CJI Miami 2022

This growth has largely been driven by more investment in the industry, which means larger operators can now compete with airlines to attract and retain pilots. As bigger companies, they can also offer stability to employees and certainty to customers, offering a more anonymous option for high-profile individuals wary of being “flight-shamed”.

Many of the pilots recruited by the large business jet operators come from commuter airlines. “That trickles down and creates a challenge for the smaller operators as to where they get their pilots from. It exacerbates the problem because the larger operators continue to grow their fleet,” said Ricci. And the economies of scale enjoyed by large operators will continue to put pressure on smaller operators.

He also offered an insight into the nature of some of the new money entering the industry. More than 90 private aviation aircraft operating companies are now backed by private equity, he claimed. Ricci highlighted the scale of some of these investments with six private equity transactions worth more than $400m. “We’re at a whole different level with the amount of capital that’s been infused into the industry,” he said. “When capital starts looking for an opportunity, suddenly, we start having different products. We invent new products and products expand. And, of course, to fulfil the product expansion, we then have fleet expansion.”

Hiring (and keeping) the right people was a recurrent theme. Many attributed this to the industry’s image and commercial airlines’ polished recruitment campaigns. “Let’s be honest, we’re getting our tails kicked by the airlines,” said Andy Priester, chairman and CEO, Priester Aviation. “That’s where [the students’] mentality is. As an industry, we need to figure out how to engage and recruit people to get them involved in our organisations at the high school and university levels. If we do it together, we’re going to be able to make a difference, if we all do it separately it’s going to be really hard to fix.”

FAA staff shortages were also said to be delaying some jet sales. Chris Rocheleau, chief operating officer, National Business Aviation Association said the challenge was business aviation companies “trying to move at the speed of Silicon Valley versus moving at the speed of government”. He added: “There’s always a little bit more work to do than there is the time and resources to do it, and the FAA faces the same challenges.

“As you have a lot of people rotating in the senior positions, it’s challenging for the agency to pick a path, there’s a lot of competing interests. Permanent leadership in a direction that’s important to the industry is going to make a difference.”

Sustainability offered both a challenge and an opportunity, according to speakers. While it remained the focus of industry criticism, Ève Laurier, vice president of Communications, Marketing and Public Affairs, Bombardier said it could be key to recruiting more talent. The same young people who are critical of aviation could be attracted by the promise of opportunities to make it more sustainable. “They can test the solutions [to sustainability] with us. They can't test them with commercial aviation”, she said.

For Wheels Up, growth remains important, but profit has become a bigger priority since its public listing in July 2021, according to Kenny Dichter, the company’s founder and CEO. Dichter described the challenges experienced since the company listed raising $650m by merging with a special purpose acquisition company Aspirational Consumer Lifestyle.

“The pitches come in a lot faster now,” he said. “Public investors are very focused on [shorter term] performance compared with being a private company. Profitability is probably more important now; public investors tell you what they want and we have to deliver that. It is more difficult but if you get it right, the rewards are great.”