I was reading recently about the trials and tribulations of a the Embraer Legacy 600 that was manufactured in South America, had a mid-air collision with another jet and had to be refurbished in a sense. The jet was reported to be recovered and repaired:
The Legacy 600–now registered as N965LL–was recovered by a mobile repair team from Cleveland-based Constant Aviation, which was hired by the new owners of the Legacy to recover and repair the jet.
This is an extraordinary story about a jet that will be owned by someone and used as a private or business aircraft, but it also brings to mind man questions in my mind. The idea that this damage has occurred to this aircraft makes me wonder what other aircraft had endured over their lifetime. I think it is imperative that when purchasing an aircraft that each potential owner has a clear picture of the maintenance of the aircraft and the repairs that have been made. Not every aircraft has has had the type of history that this Embraer Legacy 600 has had, but it is important to learn about a jet’s history. It is important that you use a company that is trusted in the industry. Some of the repairs that this jet endured were reported:
The Legacy had a damaged left elevator and the left wing was missing its winglet. “Some structural repairs had to be done to get it in a position to where we could fly it,” Maiden said, “even on a ferry permit.” This included replacing the horizontal stabilizer before the Legacy left the airbase.
The humid jungle environment in Brazil was not kind to the airplane, which sat outside for a year-and-a-half after the accident, and all of its Honeywell avionics displays had to be replaced, he said. The fuel tanks were clean and the Rolls-Royce AE3007 engines had been preserved–although they hadn’t been run, they were in good shape. “We did extensive boroscoping and testing to verify the validity of the engines,” he said. The airframe was also free of corrosion. “We had a team of 10 people,” he said, “and we spent three weeks doing testing and analyzing all the systems to make sure it was a safe airplane to put back in the air.”
Not every private aircraft has a story of this one but each previously owned aircraft has a history. Make sure you work with a company that can help you learn about that history, make informed decisions, and of course buyer beware. L&L International has been doing business in this area for a number of years and they can assist you in every facet of your research and can guide your buying process.
The recent elections two weeks ago might have changed the face of business aviation since some advocates of the industry in congress have been unseated or are now moving on to other things. It was recently reported via AIN that the elections changed what we see in business aviation and politics:
With the Republican victories on Tuesday, several prominent backers of general aviation have moved on. The highest-profile loss for aviation as a whole was Rep. James Oberstar (D-Wis.), the chairman of the powerful Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. The 36-year legislator is considered by many as the most knowledgeable lawmaker in Congress on aviation issues. He began advocating satellite navigation many years ago and was always steadfast in opposing user fees for general aviation. The National Air Transportation Association said it will miss the support of Oberstar and Reps. Vernon Ehlers (R-Mich.), who is retiring; Allen Boyd (D-Fla.); Mark Schauer (D-Mich.); and John Boccieri (D-Ohio), “all of whom have been ardent supporters of the general aviation industry and fought for issues important to NATA members.” Oberstar–who was the primary backer of a provision in the pending FAA reauthorization bill involving a labor dispute between UPS and FedEx, one of the reasons that the House has been unable to pass FAA reauthorization this session–said he was swept away by “a national wave” of anger over federal bailouts, stimulus spending and healthcare reform, all of which he supported.
It may not have the effect on business aviation as reported however we can only wait and see how the changes work themselves out. Either way it appears that losing someone that is considered the “most knowledgeable lawmaker in Congress on aviation issues, cannot be a good thing.
I traveled two weeks ago to Maui, Hawaii for a quick getaway week with my wife. It was a chance to get away without the kids in school, a chance to recharge the batteries and a chance for some sun on my face until after winter here in the rocky mountains. As a small business owner and the CEO and head of my own destiny, these trips can be a time crunch when setting aside time for business to be accomplished. My wife warned me she didn’t want to spend our time away with me hooked into the resort WIFI and being on my phone the entire trip. I have to say that I am impressed with the cell phone service that the Hawaiian islands have and their connectivity.
From where I live and the way I traveled, using miles earned during the year for a free trip, it takes about 8-12 hours of travel time to get from portal to portal. 12 hours in my business can be thousands of dollars in earned income and even more in potential business. I have difficulty getting any work done stuffed into a commercial airline economy seat while opening a laptop and trying to make a desk out of the few cubic feet offered. It makes for poor working conditions which also makes for poor work product.
Another issue I have doing work while traveling has to do with the privacy and security of doing work while traveling. You never know who is reading over your should and never know who is interested i “what you do for a living,” often spending time what you are doing with the nosy neighbor sitting next to you. On this trip at least I had a sleeping wife next to me that only needed a shoulder to sleep on. You can imagine how easy it was to work in that condition.
Finally, technology is only as good as your conditions allow. There was no WIFI on this flight, I ran out of power only a couple hours into the flight and no phone calls can be made easily to business contacts or others while in flight. It’s like lost time you can never get back and each hour that goes back runs up the losses associated with the trip.
Private aircraft eliminate many of these problems. I have been on a private jet where there was a private desk separate from the sleeping area. It had power outlets for my equipment, desk space for papers and books, WIFI and plenty of ways to speak to clients and business contacts through phone connections. It is a worker’s dream space while traveling. The space is as good as any private corner office. This increases the productivity and the quality of the product while making it safe. After all, private jets are just that, private.
