How will the recession affect corporate/charter?

[part61]

some folks are looking for the economy to dump and then buy another plane at a bargin price.

I believe post 9/11 some GIV's were selling for about 11M, maybe it will happen again...

 

[Jetdriver69]

It hasn't affected us one bit. In fact we just hired two new pilots and are flying more.

 

[stupidpilot]

I don't think it will affect it much either. The filthy rich will remain filthy rich, and will still be able to afford to do what they want to do.

 

[pilotyip]

That is my experience also

I was always under the impression that the first thing to go at a company was a flight department. I hope not, but that's just what I've been told. Good luck to all pilots in every corner of this industry, we're gonna need it!

CM

When a company has tuff times, the first thing to go is the Flight Dept. It happened to me at a Fortune 500 auto parts maker in 1982, I became the first pilot in their company history to be laid off. I watched it happened to friends of mine at Chrysler, K-Mart, Ford Motor Company, the Drug Company in Kalamazoo used to be Upjohn, US Steel, some dept store chain out of St Louis, MO. Job security in the Corp world is not a sure thing.

 

[Corp Pilot]

Job security in the Corp world is not a sure thing.

There is no such thing as job security in ANY occupation.

 

[sleepy]

My company has hit rock bottom withthe housing problems and recession. We are still making $2 billion a year (down from $4 billion a few years ago) and we are flying more than ever as they work to fix problems in our stores. If our department can survive this then I don't ever see us having a layoff in the future.

 

[pilotyip]

I felt the same way

My company has hit rock bottom withthe housing problems and recession. We are still making $2 billion a year (down from $4 billion a few years ago) and we are flying more than ever as they work to fix problems in our stores. If our department can survive this then I don't ever see us having a layoff in the future.

I felt the same way until the lay off, we flew a lot prior them pulling the plug.

 

[sleepy]

I felt the same way until the lay off, we flew a lot prior them pulling the plug.

Well, you never know anymore in any business. Only executives have job security (with their contracts and buyouts, they always land on their feet).

 

[Gulfstream 200]

My company has hit rock bottom withthe housing problems and recession. We are still making $2 billion a year (down from $4 billion a few years ago) and we are flying more than ever as they work to fix problems in our stores. If our department can survive this then I don't ever see us having a layoff in the future.

Often the numbers you see have nothing to do with the departments longevity.

 

[sleepy]

Often the numbers you see have nothing to do with the departments longevity.

True. Any Fortune 50 corporation will have any aircraft they want for as long as they want it. If they decide to get rid of a flight department it will have nothing to do with the actual cost of the department. It could be shareholders, bad flight department management (which you often see), or just a whim..... They could replace it with a management company, a fractional, or just the airlines. Nothing we can do about it.

 

[Publishers]

I am often reminded of two meetings that I attended many years ago. At one, it was a group of corporate executives in a midwestern city and a number of them had aircraft. Interest rate levels were high and all were concerned about the economy and where things were going. Several were discussing canning their aircraft and using mine on a charter/block time basis.
That same week, I attended an aviation meeting in the same town and because our flight operations were under my position. You would of thought you were in a different country. All of them were looking for newer bigger aircraft and their departments were going to be hiring. Many of those companies and flight departments do not exist today.
I have already seen three significant aircraft sold and the people let go in the first quarter of the year.
It is rarely that a company cannot afford the aircraft but deteriorating margins that bring the department down.