October 22, 2023
Good air service is a key to economic development, but more U.S. cities lose commercial airline service each year. However, private aviation bridges the gap.
Business aviation provides a critical transportation lifeline to thousands of communities all across the U.S. that have little or no airline service. Some 41% of business aircraft are flown to towns with little or no air service. Research by No Plane No Gain, an advocacy group, points out when a company needs to reach clients, manage far-flung facilities, or seek out new opportunities, business aviation is often the only viable option.
While 500 airports have limited commercial airline service, private aviation reaches over 5,000. In many cases, unless you are flying to a major hub, flying between non-hub cities means making a connection turning what would be a nonstop flight of two hours into a five or six-hour ordeal when adding in airport time. And with commercial airlines making a record number of cancellations and recording record load factors, getting stranded means the next available flight might be a day or more away.
Last year more than 100 cities across America saw a decline in scheduled commercial airline service while over 30 communities lost airline service entirely.
Private aviation also enables a business to make multiple stops in a day or two-day trip, accomplishing the same number of meetings in two days that it would take a week or more via commercial airlines. Eighty percent (80%) of business aircraft flights are to small towns and communities.
No Plane No Gain also provides private aircraft owners an ROI survey to help provide data on how using private aviation pays off. Business aviation has been bouncing back. In 2017 there were over three million private aviation flights for the first time since 2018. For companies that need short haul solutions, there are more turboprop solutions via Jet Card. Last year saw the launch of StraightLine Private Air which is focused on Light Jets, Turboprops and even Piston aircraft. Nicholas Air and Wheels Up both offer turboprop Jet Card products, and in the fractional space, PlaneSense offers a Pilatus PC-12 solution.