There is a man down the street from my house that has the best looking garage in the neighborhood. He has one of those special floors that is painted with that special speckled paint and inside that garage is a couple of the family cars. Those cars are the best kept cars I have ever seen. The are always washed, always clean inside, and I got a peak under the hood a few times when speaking to him and the engines look like the day they came off the showroom floor. Those vehicles are the pride and joy of their owner and they would be the best vehicle to buy no matter their age. The point of the story is your private jet can also be the best buy no matter their age if you maintain them like my neighbor does his vehicles.
There are plenty of maintained private jets on the market. They have been kept up to date with all of the minimum requirements under the regulations. They never go above what the regulations require but they have been “maintained”. The business aircraft or the private jet that has been cared for properly will be the best aircraft on the market and will carry the best value. Meeting just the minimum requirements will keep your records up to date and will pass any inspection, but give me the private jet that has been cared for like the neighbor down the street. The aircraft that is always cleaned and polished, the one that has all the best of equipment that can be installed, all records of maintenance and well kept records as well as damage and repairs. All of this well done and well maintained principles make these aircraft carry their value and exceed most baseline values of other aircraft. Make sure you care for your aircraft and it will care for you when it comes to time to sell. Which business aircraft or private jet would you put at the top of your list?
As a company that buys corporate jets, sells corporate jets or overall is just interested in the business of corporate jets, it is not going to come to anyone’s surprise that we thing people should be taking a private jet on any trip or travel that they can. We wold love to see nothing more than to see a jet in every hangar (I wonder if that will ever be in a political speech?). For us to tell people why they would like to own a private or corporate jet carries with it the stigma that we have an ulterior motive. The way around that is to take a few reasons for traveling via corporate or private jet from the people that actually use that mode of transportation. Business Jet Traveler recently posted an article on why some travelers take private jets on trips. I think these are some great testimonials as to why business travel could be best served on a private or corporate jet.
I was especially warmed to the idea that Arnold Palmer wanted to use a private aircraft for family reasons:
“I couldn’t have done many of the things I did without a business airplane. It afforded me the opportunity to be home with my family and at the same time accomplish the things I had to do to make my business and career successful. Whether you fly your own or hire a crew, a business jet far outperforms any other mode of transportation.” ~ golf legend Arnold Palmer
Obviously, he had the ability to travel quite a bit in his career and being able to make your own schedule that allowed him to spend time with his family was a crucial reason for the investment. Not having to adhere to commercial schedules and their mandated times of departure and arrival was a big component of why it was a good way for Mr. Palmer to travel. Having just spend much of the month of October and last week in an airport, I would love to have made my own hours and made the schedule I needed that worked best for me.
I may have talked about this in a previous post but it bears repeating. Being someone that needs to be somewhere important at a specific date and time is crucial to success. F. Lee Bailey put it in better words when he said:
“The productivity of the people at the top determines how many jobs there are for people not at the top. And when a guy misses an important sales meeting because Delta Air Lines had a mechanical [problem] at Kennedy and it reverberated across the system and he winds up in Chicago in a fleabag hotel while the meeting’s going on in Tucson, the [corporate] airplane pays for itself.” ~ attorney F. Lee Bailey
Having been that guy in the fleabag hotel once while I should have been somewhere else I can assure you that is a helpless feeling and one that I never again want to experience.
Reading through some of the other reasons for travelers to take private aircraft in the article you can get a sense for the reasons why those that are using business aircraft to conduct business, are at the top of the game or well known experts and celebrities in their industries. They know when to cut corners and they know when spending a little extra on something that might seem extravagant makes them ahead of all of the competition.
Don’t get too excited about a quick recovery as the recovery is not set for another year according to Honeywell, the avionics, equipment and engine manufacturer. The report that Honeywell is reporting on indicates that there should be one more year of an economic slide in store for the business aviation industry in 2011, with the rebound recovery and growth occurring in 2012. Rob Wilson the President for Business and General Aviation for Honeywell states:
“I think the downturn in 2009 demonstrated for all of us that nothing is really firm in an economic calamity as we saw, but that said, we are seeing a lot less volatility in that order book, a lot more stability and more of a sense of continuity.”
The report indicates that Honeywell predicts deliveries of between 675 and 700 new business jets for this year in 2010 which happens to the the lowest total since 2004. They predict that in 2011 another year of less than 700 deliveries will be the case.
AIN reported on some of the numbers of the report:
Based on the results of the survey, Honeywell sees a slow but steady change in aircraft category demand over the next five years. Through 2015, medium to large aircraft such as the Bombardier Challenger 605, Dassault Falcon 7X, Cessna’s Citation X and Embraer’s growing Legacy family will account for 32 percent of the projected purchases, while light and medium business jets including new designs like Bombardier’s Learjet 85, the Gulfstream G250, Embraer’s Phenom 300 and Cessna’s CJ4 will make up approximately 22 percent. Long-range and ultra-long range aircraft such as the new Gulfstream G650 and Bombardier’s Global family will garner 21 percent. Those longer-range aircraft will constitute nearly 50 percent of the delivery dollar value over that same period. Very light jets will constitute the remaining 25 percent of demand but equate to only five percent of the retail shipment value. While the personal jet segment is not a part of the survey, the forecast calls for deliveries over the next 10 years of 500 to 1,000 of the aircraft such as the still-developing PiperJet and the slowly developing Cirrus Vision.
