Since my youth, I’ve spent most Thanksgiving weekends either playing or watching football. This year was no exception. But, for some reason it seemed like the games I watched involved more fumbles than usual, including one miscue in the Michigan-Ohio State game that must have been touched by nearly every player on the field. The net result was that MIchigan ended up losing the ball, about 20 yards, and a late opportunity to score in a close game.

Unfortunately, the original miscue and subsequent mishandling of the football provides an all-too-apt metaphor for the “fumbled recovery” we’ve experienced in business aviation over the past few years. We haven’t generated much in the way of offense — or revenues — in the corporate aircraft segment of the industry since 2008 and it’s hard to relate to anyone who says the “Recovery” actually began in 2009. If that’s truly the case, why hasn’t anyone bothered to tell us Wichita. To us, it feels like we’re trying to run the ball against the 1985 Chicago Bears. And maybe that’s a big part of the problem–business aviation seems to be continually running up against “trash talkers” from Chicago–but these days they are more commonly known as the Obama Administration. The President and members of his cabinet and party have been invoking a class warfare campaign that involves vocal criticism of the “fat cats in their corporate jets” who they perceive aren’t paying their fair share. Their rhetorical blitzes have contributed to the sacking of a lot of pretty good players–around 13,000 in Wichita alone–and business aviation hasn’t really been able to get a firm grip on the situation , even three years into the so-called “recovery.” While it’s true that the number of certain, highly specialized jobs in Kansas has shown some minimal improvement over the past couple of years, the output of the state’s airplane manufacturers has been stagnant. In fact, one of the Air Capital of the World’s most venerable companies, Hawker Beechcraft, has declared bankruptcy and another icon, Boeing, has announced that it will close its Wichita facilities for good in 2014, eliminating, in one move, roughly the same number of jobs that those very selective re-hires have accounted for over the past two years. Even if Hawker Beechcraft–or as it now says it will be known when it emerges from Chapter 11–the Beechcraft Corporation, survives, it will apparently do so without it’s jet products. That means that it’s total employment will likely go down before–and if– it ever goes back up. HBC is currently completing a handful of jets for customers who haven’t cancelled their orders. Once those aircraft are delivered, the production lines will be shuttered and the workers assigned to those programs let go. At a press conference at the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) Annual Meeting & Convention in Orlando last month, Hawker Beechcraft executives explained that they are continuing to “operate as normal” under debtor in possession circumstances while a new, amended recovery plan that doesn’t include acquisition of the company by Chinese investors, is reviewed by the Bankruptcy Court. But, it seems that recovery may be fumbled, too,. If the company’s total employment drops below a previously-agreed upon level of 3,600 people in Wichita, Beechcraft will lose the support of the state and local governments that have been subsidizing training and providing financial incentives. The latter will be subject to payback, too, at a time when the company is trying to define its ongoing market niche and placate hundreds of unhappy jet owners who feel disenfranchised because HBC also announced they will no longer honor the warranties or provide support for the Premier 1A or Hawker 4000 aircraft.

To make matters worse, one of the more resilient firms in Wichita’s aviation fraternity, Spirit AeroSystems has finally started to show signs of being impacted by the industry’s continued malaise. It recently reported a quarterly net loss of $134 million due to struggles with the development and early production on certain programs. Spirit, with its diverse product lines and solid business base in the commercial transport segment had, up to this point, managed to weather the fiscal storm, even as it dealt with significant damage to its physical facilities from a tornado in April of 2012. Now, even the strongest player on the field seems to limping along defensively as we await the next onslaught of offense from the Second Obama Administration. If harsh rhetoric, regulatory and taxation issues don’t jar Wichita’s planemakers too much, perhaps they’ll be able to put some points on the (order) board and put some players back into the game. Some analysts are even cautiously optimistic. But the resurrected threat of user fees, the continued characterization of corporate airplane operators as evil or greedy, and the willingness on the part of government to allow our previously unchallenged leadership in innovation and aircraft production to migrate offshore could undercut any potential trend towards a measurable recovery. If the hopeful signs of the past couple of years again turn out to be fakes, Wichita’s aviation community could end up stalled in the shadow of its own goalposts again in 2013. That’s always a bad place for another fumble!

