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Corporate Air Exec tired of negative image attached to private jet

The recession has bought many ironies—household budgets shrink, cosmetic surgery sales up; need money for expenses, no means to acquire money; need jobs, no jobs; amongst others.

One of them is CEOs appearing in the evening news—something that used to give companies good exposure. Nowadays, CEOs loathe being televised in the late news, especially if they were caught flying on corporate jets. These executives have to justify all their travel plans, whether it’s for business or pleasure.

This has caused a downward spiral for private jet manufacturers, triggering controversies and arguments.

Mike Vargo, Corporate Air’s director of marketing and sales, says it started from the “Big Three” mishap in Washington. He says, ever since then, public opinion has been persecuting CEOs who use private jets for business trips.

“No one wants to be that guy on the nightly news,” says Vargo, whose company operates private charters at Allegheny County general aviation airport and manages corporate planes for its clientele. “I’m so frustrated about the images of the greedy CEO, smoking cigars and drinking champagne on his private jet.”

Charter aviation, which is primarily composed of business travel, recreational travel, and medical flights, is down by 40 percent in the past year. Those statistics are based from the trade journal of Aviation International News.

Vargo refused to disclose information on the status of Corporate Air. But he did mention that it is doing better than most.