The report from Honeywell in the past has not been the most accurate and in fact that have missed the numbers considerably over the last few years, but this is some good news forecast for our industry.
Companies all over are trying to position themselves to stay competitive in the current economic troubles. They are looking for any competitive advantage they can find including seeking incentives from the federal government or any extra help available. Apparently, Hawker Beechcraft is also looking for these advantages and it is creating a stir in the State of Kansas and with the machinist union workers at their current facility.
It is reported that Hawker Beechcraft has been offered some incentives from the Federal Government to move their operations from their current home in Wichita, Kansas to Baton Rouge, Louisiana. This is being offered to the Hawker Beechcraft company to allow for growth and recovery of the gulf coast following Hurricane Katrina.
The problem is that with the assistance of the gulf coast it hurts those families and others in the State of Kansas. It is reported that the Governor of Kansas is trying to recover and keep those jobs in Kansas. It is also hurting the current negotiations with the current contract at Hawker Beechcraft and the machinist union workers. This is a struggle that many companies face but is hitting home here in the business aviation industry. We will continue to review the situation with some of the business aviation industry leaders like the Hawker Beechcraft company and the events as the unfold with workers and the State of Kansas.
We continue to see advances in technology that are allowing us to do things that we could never do before when we shop of when we make big purchases. We can see the products we are searching for and researching our big purchases is becoming much easier. This is not any different when researching and buying a very large purchase like a vacation home, a vehicle, or even, you guessed it, your next corporate jet. Corporate jet inventories are up all over the world and wit that you have a large amount of jets to choose from. At L&L International we have listed out our inventories to help you search for the corporate jet you are looking for and can provide you further information as you request.
Not only can you search through our current inventory, but we can also help you search and find other aircraft. You can be sent photographs and with the idea that we can send video and other media over the Internet you can get further information on request. You need not be in the city or even the same country as the aircraft you are searching for, and we can provide that assistance to you by using technology. If there is anything that you need to make your search or purchase of a corporate jet purchase easier we can give you the assistance you are needing. If you are buying a corporate jet, looking to lease a jet or if you have any needs at all please contact us.
The company over at Bombardier has been working hard to stay competitive and the folks over at AIN have been keeping up with the story since they released the information about Bombardier talking about a competitor to the Gulfstream 650. Bombardier announced at the NBAA show that they are launching a new “Global Aircraft Family”. AIN reported:
…Bombardier this morning announced it will launch a “new Global aircraft family” on the eve of the business aviation show. “It was strategically necessary for Bombardier to announce the program as soon as possible,” business aviation analyst Brian Foley told AIN. “Doing so contains potential customer defections and gives the rest of the market a reason to wait and see before placing an order. Not doing so would have essentially conceded that segment to Gulfstream.” The Canadian aircraft manufacturer today said its board of directors gave an “official go-ahead to launch the expanded Global aircraft family.”
The new aircraft being launched by Bombardier will be announced on October 18 and it will be interesting to see what they have coming. AIN opined that perhaps Bombardier’s announcement:
…suggests that it will be a new clean-sheet design–the rumored M170 program–though a Global XRS derivative is possible, but apparently now remote. Potential powerplants for the so-called “Super Global” are said to include the Rolls-Royce BR725 and a GE Tech X-based engine. George Tsopeis, Zenith Jet’s vice president of aviation services, said an XRS derivative would cost $200 to $300 million to develop and could be in service in 2013, while a clean-sheet Global would cost more than $1 billion and wouldn’t enter service until at least 2016.
More to come on this announcement after it is made in the middle of the month.
I was reading an article recently in Business Jet Traveler that said corporate jets are analogous to time machines because they save business travelers time that would normally be spent in normal business channels. Business jets can also afford you a more productive tool for getting work done while in transit. The article came up with eight ways that you can better use your time while flying via a business jet:
- Meetings in a secure environment;
- Make your clients feel special;
- Provide a seat to someone;
- Flying where you need to go;
- Use your time for other things; and
I like the ideas that they talk about in the article but as someone that has flown quite a number of times in the last few years I can see some of the little things that are also important that could help you save time. I have waited to check-in to a flight in long lines that cause me to stand pulling the luggage along while trying to do some work on my mobile phone. I have had flights delayed due to passengers that have had problems or issues, and I have sat on a runway tarmac for unruly periods while they figure out why a light bulb is blinking. I have had problems with technology not working because I ran out of AC power and I wished I could take care of some phone calls while in flight.
These are some classic examples of what can be done on a business jet but could not otherwise be performed. Time is money in most businesses and your time is especially important. Adding time to a business trip can make the difference when your company is trying to compete or if you are trying to meet some company goals. Business jets are a secret weapon of sorts or in the case of the business traveler, they are a time machine. This may translate into a money machine.
