Despite the robustness of order books, strong pricing, and flying that still outpaces pre-pandemic levels, the business aviation industry and perhaps the larger aviation industry have navigated into choppy waters. During JetNet’s recent iQ Summit, iQ survey founder and head of Rolland Vincent Associates Rolland Vincent noted that “We’re in a bit of a strange” place with geopolitical tensions, inflation, interest rate changes, and presidential election uncertainties. The result? Industry net optimism has reached its lowest point since the initial Covid surge in 2020, with many believing that the current business cycle has yet to hit bottom.
Adding to all of this is a supply chain system that has remained stubbornly fragile and rising labor disputes that hit NetJets earlier this year through various pickets and other campaigns, Bombardier through a brief strike in July, and most recently Textron Aviation, which now has 5,000 workers on strike. Of course, the Boeing strike, affecting 33,000 workers, may eclipse all of that.
Kerry Lynch stepped into the role of editor of the Aviation International News monthly magazine in May 2022 after serving with AIN for eight years. She joined AIN in December 2014 as a senior editor covering Washington and business aviation news. She has also served on Convention News teams, including as editor of HAI Convention News. Lynch previously spent 25 years with Aviation Week. During her time there, she reported for and later steered The Weekly of Business Aviation, oversaw business aviation content on the Aviation Week Intelligence Network, served on the Show News staff, and held roles as the Washington columnist for Business & Commercial Aviation and Overhaul & Maintenance monthly magazines. In 2021 she was honored with the National Business Aviation Association Platinum Wing Award for lifetime achievement in journalism and was the 2004 recipient of the National Air Transportation Association’s Aviation Journalism Excellence Award. She also has been a recipient of an Aerospace Media Award for business aviation (2022) and NBAA Gold Wing Award (2003, 2024). Lynch graduated from The Ohio State University with a bachelor of arts in journalism.
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