Jet Makers Feeling Recession Pinch

When profits are down and bankruptcy is right around the corner, it’s hard to justify whisking executives around in company planes. As a result many struggling corporations are downsizing or eliminating this perk. And that means manufacturers of private jets are hurting.

Sales are down 7.1 percent, and 12 percent of the workforce has been laid off. This is a big hit to what was once a $150 billion industry with 1.2 million employees, most of them in the United States.

Thanks to the trip made to Washington last year by the blatantly brazen CEOs of the Big 3 automakers – in three separate jets – public opinion has turned firmly against the practice. But aviation industry officials claim that private fleets are a necessary expense for many companies, especially those in areas without adequate commercial service.

They also say CEOs have better things to do than go through security, risk delays, and so on. (You know… like everybody else has to do when they fly.)

(Source: Wired)

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