Today, the vast majority of business aviation market indicators are trending positively. This is a welcome development after a prolonged and mostly flat recovery from the U.S.-led Great Recession, which officially ended more than nine years ago.
The U.S. and Europe are the base for 74 percent of the world business jet fleet, and these economies are growing. Since first-quarter 2010, the U.S. economy has expanded for 34 consecutive quarters year-over-year (YOY), including at a rate of 2.8 percent in the second quarter. Since fourth-quarter 2013, the 19-country Euro Area economy has grown for 19 consecutive quarters, including at a rate of 2.5 percent in the second quarter. The latest forecast for 2018 from The Economist (Aug. 9, 2018) is for U.S. GDP to grow by 2.9 percent and the Euro Area GDP by 2.1 percent. These are good numbers that provide the basis for optimism, especially about the near-term future.
