Up Front

You’d never call David Diehl “average,” but in many ways he epitomizes the average business jet traveler. Like most readers of this magazine, he regularly utilizes private aviation to maximize family time while simultaneously advancing a high-level career.

Recently retired as a starting offensive lineman for the New York Giants football team, Diehl has just signed a contract to be an on-air NFL game analyst for Fox Sports. Meanwhile, he is a devoted single father who relies on his membership with Wheels Up (see page 10) to allow him to do things like coach his daughter’s softball team and be there for dance recitals—despite a grueling travel schedule that recently included eight round trips between New York and Los Angeles within the span of four weeks.

“Those experiences with my daughter and being able to be there for her, those are priceless,” Diehl told me during our cover shoot for this issue at New Jersey’s Teterboro Airport. “You can have the most money in the world but time is something that you cannot buy.”

Diehl has found a private jet solution that works for him, but there are many other options and we cover them all in this seventh annual edition of the BJT Buyers’ Guide. This special issue contains updated and valuable information that you can refer to all year so that you can be a smarter and more efficient business jet traveler every step of the way.