“One jet, other than Hussein’s secret getaways, employs how many people? A dozen or more?”
I operate five Citation jets. I employ ten pilots and four full time mechanics. Our Fixed Base Operation has three office personnel and about ten full and part-time line personnel. We buy insurance. We buy maintenance from other providers. We buy fuel at outlying destinations. We rent cars. We rent hotel rooms. We eat at restaurants. We buy training. We buy spare parts. We replinish the aircrafts consumables (tires, hoses, filters, nitrogen, oxygen, lavatory, coffe, ice, soft drinks, snacks, etc.) We pay landing fees. We pay ramp fees. We pay Federal Excise Tax (the source fo 75% of the FAA’s funding). We use U.S. Customs. We DO NOT use TSA (Thank God.)
Are our customers fat cats? Yes, some of them are. And they choose to spend the earnings from their work playing golf, skiing, gambling, etc. But many of our trips are for business. A businessperson whose value to the company is valued at hundreds or thousands of dollars per hour does not want to sit in a terminal. They want to travel on their schedule to local airports, not the major hubs. They can conduct business during the flight.
And then we have the emergency medical trips. Many times I get a call at 2 a.m. asking me to deliver a heart, a liver, etc. And if I don’t, someone might not live much longer.
I could go on, but I bet you are getting some insight into ‘fat cat’ aviation.
thanks much for those facts!