These are two terms that used interchangeably however they
should not be. While they look the same
they are different.
Private Aviation is transporting passengers on private
aircraft for either business or pleasure.
Generally, private aviation is a very broad reaching term. Business aviation is much more narrowly
defined. It is using the same private
aircraft but the flights and purpose are for business use.
This might sound like semantics to some, however it is an
important distinction. Why is it
important? The lack of distinguishing
the two leads to the many erroneous comments by the press and politicians about
ALL private aircraft. It becomes guilt
by association.
Lets take a couple of examples. First, lets start with the President. Air Force One is the most visible private
aircraft in the world. It can be used
both for business and for personal flights.
A flight to meet a world leader to discuss an important trade agreement
is a business trip. A trip to South
Florida to play golf with friends is a private aviation event. Same plane, two different events. (While there is an argument that can be made
for security purposes and therefore even the golfing trip is business, the
ultimate purpose is different.)
I own a small single engine Cirrus. I use the plane for business use and for
personal use. You might see my plane on
a ramp for a ballgame and assume wrongly that it was flown as a pseudo business
trip. But yet, not one dime of that trip
is written off. The same happens on
larger planes with SIFL and entertainment tax rules.
There are many companies that use the aircraft for only
business use and do not allow any personal flights of any nature. By tax code, those who do use some personal
flying have to account for that in their taxes and if a public company, that
must be reported as income on the SEC filings.
Assuming that planes flown to special events are just for
the rich and famous and they are getting subsidized on their taxes is not
correct. Sure there are some people who
have made it to the big time and use their aircraft mainly for personal private
aviation uses. That is the beauty of
America, that you can spend your money on things that make your life more
convenient. How their tax structure for
the plane is handled is way different than how the masses are led to
believe.
So as an industry, we need to do more to help the masses
understand that just because it looks the same, it is very different. Perhaps we need to be honest with ourselves
and admit that there is a mix, just like there is a mix for the President.
Mike McCracken
President
Hawkeye Aircraft Acquisitions
Office 727 796 0903
"Jets without Regrets"
