an encouraging improvement. Looking forward, Argus projects that if the August forecast comes to fruition there will be approximately 225,000 business aviation flights in North America that month. While this is down from last year’s monthly average of 260,000, it still represents a 300% increase from the April low of just under 75 thousand flights. Let’s hope August’s performance brings more rapid increases and this trajectory remains.
Another interesting trend that further indicates business aviation recovery being sooner rather than later is that many companies and individuals are seeing this as an opportune time to invest in a private jet. The sales firm Jetcraft has commented that private aircraft sales have been performing well since the pandemic began with there are more first-time buyers entering the market. Though still lower than pre-COVID levels, aircraft sales have done comparatively well since March according to the International Aircraft Dealers Association (IADA).
Undoubtedly, it is the flexibility of business aviation and the uniquely tailored solutions it provides that can respond so well to this current situation. Going forward, and until the situation changes the pandemic will continue to turn more wealthy travelers towards private jets as they seek to take control of their travel. It really is the only viable way to travel, as well as the most secure and safest. I’m so impressed by how operators and ground handlers are setting up, training their staff, and using ingenuity and intelligence to find ways of coping with the WHO sanitization and social distancing guidelines.
Although a global economic recession would seriously impact business aviation recovery in the longer term, the easing of global restrictions and quarantine measures will expedite the process. Either way, from what the experts are telling us, in as much as they can predict, it looks like business aviation is on the road to recovery. And with such encouraging figures being recorded in North America, let’s hope the other continents follow suit in a similar vein in the coming months.
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UAS Operations | - 12/30/2021
Mitch Launius
Instructor Pilot for 30 West IP
Mitch is the CEO of 30 West IP where he is also an instructor providing pilot training on international procedures. With an illustrious career of over 34 years in the cockpit, Mitch has acquired over 13,000 hours of flight time flying worldwide, with over 9,000 hours of this in Challenger and Gulfstream aircraft. He is an experienced safety officer and was also an IS-BAO project manager for a fortune 500 flight department. He has presented on Safety and Operations topics at the NBAA International Operators Conference and the Canadian Business Aviation Association Convention and is currently on the NBAA International Operators Committee and serves as the North Atlantic Regional Lead. Mitch is also a member of an FAA working group on General Aviation International Authorizations and Tabletop Exercises (GIATE). He was recently selected to represent IBAC as a member of the ICAO Personal Training and Licensing Panel (PTLP) and was also recently named as a 2020 recipient of the NBAA Tony Kern Professionalism in Aviation Award for his contribution to the business aviation community.
Henry ‘Duke’ LeDuc
Director Of Operations, Americas, UAS International Trip Support
Duke has been a dearly respected member of UAS Americas team and the UAS global family for more than five years. A safety-oriented, FAA-licensed aircraft dispatcher, he oversees all of the operations of the elite UAS Operations Team. With twenty-five years of experience in aviation overall with more than fifteen years of experience in international flight planning and VVIP trip coordination, he is responsible for the development of the dispatch training program and involved in the strategic development of UAS Americas. With a myriad of rich aviation experience behind him, he has extensive experience in worldwide operations with both corporate and charter environments, including seven years as Operations/Dispatch Manager in an industry-leading, Fortune 500, IS-BAO Stage III Certified corporate flight department. Duke is frequently asked shares his knowledge at major industry events and is currently serving on the NBAA’s International Operators Conference (IOC) Planning Committee.
Dudley King
President and Founder, FlightBridge
Dudley is the Founder and President of FlightBridge, which he established in 2011 and has been focused on technology solutions for the private aviation industry since 2006. Since he graduated from Dartmouth in 1988, he has worked with an array of companies listed anywhere from VentureWire to the Fortune 100. A rare blend of executive, entrepreneur, and consultant, Dudley’s executive roles have included acting CIO positions for several companies and tech advisory services to CEOs trying to rebuild their technology organizations or looking for an external, professional point of view. Highly skilled at deeply understanding his customer’s business challenges and drawing from a long and varied experience in information technology services, Dudley excels at designing technology solutions to solve their problems.
Dr. Paulo Alves
Global Medical Director, Aviation Health, Medaire
Paulo has extensive experience in medical advisory in the aviation industry. As a cardiologist, he provides technical guidance and analysis for MedAire’s MedLink medical advisory service and is MedAire’s liaison with civil aviation regulators and industry associations. Paulo worked with Varig Brazilian Airlines for 23 years, 10 of which were spent as General Medical Manager. A member of the MedAire Medical Advisory Board, Paulo is also President of the Ibero-American Aerospace Medical Association, a member of the International Academy of Aerospace Medicine, a member of the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) Safety Committee, a Fellow of the Aerospace Medical Association (AsMA), and a Fellow of the Civil Aviation Medical Association. Throughout his illustrious career, Paulo has held industry leadership roles including Chairperson of the AsMA’s Air Transport Medicine Committee, President of the Airlines Medical Directors Association, President of the Brazilian Society of Aerospace Medicine and was a member of the IATA Medical Advisory Group from 2002 to 2006.
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