Thank You, Citigroup? Purchasing a Business Jet IS economic stimulus

It’s been really burning me up lately to watch as the media tears apart companies for purchasing business jets. 

A real shortfall of recent attempts at economic stimulus is the lack of ability of Washington to recognize that it’s encouraging the purchase of goods that stimulates the economy. It’s not any more complicated than that.

For example, when Washington began handing out money, they should have handed it to people in a way that encouraged them to buy things. A good idea would have been to hand out coupons for the purchase of new cars. This would have created a demand for – you guessed it – new cars!  Instead, they gave it to the auto companies which in turn used it to pay employees to do nothing ­-- the ultimate welfare program!

When Citigroup recently took bailout money given to it and purchased a corporate jet, injecting this cash directly into the economy (we’ll address the France issue in the next paragraph), the welfare advocates had a fit and pointed to Citigroup as some sort of thief! In my opinion, Citigroup should be held up as an example of what to do.

On the France issue (Dassault Falcon Jets are made in France), sure, it would have meant more to the U.S. if they had purchased a US built aircraft – but the truth is that this is a GLOBAL economy! Dassault purchases Millions of dollars of raw materials, equipment, sub-components, etc. to build these jets. And when they are flying in the US – which most of them are – they are purchasing fuel, maintenance services, and employing thousands of individuals who keep this jet flying! In fact, the money gets spread beyond the aircraft directly – check out the back page of our publication, D.O.M. magazine, as well as many other aviation publications. Guess who injected cash into the U.S. economy by purchasing advertising in these industry publications – thereby employing hundreds of journalists, magazine publishers, printers, paper suppliers, and on and on.  That’s right – Dassault!

Just how far reaching is the economic stimulus of a corporate jet? Let’s look at a Gulfstream-V aircraft valued at more than $50 million dollars. A rough desktop analysis shows that the bulk of raw materials used to build the jet is aluminum. Hundreds, if not thousands of people are employed in the mining industry in support of manufacturing aluminum! And further, the plant that produces the alloy of aluminum employs hundreds as well. So apply the same logic to the plastic (from petroleum), and copper, and nickel, and wood, and fabric, and carpet mills, and ranchers that produce the cattle for the leather and on and on – and you employ thousands to simply supply the jet manufacturer and its component manufacturer with raw materials!

Then you have the jet manufacturer itself. Savannah, GA-based Gulfstream employs more than 2,500 people in engineering, design, manufacturing, support, publications, sales, service and more! And that’s just Savannah! Gulfstream also has 7 other facilities in the U.S. and abroad to support these aircraft – each center employing more than 300 individuals.

In addition, corporations that own or operate the aircraft employ thousands of pilots, mechanics and support personnel to keep the aircraft flying. Then there’s the facility that was built to house the aircraft by hundreds of construction workers. There are even hundreds employed in the media industry that produce publications relative to selling, servicing, and flying the aircraft. I could go on – fuel purchases to keep the aircraft in the air, catering companies to provide food and service, telecommunications companies, avionics manufacturers, and training companies that keep pilots and mechanics current, and trade associations as well.  

By now, you get the idea.

The purchase of the aircraft for $40 million is a stimulus that produces a positive domino effect on the economy and results in employment well beyond the aircraft manufacturer.

Next time you hear a company berated for purchasing a corporate aircraft, make sure that the mainstream media knows that you are thankful that someone knows how to stimulate the economy!

On behalf of the thousands of Americans that are employed in the aviation industry and are thankful to be putting food on the table at night - THANK YOU Citigroup for placing the order. 

And shame on those who pressured you to cancel the order! 

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D.O.M. magazine is the premier magazine for aviation maintenance management professionals. Its management-focused editorial provides information maintenance managers need and want including business best practices, professional development, regulatory, quality management, legal issues and more. The digital version of D.O.M. magazine is available for free on all devices (iOS, Android, and Amazon Kindle).

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Joe Escobar (jescobar@dommagazine.com)
Editorial Director
920-747-0195

Greg Napert (gnapert@dommagazine.com)
Publisher, Sales & Marketing
608-436-3376

Bob Graf (bgraf@dommagazine.com)
Director of Business, Sales & Marketing
608-774-4901