Chad is the editor of AINalerts, AIN's daily business aviation newsletter, and is also the news editor at AIN Media Group.&nbsp;He has been writing about aviation, with an emphasis on business aviation, since 1994. Chad started his writing career at The Avion,&nbsp;the&nbsp;student newspaper at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida, serving as editor-in-chief before graduating with a bachelor's in aeronautical science. After a stint as managing editor at Professional Pilot&nbsp;magazine, he joined&nbsp;AIN in late 1998. Chad holds a commercial pilot certificated with instrument and multi-engine ratings, and he also is a CFI/CFII. He lives and works from his home in Venice, Florida.

Online Editor

Chad Trautvetter

After years of sluggishness, the business aviation industry is expected to improve noticeably next year, according to industry consultant Brian Foley. “I have a deep conviction that 2015 will be the indisputable pivot point when the industry, including its laggard segments, turns meaningfully upward,” he said. In early 2009, Foley accurately predicted “an impending nosedive” in the sector, which then saw order backlogs collapse, employment halved and a major aircraft manufacturer–Hawker Beechcraft–disappear.

 


Foley said the current industry metrics back up his optimistic outlook: pre-owned jet inventories are at their lowest levels since 2008; business jet flight activity is the busiest it has been in six years; the U.S. economic situation is “greatly improved”; and executives at business jet manufacturers are upbeat. “Add to that the lowest oil prices in four years, which reduces airplane operating costs, and historically low interest rates from which aircraft loan and lease rates are derived, and you’ve painted a great scenario for an all-encompassing rebound.”

 


A sustaining element, he said, is the number of new jet models being introduced in the near-term. Over the next five years, 18 new and derivative business jets will enter the market. “New products act as a sales catalyst, stimulating the market by giving customers a reason to buy,” he concluded.

Bizav Industry Poised To Soar in 2015, Says Analyst

Brian Foley believes “2015 will be the indisputable pivot point when the industry turns meaningfully upward.”

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