Just when you think the corporate aviation bashing has died down, yet another media report denounces an executive’s use of a private jet or airs a politician’s demands that companies rescind orders for corporate aircraft. Seems that corporate aviation is taking the brunt of a lot of pent-up taxpayer anger at the bailouts of industries not even remotely tied to aviation. And all too many aviation groups–manufacturers, unions, aircraft owners and operators–have been remarkably quiet. Why? Is everyone afraid that standing up for corporate aviation–and the jobs that it promotes and creates–will somehow backfire?
I think we should be out there making a case for aviation. We have the data that shows the importance of aviation to our economy and the world’s economy. But we’re not making the case in the hometown newspapers that shape many Americans’ points of view. And if we’re pitching the benefits of aviation in the halls of Congress, the message isn’t making itself heard on any major–or not so major–news channel.
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