While the post-Covid recovery in overall business aircraft utilization levels is indeed heartening, much of this flying is for personal/leisure purposes. A fuller recovery—with HNWIs and corporate executives traveling for the purposes of conducting business—so far seems to be elusive. This extends from people getting aboard a business aircraft to people boarding a commercial airliner.
With now-countless industry conferences, airshows, and face-to-face meetings relegated to Zoom, it will be quite some time before many people will again feel comfortable getting into a commercial airport environment and aboard an aluminum tube with 150 or more people in tight proximity. Recovery of the commercial air carrier industry will take longer than business aviation.
With phones ringing and turbines twirling, many Part 135 operators of business aircraft are well positioned to grow their businesses and experiment with new business models to broaden their appeal to a wider community of customers.
And while the Covid economic slump might have already ended after the second quarter, the potential for a double-dip U.S. recession is real. There is still a massive amount of uncertainty facing the U.S. economy in the second half of this year.
When the international borders to Europe, Canada, and now even the Bahamas are closed to U.S. travelers, you know that this is already a year to remember—or should we say forget?
