PrintJanuary 13, 2009
Demonizing jobs out of existence
Since the Big Three auto executives committed the terrible faux pas of coming before Congress for a handout in their private jets, business aviation has been sensationalized and demonized. For a government concerned about creating jobs in a recession, there is little concern given to the thousands of American jobs being lost due to the misrepresentation of a viable transportation industry, and the potentially tens of thousands more that could be affected when you factor in supplies and vendors to the industry. In fact, National Air Transportation Association president Jim Coyne estimated that there are "more than 1.265 million jobs created by the general aviation industry," as quoted in an article on AINonline.com.
Now, manufacturers are beginning to feel the heat, and so are their employees. Cessna plans to lay off nearly 1,000 workers as reported on AeroNews.net,. This comes on the heels of Hawker Beechcraft's November 2008 announcement that it would cut 500 workers, mentioned in the same article.
Further, as reported by a National Business Aviation Association press release, the language in the "TARP" bill will continue to fuel job losses in the industry. NBAA President Ed Bolen expounded:
"Clearly, the people and businesses in the general aviation community are weathering one of the worst economic storms anyone has ever seen," Bolen continued. "These workers include schedulers, dispatchers, maintenance technicians, pilots, training professionals, insurers, and many other disciplines -- all good jobs, performed by good people. The work they do matters to the companies they work for, the communities they live in, and our nation as a whole."
That is, it would matter if they were still employed. But now that shareholders' view of business aviation is about as toxic as their view of security-backed mortgages, many firms are dissolving their corporate flight departments and trying to sell an asset that has devalued due, not to its lack of use as a productive business tool, but to negative media attention fueled by finger-pointing politicians.
As Tom Greenwood reported in the Detroit News, focusing purely the cost of a mode of transportation fails to account for the cost of an executive's time. One could add, the time of a senator, a president, or anyone who chooses to use private transportation.
To make business aviation villain resulting in thousands of job losses is to miss the forest for the trees in an already tenuous economic environment. Worse, it's hypocritical and unproductive.
