Our industry has always had a special relationship with the media. And I use the word special like I would use it in the sentence “that boy in the corner putting the glue stick up his nose is special.” I can’t say that we have ever been portrayed in an accurate light. When times are good, our industry is looked upon as a source of pride and arrogance. When times are bad, our aircraft are portrayed as symbols of a waste of corporate profits, catering to fat cats that are careless with the company purse strings.
As most of us know, neither of these descriptions is really fair. The simple answer is that companies utilize corporate aircraft primarily to save employees time. An analysis conducted by the NBAA a few years ago revealed that passengers traveling on a weekly basis by business jet as opposed to the airlines would free up one month a year of that employee’s time formally lost in transit. Just what can a person do for their company (or their family) with an extra month a year? How much does a company value its employee time? These statistics are rarely highlighted in the national media.
I was rather pleased with the coverage our industry received Thursday morning on NPR. I am sure that all of you Fox News devotees missed it, so thought I should bring it to your attention. Typically when I hear a story on business jet aircraft I will cringe several times as facts are misstated or uninformed comments are offered. Although this piece probably won’t do much to help our current PR problems, at least the facts were accurate and the right people were actually consulted for their opinions. Sources for the story included Ed Bolen (President of NBAA), Paul Feldman (lobbyist for GAMA), Mike Boyd (Aviation Consultant) and John Meehan (GM of Landmark Aviation). All seemed to be quoted fairly and accurately. If you would like to read or listen to the story, it is posted on the following link:http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103129922
It’s pretty telling when I am inspired to write an entire blog entry based on the fact that one news story on our industry was somewhat “fair and balanced” and didn’t attempt to incite rioting in the FBO’s. But I feel that we have received such unfair coverage from other sources so far this year, when the coverage gets it right we should point it out and thank the author. Thanks Peter Overby.
Now if we can just get John Stuart to do a story on us for The Daily Show we will really be in good shape. Although, that didn’t seem to work out too well for Jim Kramer of Mad Money fame. If you didn’t see that interview, check it out on Youtube. John Stuart is not usually known for his hard-hitting investigative journalism, I guess he just caught Mr. Kramer off guard.
Toby J. Smith
Vice President
JBA JETS, Inc.
918-834-9100
toby.smith@jba.aero