Skift Take
Private jet operators did not do well in the Great Recession. When March hit, they figured they were stuck in another disaster. But things have turned out better than expected.
When most air travel in the United States effectively stopped in March, some private jet operators feared the worst, expecting coronavirus, along with the recession to come, would decimate their businesses. Instead, for many, the summer of 2020 has held up surprisingly well.
"Business is very good, better than expected," said Gregg Slow, president of FXAir, a charter company owned by Directional Aviation, one of the biggest brands in private aviation. "We had our best month in company history in June followed by second best in July, for revenue. What would normally be 8 to 10 percent new business is now 50 to 60 percent new business."
The reasons are predictable. Many consumers don't feel comfortable flying on a commercial airplane, and while the vast majority of Americans cannot afford private jet flights, those who can increasingly are looking to them. They'd rather pay a fortune — travel by jet can cost 10 times or more the price of a domestic first class fare — than cancel their summer holiday.
The big question is how long the (relatively) good times will last. Some private jet company executives say they expect demand will remain high beyond summer, in part because consumers who start flying on private jets rarely want to go back to commercial travel. The pro-jet crowd points to a McKinsey study showing only about 10 percent of people who can afford to fly private actually do. Jet company executives figure anyone with investable income of over $10 million — a considerable sum, to be s
