As NBAA and the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) continue to help the general public, politicians and communities understand the benefits of business aviation through the No Plane No Gain program, the two groups welcomed the release of a new study that indicates companies using business aviation outperform those without aircraft.

“A business airplane is the sign of a well-managed company because business aviation helps companies of all sizes to be more efficient, productive and competitive,” said NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen.

“It’s no surprise that America’s best-performing and most-admired companies rely on business aviation to provide concrete and unique competitive benefits that are reflected in shareholder and enterprise value,” added GAMA president and CEO Pete Bunce.

The study, conducted by Nexa Advisors, examined how S&P 500-listed companies performed in revenue growth, profit growth and asset efficiency from 2003 through 2007, the most recent five-year period for which complete data was available. Business aircraft use was then tied to key enterprise drivers outlined in the study. According to the Nexa study conclusions, “Business aircraft users had a dominant presence, on average of 92 percent, among the most innovative, most admired, best brands and best places to work, as well as dominating the list of companies strongest in corporate governance and responsibility.” The report also found that business aviation alone is the only asset capable of accelerating strategic transactions and therefore providing a competitive edge to top-performing companies.

Findings from the study showed that compared to nonbusiness aircraft users, business aircraft users enjoyed:

• Average annual revenue growth on a market cap-weighted basis–116 percent higher.

• Average annual earnings growth–434 percent higher.

• Total stock and dividend growth–252 percent higher.

• Total share price growth–156 percent higher.

• Market capitalization growth as measured by market value growth–496 percent higher.

“Companies using business aircraft outperform nonusers across every key financial and nonfinancial measure of business success,” said Michael Dyment, managing director of Nexa Advisors and the study’s lead author. The study was funded through financial support for Nexa from foundational sponsors NBAA and GAMA and charter and supporting sponsors that include most business aircraft manufacturers. The full report is available on the No Plane No Gain Web site (www.noplanenogain.org).

The Nexa study sought to update similar research conducted by Arthur Andersen in 2001. Nexa looked at five years’ worth of data from 2003 through 2007, analyzing how the S&P 500 companies performed in revenue and profit growth and asset efficiency. According to the report, “We tied business aircraft use to these drivers wherever links were possible. We then added the ‘top skeptic’ CFO perspective through wide-ranging interviews of S&P 500 executives to confirm our findings.” Finally, Nexa related the findings with “best-of” lists from publications like Business Week, Fortune and Corporate Responsibility Officer magazines.

Nexa did a preliminary analysis of the S&P 500 data for 2008-2009, which “revealed similar trends” as outlined in the study.

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