Up Front: April 2011

Here in the eastern U.S., we experienced an unusually harsh winter, with record snowfall and bitter temperatures. The airlines cancelled or delayed thousands of flights and even announced preemptive cancellations in anticipation of storms. As if we needed another reason to love flying privately.

Meanwhile, the negative publicity surrounding the corporate jet field has started to dissipate and there are signs that the general population has at least begun to understand the value of business aviation. This industry, with its cutting-edge innovation, makes businesses more productive and-in the U.S. alone-provides about 1.2 million jobs and contributes $150 billion annually to the economy.

How interesting that JetBlue Airways founder David Neeleman is now part of this industry, too. As you'll read in editor Jeff Burger's probing interview (see page 10), Neeleman has put his faith-and considerable resources-behind JetSuite, a company that was founded with the goal of making private jet travel more efficient and affordable. I am pleased to see a visionary such as Mr. Neeleman joining the industry, as the fundamental tenets of his business philosophy also describe the very things that draw us to the field: a desire for greater efficiency and productivity.

As a reader of Business Jet Traveler, you very likely share these goals. You know, as we do, that private jet travel is an invaluable tool that gives individuals and companies tremendous access and a competitive edge. To help make that tool even more beneficial to you, we've created our first Readers' Choice Survey. We urge you to take just a few minutes to fill it out. (Simply visit bjtonline.com and click on the "Let Your Voice Be Heard" banner.) The results, which we'll report in our October/November issue, will reveal our subscribers' positive and negative experiences with business jet companies, travel and aircraft. I am sure that manufacturers, operators and service providers will be scrutinizing our findings closely. After all, it's your preferences that determine their success.

As we increase the bandwidth of our publication, interacting with our industry and readers is a paramount goal. I look forward to connecting with you and to working with the rest of the BJT staff to help maximize your investment in private air transport. Please e-mail me anytime at [email protected].