Commentary

Evelyn Rusli, 11.25.09, 1:00 PM ET

Link to original article.

At the height of the recession, the private jet became the go-to symbol for corporate greed. Pundits and protesters reveled in the irony of auto executives boarding private jets to Capitol Hill to beg for taxpayer bailouts. As Rep. Gary Ackerman told Detroit’s CEOs in November 2008, “It’s almost like seeing a guy show up at the soup kitchen in high hat and tuxedo.” Overnight, commercial was in, and the corporate jet became a public relations headache. For jet manufacturers, public furor translated into dismal sales. In the first three quarters of this year, manufacturers delivered 615 business jets, a sharp drop of 37.8% from the same period a year ago, according to the General Aviation Manufacturers Association. The industry is battling back–fighting to educate the consumer, executives and especially Capitol Hill–on why the corporate jet is not just a luxury for the few, but a necessity for business. “With the financial collapse that occurred there was a lot of anger, a lot of hurt, a lot of people reaching out and striking at what became an image and the image was a corporate business jet,” says Jack Pelton, CEO, Cessna. “We as an industry are now spending our time righting that wrong perception. We rounded up the industry’s top executives, for their insight on how the anti-jet sentiment has hurt their business and how they’re gaining ground in Washington. Ed Bolen CEO, National Business Aviation Association Over the course of the past several months, the National Business Aviation Association has really put forward a campaign to try to educate people about just how essential business aviation is to our nation’s economy and to our transportation system. The hallmark of that campaign has been to talk to people about the jobs created with business aviation and also the lifeline that business aviation provides to communities with little or no airline service. People are always surprised to find out that 85% of the companies that use business aviation are actually small and mid-sized companies, they are also surprised to find out that 70 to 75% of the time these planes are flown by middle managers. People don’t really appreciate the kinds of missions [for which] business aviation is typically used. These are missions where companies are trying to visit three or five cities in a single day. They may be trying to take a team of people and turn that travel time into work time, have them discuss proprietary information en route or perhaps move products and services that can’t be taken on commercial airlines. In-Depth Travel Coverage First Class Traveler From exotic train trips and private mega-yachts to spacious digs on commercial flights, these ways allow you to experience the heights of luxury travel. World’s Top Hotels Forbes Travel Guides’ yearly round-up of the globe’s most lavish lodging. Craig Fuller CEO, Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association We took a step back and really studied what opinion leaders thought and think about general aviation early this year and they’re pretty supportive. We launched our campaign, “General Aviation Serves America.” [In it,] our members … tell their stories about how they’re using aircraft and through them really persuade opinion leaders that general aviation plays a very important role in our nation’s transportation system. The best thing I’ve seen this year frankly, is the very strong support we have for general aviation in the Congress both in the House and in the Senate. We have a group of members of Congress who are pretty well persuaded that general aviation does play an important role and its worth protecting and worth nourishing in the years ahead. Frederico Curado CEO, Embraer It’s definitely a power business tool, if you have a typical road show, you have to be in 10, 12, 20 different places in three or four days. You just can’t do that [without a business jet]. Traveling for example, within China or within Brazil relying on airline service takes certainly much more time. There was a very unfortunate moment in the beginning of the crisis where there was an association between business jet luxury and the crisis itself . Is it a luxury? Yeah it can be. It can also be a very powerful business tool.

ElJet is offering exceptional Holiday specials from Van Nuys, Santa Monica, LAX, Long Beach to Las Vegas. These specials start November 23 and go through New Years January 3, 2010. Including the holidays of Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years.

Prices for a  light jet start from as low as $3,899 each way.

Super Light Jet prices start at $4,750 each way.

Some restrictions may apply.

Please visit us at www.ellejet.com

Donald Trump Has an Aging Plane to Sell You

Donald Trump has suffered some financial setbacks over the past year. But have things gotten so bad that he’ll soon be forced to to fly commercial? Or is he just trading up? That remains an open question, but Trump did put his prehistoric Boeing 727 up for sale yesterday. How much Trump is expecting to collect for his home away from home isn’t disclosed in the official listing, although considering the plane predates Ivanka’s existence on this planet and it’s made 29,000 landings over the years, perhaps not that much. That said, Trump has kept it in excellent condition. The listing says the plane was given a fresh coat of paint earlier this year and the interior was recently refurbished. Plus two of the three bathrooms have “gold plated sinks,” there’s a queen-size bed in the master bedroom, and a “circular shower” installed in the master bath. And did we mention the “abundant storage for fine china and crystal”? There’s that, too! Join us for a tour of Donald’s tribute to the 1980s below.

Links to original article and more photos here.

ElJet is offering Jet Charter Specials to Boston.

One-Way from Teterboro to Boston as low as: $3,499.

One-Way from Las Vegas to Boston as low as $19,900.

Jet Charter, Air Charter, Plane Charter, Private Jet Charter, Jet Charter New York

NEW GULFSTREAM JET

Photo by: Art Ottimo

It’s sleek, shiny and if you believe everything they say, the fastest business jet ever.  Gulfstream Aerospace rolled out the new G650 Tuesday.

According to Gulfstream, the G650 offers the longest range, fastest speed, largest cabin and most advanced cockpit in the Gulfstream fleet.  The new model was unveiled in front of a crowd estimated by Gulfstream at about 7,000 people.  It got as much applause as a tall, good looking model on a New York runway, maybe more considering what the project may mean for the local economy and the stability of jobs at Gulfstream.

