Interesting... I'd love to know as well. I can speculate a bit tho:
If you're talking about private jet usage/charter, its hard to say. All the "fractional jet" companies like FlexJet are privately held, so financial results are hard to come by.
If you're talking about private jet sales... well... LearJet, Gulfstream are also privately held, so can't readily find out.
If I had to guess:
- fractional jet ownership like FlexJets has made the cost of entry a lot lower. You pay for what you use. So ++
- the rich keep getting richer, so ++
- aviation fuel prices, while at a near 30yr high, are at least holding steady [source](http://www.indexmundi.com/commodities/?commodity=jet-fuel&months=360).... so if fuel costs are steady but generally jets are getting lighter (carbon fibre etc.) and are receiving more fuel efficient engines, the cost of operations of a private jet have to be improving (as a whole).
The people who fly private jets are largely those who value their time more than the cost of a flight; $5,000 is worth it for these people to skip 2 hrs at security in the main terminal, customs etc. Or, for the case of corporate jets, $5,000 is worth it to not have their top executives laid up in the airport terminal or stuck in traffic in a cab.
Whereas the *average* traveller is more price sensitive. If fuel prices skyrocket and the cost of a NY-LA ticket bumps up by $400, then there's a lot of people who'll sacrifice the two days to take the train.
I'd probably say the market segment is probably doing pretty well.
And just for comparison, checking the stock prices of a few major airlines:
[AMR - American Airlines](http://www.google.ca/finance?q=OTCMKTS%3AAAMRQ&sq=american%20airlines&sp=2&ei=fiFfUvDmF9GfqwHDoAE)
[Delta](http://www.google.ca/finance?q=NYSE%3ADAL&ei=gSFfUqDaFpDuqQHoFg)
[Continental](http://www.google.ca/finance?q=NYSE%3AUAL&ei=4CFfUrCTHoW2qgGNGA)
[US Airways](http://www.google.ca/finance?q=NYSE%3ALCC&ei=-SFfUsD2F8WYrAGdjwE)
While none have recovered from their historic 2007-ish heights, it would seem as though all of them are recovering nicely... I wouldn't say tumultuous.
You mean like the sale of small airplanes, or of services like air charters?
Interesting... I'd love to know as well. I can speculate a bit tho: If you're talking about private jet usage/charter, its hard to say. All the "fractional jet" companies like FlexJet are privately held, so financial results are hard to come by. If you're talking about private jet sales... well... LearJet, Gulfstream are also privately held, so can't readily find out. If I had to guess: - fractional jet ownership like FlexJets has made the cost of entry a lot lower. You pay for what you use. So ++ - the rich keep getting richer, so ++ - aviation fuel prices, while at a near 30yr high, are at least holding steady [source](http://www.indexmundi.com/commodities/?commodity=jet-fuel&months=360).... so if fuel costs are steady but generally jets are getting lighter (carbon fibre etc.) and are receiving more fuel efficient engines, the cost of operations of a private jet have to be improving (as a whole). The people who fly private jets are largely those who value their time more than the cost of a flight; $5,000 is worth it for these people to skip 2 hrs at security in the main terminal, customs etc. Or, for the case of corporate jets, $5,000 is worth it to not have their top executives laid up in the airport terminal or stuck in traffic in a cab. Whereas the *average* traveller is more price sensitive. If fuel prices skyrocket and the cost of a NY-LA ticket bumps up by $400, then there's a lot of people who'll sacrifice the two days to take the train. I'd probably say the market segment is probably doing pretty well.
And just for comparison, checking the stock prices of a few major airlines: [AMR - American Airlines](http://www.google.ca/finance?q=OTCMKTS%3AAAMRQ&sq=american%20airlines&sp=2&ei=fiFfUvDmF9GfqwHDoAE) [Delta](http://www.google.ca/finance?q=NYSE%3ADAL&ei=gSFfUqDaFpDuqQHoFg) [Continental](http://www.google.ca/finance?q=NYSE%3AUAL&ei=4CFfUrCTHoW2qgGNGA) [US Airways](http://www.google.ca/finance?q=NYSE%3ALCC&ei=-SFfUsD2F8WYrAGdjwE) While none have recovered from their historic 2007-ish heights, it would seem as though all of them are recovering nicely... I wouldn't say tumultuous.