Newsmakers 2009: Alphabets and OEMs tackle negative portrayal of bizjets
The coordinated response by NBAA, GAMA and business jet manufacturers to critics who chose to make business aircraft a high-profile symbol of all that’s wr

The coordinated response by NBAA, GAMA and business jet manufacturers to critics who chose to make business aircraft a high-profile symbol of all that’s wrong on Wall Street ranks as one of the biggest stories we covered in the last year–in part because of how successful the counter p.r. effort turned out to be.

The trouble all started with a report by ABC News correspondent Brian Ross the day after chief executives for Detroit’s embattled automakers flew to Washington, D.C., to ask for federal bailout money. The segment lasted less than four minutes, but by the time it was over the reputations of “luxurious private jets” and the CEOs who continued “lavish” lifestyles even as their companies failed lay in tatters as politicians and other news outlets latched onto one of the bigger side stories to emerge from the financial meltdown.