The continuing emergence of business aviation: it's about time.

Business Aviation started in the late 1920s and 1930s, when progressive companies realized the time saved by air travel. However it was only after WWII that Business Aviation came into it's own and most of the Fortune 500 companies started using corporate aircraft. Surplus C-47/DC-3 aircraft were available from the Army Air Corps that were in like new condition and inexpensive. By 1955, about 500 DC-3 executive aircraft were in corporate service along with over 1,500 smaller aircraft, such as twin engine Beechcrafts. While the DC-3 had a great cabin with lots of room, it was not pressurized and by the mid-fifties was slower than other airliners.

About 1955 several CEO's in the New York area convinced the CEO of Grumman to build an airplane with DC-3 comfort but with DC-6 or DC-7 speed. The result was the Turbo Prop Gulfstream I that would cruise at 300 MPH. By 1960, the need for jet speed in business aircraft was obvious. North American had built the T-39 Sabreliner from the F-86 Sabrejet design but few were in service and Lockheed was working on the Jet Star.

Bill Lear had become very interested in this concept. In 1959 at the Society of Automotive Engineers Convention in Wichita, KA, he challenged the Wichita plane makers to build one. He also dropped the word that he would give them two years and if they had not started, he was going to build one. True to his word, in 1961 he bought a factory in Switzerland that had a jet fighter design, which had flown, but was not being funded. For over a year work progressed fast, but not fast enough for Bill Lear. One big problem for Bill was that the workers primarily spoke German, French or Italian, and he could not communicate as well as he wished. By late 1962, Bill had made a deal with the city of Wichita to build a new factory on Mid-Continent airport. In September 1964 the Lear 23 was certified and deliveries started. Also coming along close behind the Lear was the Jet Commander, the Hansa Jet and the Hawker 125. The Learjet had great speed but was small inside, as was the Jet Commander and the Hansa. The Hawker 125 was mid-size, but no DC-3. By 1968, Gulfstream had the G-II out which had the same size cabin as the G-I. Sales of smaller jets continued, as the price difference was considerable.

With the introduction of jets to the corporate fleet, business aviation expanded rapidly. From the late 60's until now, over 15,000 aircraft are in service. In recent years consumer demand has been toward the mid to larger cabin jets. Smaller cabin aircraft like the Citation Encore, Sovereign and Lear 45 continue to have their place also.

Ultra Long Range aircraft like the Global Express and Gulfstream V-550 with a range of 6,500 miles, have found buyers, with over 450 now in service. Virtually all, large and not so large, progressive companies must have corporate jets available to their executives to stay competitive. Today companies have options for such service such as, charter, ownership or fractional ownership.

The past fifteen years have seen many changes in the ownership and operation of corporate jets. As a percentage of business' use, charter and fractional ownership has increased over company owned and operated aircraft. While many established corporate flight departments continue to flourish, many new users find that charter or fractional meets their needs better.

Amongst charter's advantages are that, if you utilize a large charter company's services, you can select from several different size and price of aircraft. In addition, you have no investment, no additional employees and no new department. You need only to make one phone call and it all happens. Similar to charter, fractional ownership is also a no hassle experience. However, you do have an investment for a share in an airplane and a monthly maintenance fee with the net being considerably more per hour or mile than charter.

The newest and fastest growing segment of business aviation in the past several years has been Aircraft Management. This is where an owner purchases an aircraft and then assigns it to a management company to operate. This involves investment, but the Management Company handles all other functions from supplying pilots, to assuring the aircraft is continually airworthy. If you wish to reduce your monthly cost, let the Management Company charter the aircraft when the owner is not using it. In most cases this does not zero the cash flow of ownership, but certainly reduces the cost of ownership. With the current tax depreciation allowance for new equipment, this has presented a positive new consideration for ownership.

Business jets benefit our society in other ways as well. For example, transportation of critical medical organs and patients has saved thousands of lives due to time saved. Also the news media use private aircraft to travel to disaster areas.

Companies doing road shows or new IPO's use business jets to great advantage. In addition, some wealthy individuals use business jets to save time on personal travel, but personal use is generally a very small percentage of the total.

The future of private jet use? It will only increase, as business is now based on its use; the millions of hours saved each year cannot be given up. Businesses cannot afford to reverse progress. Many business acquisitions or mergers are made only because of the business jet, as the principals might never have made the trip had they not had this asset.

It's about time. Time cannot be replaced or retrieved. Once it is used, it can never be recovered. Private jet aircraft are truly time machines.

Clay Lacy founded Clay Lacy Aviation--the first executive jet charter service west of the Mississippi--in 1968 using a leased Learjet. His fleet today consists of nineteen aircraft including Learjets, Gulfstreams, Boeing 727s and Business Jets (BBJ). Fifteen of these aircraft are used for charter operations. The pilot-entrepreneur is personally involved with all aspects of this operation. For more information, please visit www.clay lacy.com.