In article . net,
"Tom Conner" wrote:

"Andrew Sarangan" wrote in message
oups.com...
I read somewhere that NetJets lost $143M in 2005.


I always felt that offering fractional ownership of a plane for business
purposes was not a sustainable business model. Corporate private flying is
primarily ego driven (must have plane - makes me look important), not
business driven. For most companies it is an unnecessary expense, so they
will eventually drop it. The next aviation business failure appears to be
the idea that very light jets can be used as business transportation between
small airports. Maybe, maybe not. The next few years will tell.

In some cases, perhaps. But in most cases, business is done face to
face. Corporate/private aviation is the only way to assure privacy and
timely contact. Airlines and their schedules are too unreliable.
Corporate executives that have the authority to make deals happen are
too valuable, highly compensated and their time is too valuable to have
them sitting around an airline gate where they can be recognized,
waiting for a plane that may or may not arrive and depart on time.
I worked for NetJets 12 years ago as a dispatcher. I saw where jets went
and who was onboard. I knew who was going, but not who they were
meeting. It was only after a deal was reported in the WSJ that I learned
who the target in a merger/acquisition was.