CorpComms Magazine

Who in the world wants to admit to owning a private yet? Pretty much no one right now.

Certainly, as General Motors, Ford, Chrysler and Citigroup have learnt, any company that needs a cash infusion from US taxpayers should shun them at all costs unless they want to unleash a public relations nightmare and collect a furious tongue-lashing on Capitol Hill. 

But now private jets are such a political hot potato that companies nationwide are cancelling orders for new jets and selling their existing ones. 'It's getting to be a black eye to own a corporate jet,' said Paul Nisbet, an aviation analyst with JSA Research.

So now one of America's biggest manufacturers, Cessna, is fighting back. Last week the Kansas-based company, which delivered 467 business jets last year, launched an advertising campaign and PR blitz to counter the bad press and argue that private planes makes companies more competitive in recessionary times and contribute $150 billion and 1.2 million jobs to the US economy.

'Anyone who has ever seen managers board a business aircraft at dawn and return well after dark, having visited multiple cities and attended countless meetings in one day can attest to the fact that business aviation allows companies to get the most out of every minute of every day - exactly what is needed to work our way toward economic recovery,' says Cessna chairman, president and CEO Jack Pelton.

He claims the majority of passengers are middle managers or technicians travelling around in small propeller planes or  jets that are not at all fancy. 'The reality of business aviation is a far cry from the misconception of CEOs flying in large luxurious airplanes. Most of these aircraft are fairly spartan, designed for business, with a cabin about the size of a minivan or SUV interior.'

Private planes are just like minivans. Honest. It'll take a pretty extensive PR push to get that one to stick.

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