Charter jet company flies in face of weak economy By James McNair, The Cincinnati Enquirer CINCINNATI =97 Corporations are saying no to spending. Consumer confidence= is=20 at a nine-year low. The U.S. economy is barely beating. And in Cincinnati,= =20 the nation's largest charter jet company is adding planes, employees and=20 service as if the recession never happened. The growth of Executive Jet=20 Management appears to defy reason. While the business world slumbers, the=20 39-year-old company based at Lunken Airport is somehow expanding the size=20 of its fleet beyond that of many countries' air forces. Last year's 37=20 percent increase to 97 aircraft wasn't nearly enough; this year, the=20 company projects adding 45 more. "At a time when other charter companies=20 have been laying off people and the business is slumping, we've been=20 growing 15 to 18 percent a year," said Albert Pod, Executive Jet's=20 president and chief executive since 2000. All of this growth doesn't=20 manifest itself at the company's 278-employee operation at Lunken.=20 Executive Jet has 50 locations across the country, from Florida to New=20 England to California and Alaska, and only seven of its jets are at Lunken.= =20 Its payroll is pushing 600 people, the most recent hires occurring in=20 Teterboro, N.J., where the company opened a sales office in February to=20 generate more business in the Northeast. Wealthy people and business owners aren't going to let a little recession=20 crimp their style. Hollywood celebrities, professional athletes and other=20 jetsetters hire companies such as Executive Jet to transport them to the=20 Academy Awards, sporting events, vacation spots and distant homes, Pod=20 said. Some charter jets regularly, others just once or twice. The pilots,=20 engineers and mechanics work for Executive Jet, but the planes belong to=20 other companies and are certified for charter duty in the Executive Jet=20 fleet. "We manage aircraft for corporate America, mainly Fortune 500=20 companies," Pod said. "The Fortune 500 companies generally are not in the=20 aviation business and realize that there is a company with aviation=20 expertise that has the decision-making and buying power that they don't=20 have." Executive Jet flies Gulfstreams, Falcons, Citations and other makes= =20 all over the world. Last year, Professional Pilot magazine rated Executive= =20 Jet as the best charter jet company, according to a survey of its=20 subscribers. It was the fifth year in a row that the company won the honor. Corporations that operated private jets during the go-go years of the 1980s= =20 and 1990s often sacrifice the jets in downsizing programs or after CEO=20 changes. Afterward, companies either charter jet service or buy fractional= =20 shares of jets, much like people own fractional shares of condominiums=20 through time-sharing. "The ownership of business jets, and the finances of= =20 that, is being examined in corporations more than it ever has before," Pod= =20 said. The time-sharing of private jets is the niche of Executive Jet's=20 sister companies. Together, they are owned by NetJets Inc. of Woodbridge,=20 N.J. Under its previous owner, New York businessman Richard Santulli,=20 NetJets executed the fractional ownership concept so well that legendary=20 investor Warren Buffett bought the company for $725 million in 1998. As a=20 result, NetJets and its Executive Jet subsidiary are part of Buffett's=20 Berkshire Hathaway conglomerate in Omaha, Neb. Pod says the ownership gives= =20 Executive Jet an ample financial well to draw from. And Buffett, he said,=20 doesn't make a habit of nosing around the operation in Cincinnati. "He's=20 been here, but he doesn't like to make a big deal of it," Pod said.=20 "Generally, he speaks to private wealthy individuals." *************************************************** The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site/TnTisland.com Roj (Roger James) escape email mailto:ejames@xxxxxxxxx Trinbago site: www.tntisland.com Carib Brass Ctn site www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ Steel Expressions www.mts.net/~ejames/se/ Site of the Week: http://www.thehummingbirdonline.com TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************