As seen in Aviation Week: The future of business and general aviation

June 5, 2020

As seen in Aviation Week:

Business and general aviation have seen downturns more than once before. As private flying shows the first signs of recovery from the blow struck by COVID-19, many in the industry think this time around could be different.

Aircraft brokers and charter companies are seeing a jump in inquiries. “Charter operator sales departments are fielding call after call, the same way we’re getting an increase in new buyers that have not owned an airplane but are interested in how much it costs to own and operate one,” says Don Dwyer, co-managing partner at broker Guardian Jet.

COVID-19 could also change how existing operators view their aircraft. Asked by a customer whether other companies with large flight departments were considering relaxing policies on personal use to protect executives, Guardian Jet asked around. “No one’s really talking about that, not yet. But the overriding theme was discussions with their company about use of the corporate aircraft going deeper into the corporation,” Dwyer tells Aviation Week.