U.S. Companies Add Jets as Luxury Models Rebound
Monday, October 21st, 2013
U.S. corporations including McDonald’s Corp. and BlackRock Inc. are starting to return to the business-jet market after putting off aircraft upgrades since the recession five years ago.
Buyers are opting for larger, longer-range planes even with global shipments poised to fall in 2013, Honeywell International Inc. said in its annual industry forecast today. Jet deliveries in North America, anchored by the U.S., also will increase as a share of the world’s total, the study found.
The U.S. comeback marks a turnabout from recent years, when chief executive officers deferred fleet renewals as the worst slump since the Great Depression crimped profits and made corporate aircraft a low priority -- and potential public-relations embarrassment. Now Fortune 500 CEOs are shopping again and hunting for the most luxurious models.
“They just basically went dormant during the downturn and now they’re coming back on,” said CEO Larry Flynn at Gulfstream Aerospace, the General Dynamics Corp. unit that makes the new G650 jet. “It’s a significant market opportunity.”
