What’s In It for Operators?
After several lean years for the industry, demand for business aviation is increasing.

After several lean years for the industry, demand for business aviation is increasing. Last month’s issue of AIN covered the encouraging Honeywell and Rolls-Royce forecasts, which predicted that by the end of this decade deliveries of new business jets will top the number of deliveries in the hot market of the late 1990s. The mood at this year’s NBAA Annual Meeting and Convention was palpably upbeat. Inventories of late-model used aircraft are contracting, which is a time-trusted sign of recovery. Charter flying is active and increasing. Optimism is in the air as this year rapidly concludes, and that bodes well for operators.

Why is good news about the marketplace good for operators? Clearly it is good for manufacturers, but what’s in it for companies that own aircraft and for the professionals who fly and maintain them?