And despite a recession and some tough times, the G650 represents faith in the future. “Gulfstream is the largest employer, with 6,000 employees in southeast Georgia,“ says Pres Henne, senior vice president of Programs, Engineering and Test.  “Since1967, Gulstream has been a cornerstone of the local economy. The investment of 400 million dollars and the creation of an additional 1,500 jobs over the past three years represents an investment to the community by General Dynamics and by Gulfstream.  With the introduction of the G650, that tradition continues.“

Earlier this year, Gulfstream laid off 1,400 employees at a number of its locations, including Savannah and furloughed hundreds of others for four to five weeks.  (A total of 2,200 people were furloughed at the Savannah location.) Officials acknowledged at the time that the recession was finally hitting a company many had believed might be recession proof.  “Those layoffs ended in July so we’re through them and quite frankly it looks like we’ve weathered the storm, because things are picking up a bit,“ says Joe Lombardo, executive vice president, General Dynamics Aerospace group.

Lombardo says they have 200 orders for the new G650, which is expected to be tested and ready for service by 2012.  “I think most of our customers seem to have confidence that things will be improved by then so making orders now,“ says Lombardo.

Lombardo says that last year the aerospace industry got a “bad rap” after some CEO’s flew in private jets to Washington to ask for federal aid for their companies.  “The bad rap I think you would agree had died down substantially,“ he says.  “This is the result of a lot of education on our part and the part of associations to make sure that people, including those in Congress, understand the number of jobs affected by general aviation.“

Lombardo says it’s not just the thousands still employed at Gulfstream, but the thousands indirectly employed by providing parts, etc.

“So what does today’s announcement mean, it means jobs,“ Lombardo told us.  “It means we’re going to be able to support this community with more people, we’re the biggest donor for United Way as well as number of other charities.  This just underscores the importance that this community has (to us.)“

Henne told us “it’s sort of a statement by Gulfstream a statement by General Dynamics about the future. It’s a willingness to invest in an all new product.“

Lombardo says they as they ramp up the G650 line next year, they’ll look at what happens to the rate of productions for their existing products.  “Then we’ll see whether or not we move people.  We can’t say for sure now but our expectation would be to to the point where we would eventually be hiring people back.“

By John Dizard

Article Link: Click Here

Published: October 4 2009 10:10 | Last updated: October 4 2009 10:10

Las Vegas is on sale!

ElJet is offering unbelievable pricing to Las Vegas.

Same day round-trips as low as $4,800.

One ways as low as $2,900 each way.

Find out how to book your private jet charter Las Vegas by visiting www.ellejet.com

Departure city is: Van Nuys

Jet Charter Las Vegas

.

Five family-vacation itineraries perfectly suited for private-jet travel.

Source: Forbes
The Adirondacks, Sea Island, Monument Valley, the Great Smoky Mountains, Yosemite National Park–they’re all great family-vacation destinations except in one respect: getting there. You can’t fly direct commercially; plane changes and reduced schedules to non-hub airports can make the trip take most of the day. Going by private jet removes the “are we there yet?” element, reducing the Minneapolis to Monument Valley trip from 11.5 to 3.5 hours. (The total times here include driving time.) And the larger the family, the better the deal because the prices listed below cover up to seven people. (Fuel surcharges and 7.5 percent federal excise tax are included.) Jet card (JC), fractional prices (F), and charter are one-way. Fractional prices don’t include the capital investment and monthly management cost.

Click link for great interactive graphic with price comparison. (Please note while the NetJets option appears to be the lowest priced option for these routes, once you factor in capital investment, monthly management fees, fuel surcharges and occupied hourly fees NetJets is likely to be significantly more expensive than any other form of private jet travel.

Please visit www.ellejet.com for more information on the highest quality lowest priced private jet charters.

Adam Gonn/The Media Line

Is swine flu behind the recent increase in private jet rentals in the gulf region?

One of the world’s leading private jet operators, International Air Charter, based in the United Arab Emirates, is reporting a 50% increase in demand over Ramadan for flights in Saudi Arabia.

The King Abdul Aziz International Airport which is the main airport in Saudi Arabia’s financial hub Jeddah and the main gate for pilgrims arriving to perform the Umrah, has been packed over the last three days according to local newspapers.

A statement from International Air Charter explained the surge in demand was due to “clients recogniz[ing] the strategic benefits of charter jet services, particularly in terms of convenience and time saving,” .

But with ever more frequent media reports of swine flu (N1H1 virus) related deaths, are clients choosing private jets over commercial flights for financial or health reasons?

“Whenever there is a global health scare there is a short term boost to private jet usage amongst the ‘well-heeled’ and their families, and this is the case at the moment” David J Bentley, an analyst with Big Pond Aviation, told The Media Line.

The Umrah is the part of the annual Hajj pilgrimage preformed during Ramadan, while the main Hajj is not until later this year many prefer to preform the trip during Ramadan.

So far four Saudi Nationals have died of swine flu and reports of people who have been diagnosed with the virus when returning home after a visit to Saudi are increasing.

While the effect of swine flu on the private jet market has been positive the same cannot be said for the commercial flight industry. On August 10, Iran Air, the national airline, announced they were canceling all their flights to Saudi over Ramadan due to swine flu. The decision affected some 300,000 passengers and represents a large part of the people who travel on Iran Air´s international routes.

The increases in demand however appears to be concentrated to Saudi as jet charter companies in the UAE are “not experiencing an increased demand”, reported Rafat Hamdani, a salesperson with UAE with Worldwide Air Charter, a UAE based private jet company.

The Chief Executive Officer of UAE based, low cost air-line Air Arabia was quoted as saying “swine flu is a bigger threat than the economy” to the airline industry.

While flying private jet charter will not necessarily prevent you from getting swine fly over flying commercial. One major risk in flying commercial is contracting swine flu from a passenger seated next to you.

Please click here for a great report from NBC.

As always ElJet is standing by to assist you with all of your private jet charter needs.