As many Americans head out on their annual hunt for turkey and all the fixings, the fortunate few have a larger and more flight-capable bird on their radar: a business airplane. Buyer interest in the new flock of aircraft taking to the skies is readily apparent, with OEM sales teams, aircraft brokers and dealers, and their networks of transactions professionals keen to serve an exquisite meal. With more than 50 in-production turbine-powered business aircraft models to choose from—and a smorgasbord of pre-owned models that cover the spectrum from soup to nuts—there is seemingly more than enough on the table for everyone to enjoy.
As we get ready to close out a very active 2018, a year that will almost certainly be remembered as the best in the last 10 for new aircraft sales, there are both CAVU and stormy skies ahead for the business aviation industry. On the bright side, there is an enormous and basically untapped market for private air transport. Mobility by air is surely one of the ultimate freedoms, as even a casual observation of an eagle or falcon in flight will attest. Rather than imagining the air traffic snarl, spending energy presuming chaos and dismissing progress, and drumming up fear of midairs and the need for a carefully pre-planned “regulatory frameworks,” there are other ways to proceed. As with most things, it may all start with the last four inches of progress, penetrating that intriguing space between people’s ears.