As Published In The September issue of PROFESSIONAL PILOT 

My friend Jack Pelton, retired Chairman, President and CEO of Cessna, recently suggested that it would be appropriate and prudent  to re-insert the wording originally included in the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 defining one of the FAA’s duties as the “promotion, encouragement and development of civil aeronautics” into the FAA Charter. It was expunged as part of the 1996 reauthorization bill.  Now, more than ever, I couldn’t agree with him more.  This important segment of the industry has been the target of  almost constant negativity from politicians for the past three years and that vitriol is likely to increase as the political campaign season nears conclusion. Keep reading >

Fifi at EAA

The recently concluded EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin is an amazing event. It brings everyone from kids whose interests are just being peaked by building model airplanes to high government officials such as the Federal Aviation Administrator to the same place at the same time to observe–and revel in all things aeronautical. This year, attendance once again topped half a million visitors, transforming the scenic and hospitable little town of Oshkosh (population 67,000 for 50 weeks of the year) into a major metropolis and the control tower at Wittman Airport into the busiest in the world. Keep reading >

With all the Personal Digital Assistants, Tablets, Smart Phones, iPads, iPods, iMacs and “iCan’t keep track of all the devices” out there that process information, it’s amazing but true that we often find ourselves with more content than the Library of Congress–and yet we’re still unaware of important stuff!  This is true at the Wichita Aero Club, too.  I became acutely aware of that fact–personally, not digitally–recently when I was having an honest-to-goodness, face-to-face conversation with a couple of board members and realized that there’s a lot going on that we hadn’t really shared.  I decided that this blog provides at least one medium to share some key information–so here goes! Keep reading >

D. Franson

When it comes to business aviation, the Obama Administration is trying. But lest you think I’m giving them credit for putting forth a reasonable effort when it comes to this extremely important segment of the aerospace industry, let me be crystal clear: they’re trying… my patience! I keep waiting for the President, his advisors, and Congressional surrogates to demonstrate that they’re overcoming what has appeared to be a steep learning curve regarding the role and contribution of private aircraft, but their comments and initiatives indicate just the opposite. Now they’re advancing the often-rejected prospect of user fees in the latest Budget proposal. I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s not ignorance–it’s antipathy! It’s actually an orchestrated attack, driven by polling data that says taking shots at “fat cats in their corporate airplanes” will play well with an potential voters who are ignorant or apathetic about all of the contributions to our economy, way of life and local communities–not to mention all of the jobs–people who fly in business aircraft provide. It frustrates me enough that I’ve drafted an open letter to the President. I’d actually spend the half dollar it now costs to post a letter if I thought he’d actually read it and consider a response, but since I doubt that’s really the case, I’m offering it here on the off-chance someone in the administration or Congress will take notice: Keep reading >

Sandor “Alex” Kvassay has crossed the Atlantic Ocean so many times he can’t keep track. He’s circled the globe numerous times, as well. A Hungarian native and naturalized American citizen, he has stamps in his passports from places even veteran travelers have never heard of. At many of those destinations he also managed to sell airplanes. During a career that spanned five decades and included stints working for Bill Lear and Olive Ann Beech, he met an impressive number of world leaders, business moguls, and celebrities. Through it all, he was a consistent chronicler of his experiences, writing down his recollections and taking thousands of pictures. To this day, his accounts of his encounters generate wide interest. His column, ALEX REMEMBERS in the monthly issues of PROFESSIONAL PILOT magazine recently resulted in his being chosen as the publication’s fourth most widely read author…out of a dozen contributors! PRO PILOT Publisher Murray Smith, who plans to attend the luncheon along with his wife, Eleni, will distribute advance copies of the MARCH issue of the magazine, as well. Keep reading >