After a spectacular ascendancy in the late 1990s, the business aviation industry has taken a d
And you thought the dot.com bubble-burst was bad.
After a spectacular ascendancy in the late 1990s, the business aviation industry has taken a dive and continues to lose altitude. The excesses of fractional-ownership provi- ders and an overly exuberant high-technology sector in the second half of the last decade, coupled with an economy that is stuck in the mud, have conspired to throw the market for new business airplanes into a profound downturn. Sales of new business jets, which had reached record levels between 1998 and 2001, have slowed. Prices for used airplanes, meanwhile, have fallen as inventory levels continue to climb. Add to all of this a number of serious questions about the industry’s long-term direction and it’s no wonder that top executives for the five major business jet producers are anxiously scanning the horizon for any spot of sunshine.
