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Thursday, Mar 28, 2024

Aviation Study Brings Cries of Outrage in Industry

When the Institute for Policy Studies and Essential Action released its study on the economic and environmental impacts of private jets last month, the general aviation industry circled the Gulfstreams and Citations in response. The National Business Aviation Association said the study contained “outrageous claims and warmed-over rhetoric” while Aviation Across America, a trade group representing owners, makers and users of private aircraft, said it “holds no water.” In the end, those organizations were complaining about a study that didn’t get much media attention to begin with. The Los Angeles Times ran a story on the front page of its business section on June 24 that also ran in two other Tribune-owned papers. ABC News had a brief mention of it at its website (“Taxpayers are Wind Beneath CEOs Wings”) as did some aviation industry publications. Not even much of the blogosphere took interest. The study takes aim at the rich fat cats zipping around in their private jets, getting tax breaks, not paying their fair share of the air traffic control system, avoiding security lines and friskings by the TSA, and all the while burning up in one hour as much fuel as in an hour of driving. The examples cited are the extreme end of private air travel; a small percentage of passengers aboard a small percentage of planes. Enron, of course, was cited because it still remains a favorite punching bag of corporate greed and malfeasance. Countrywide Financial CEO Angelo Mozilo was mentioned for having insisted the company pay the income taxes when his wife accompanied him on business trips aboard the company jet. There was no word on whether the perpetually-tan Mozilo billed Countrywide for use of a sunlamp while aboard the jet. Not to pick on the Times, but missing from its story was an explanation of just who Essential Action and the IPS are, or a description of the overall tone of the study, which reads like a tract from the heyday of the Wobblies and screeds about the class struggle. So who are the two groups that did the study? Essential Action was founded by Ralph Nader. A Factiva search on the Institute for Policy Studies pulls up news articles calling it a left-leaning policy group or think tank. But, really, if you can afford to fly in a private jet; if you have the dollars to have your car pull up on the tarmac and bypass what amounts to commercial air travel, why not? Even Homer Simpson, a representation of the common man if there ever was one, four fingers and all, learned the benefits of private jet travel in the premiere of the Simpson’s 19th season, “He Loves to Fly and He D’ohs.” Homer must be physically removed from the plane belonging to his boss, nuclear power kingpin Monty Burns, because having tasted the luxury he didn’t want to leave. The remainder of the episode follows his attempts to find a job with the perk of a corporate jet. “Flying commercial,” Homer observed, “is for losers and terrorists.” On a More Serious Note Following the lead of the major airlines, a group of volunteers has formed an emergency response team to counsel fand support amily members of passengers and crew killed or injured in private aircraft crashes. The team is believed to be the first in the nation dedicated to general aviation although the commercial airlines have made such services available for years. Its services are available to all the fixed-base operators and charter services operating out of Van Nuys Airport. The idea came to Elliot Sanders, a business owner and pilot, and Van Nuys Airport Manager Selena Birk following the January 2007 crash of a Citation jet owned by Sun Quest Executive Air Charter in which the company’s founder and a co-pilot were killed. Knowing that the media can go overboard when reporting plane crashes, Sanders and Birk thought it would be a good idea to have a place for family members of those involved to get away from the cameras and microphones. The response team has such an undisclosed spot in the Valley. “We will give a safe haven and a place to stay away from all the problems associated with [a crash],” Sanders said. Sanders and the nine other team members received training from mental health professionals who taught them emotional and physical signs to notice in survivors, how to answer their questions, and how to be an interested, caring individual without being overly emotional. Not just anyone was eligible to join the team, Sanders said. A screening process narrowed down the membership to exclude anyone who might not have been emotionally suited as a team member. The Van Nuys Airport Tenant Association and the Van Nuys Propeller Aircraft Association have so far chipped in a combined $6,000 for the training and to buy supplies such as food, drinks and toys. The team is looking for corporate sponsors. The Little Airport That Could With all the activity taking place at Van Nuys and Bob Hope Airports, little Whiteman Airport in Pacoima tends not to get much notice. A 184-acre, single runway airfield, Whiteman is used only by pilots of single- and twin-engine piston planes. The airport is more convenient and quicker for those small planes, which tend to get pushed to the side in favor of the corporate jets at Van Nuys, said Dusty Rhodes, president of Vista Aviation. Another benefit of Whiteman? “You don’t have to taxi 1- & #733; miles to get to end of the runway,” Rhodes said. Vista is one of the top sellers of Honeywell avionics in the world. It also operates a well-used pilot supplies store. Rhodes currently is overseeing an expansion of the business with the construction of a two-story office building and 34 hangar spaces for lease. The project’s cost will end up close to $5 million. With the modern building and services, Rhodes hopes to show pilots, particularly those who fly their planes for business, that Whiteman is a viable alternative. The office component of the project is expected to be completed in October with the hangars to follow shortly thereafter. Rhodes anticipates leasing companies, flight schools, aircraft brokers and other aviation sideline businesses to lease the office space. “We don’t know what is going to come our way but it will keep the overhead down,” Rhodes said Staff Reporter Mark Madler can be reached at (818) 316-3126 or by e-mail at [email protected] . If it weren’t for “The Simpsons” he and his three sisters would have little to talk about. D’oh!

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