Business Aviation Facts

Business Aviation – Just the Facts

• Business aviation contributes $150 billion to U.S. economic output and employs more than 1.2 million people. General aviation activities – including sales of new and previously owned airplanes, as well as maintenance and other operational support – generates substantial financial benefits for every state in the nation.
• The vast majority of GA aircraft used for business purposes worldwide are manufactured, operated, serviced and maintained in the U.S. Even the relatively small numbers of airplanes that are manufactured outside the U.S. often are “completed” (outfitted) in the U.S. with American-made avionics, electronics, systems, engines, paint, interiors and other aircraft components.
• Business aviation operations are a source of good jobs. Flights made by business airplanes require support. Tens of thousands of pilots, maintenance technicians, schedulers, dispatchers, flight attendants, training professionals, airport employees and other support personnel are employed in business aviation.
• Companies that utilize business aircraft outperform non-aviation users in several important financial measures, including annual earnings growth, stock and dividend growth, total share price, market capitalization and other financial yardsticks.
• Business aviation has a small carbon footprint and an exemplary environmental record. Aviation emissions are only a tiny fraction of all transportation emissions, and business aircraft emissions are a small portion of those. The industry has a long history of continually leveraging technology to minimize noise and emissions, while improving safety and efficiency.
• Only about 3 percent of the approximately 15,000 business aircraft registered in the U.S. are flown by Fortune 500 companies, while the remaining 97 percent are oper-ated by a broad cross-section of organizations, including governments, universities, charitable organizations and businesses – large, medium and small.
• Business aviation reaches 10 times the number of U.S. airports (over 5,000 public-use facilities) than the airlines do. The majority of U.S. airline flights only go to and from 70 major airports, and the total number of U.S. destinations served by air carriers has declined
• Business aircraft flights account for just 4 percent of the total traffic at the busiest airports used by the commercial airlines
• Business aircraft have a safety record that is comparable to that of the major airlines.
• Business aviation enables companies to safely transport tools and materials that cannot be carried aboard airlines.
• Since 9/11, the industry has partnered with government officials to craft and implement enhanced security requirements and best practices that reduce business aviation’s vulnerability to terrorist threats.

Source:  National Business Aviation Association