Given the highly competitive nature of today’s corporate world, companies must look for any type of technique, strategy, or tool that will help them improve productivity and efficiency, develop their competitive capacity, and boost overall success. v
Broadly encompassing most flights conducted for a business purpose that are not operated by commercial airlines or by the military, business aviation is a rapidly expanding industry in the United States, thanks to the significant benefits it can offer companies. Two of the most important benefits were highlighted in a 2009 survey, conducted for the General Aviation Manufacturers Association and the National Business Aviation Association, that canvassed hundreds of business aviation pilots and managers, as well as passengers.
Increased productivity is one of the main advantages reported by passengers flying on business aircraft. Passengers estimated that they spent 36 percent of their time aboard a business aircraft in work-related meetings with colleagues, 30 percent on individual work-related tasks, and 6 percent on work-related meetings with customers, compared with 3 percent, 28 percent, and 0 percent in the same categories while on a flight with a standard commercial airline. Furthermore, the majority of surveyed passengers rated their productivity aboard business aircraft as higher even than their usual productivity in the office.
The second major benefit revealed by the survey relates to access; business aircraft have a much broader scope of available destinations and thus can help companies reach partners, suppliers, customers, or clients in more remote locations. Nearly half of all business aviation flights are made into airports that typically have infrequent or no scheduled airline service, while 33 percent of flights reach secondary airports. Scheduling is a factor here as well; the use of business aviation helps companies accommodate more complex business schedules, which commercial airlines are unable to support.