AFP/File – The chief executive of a private jet services company in New Delhi. Battered by the global financial … North American private jet makers, from Bombardier to Cessna and Hawker Beechcraft, have announced thousands of layoffs as they report a lag in new orders and a rash of cancellations for the status-symbol company planes.
"We've barely sold any Falcons since January," said Serge Dassault, of the eponymous French manufacturer which has logged around 40 cancellations for its flagship private jet since September, around eight percent of all orders.
Chief executive Charles Edelstenne said he "would be ecstatic" if Dassault Aviation rounds out 2009 with an equal number of orders and cancellations, but predicted the year "will be much worse than that" for business.
"We don't see any orders coming in," he added.
A company plane can cost anything from four to 40 million dollars (three to 30 million euros), rarely paid upfront: the sort of expense that is taking a back seat as lenders turn off the credit tap.
"High-profile clients, like the US bank Citigroup, Royal Bank of Scotland or the insurer AIG, are in deep trouble, so we have to consider their orders null and void," Edelstenne said.
On top of budget cutbacks, there is mounting pressure for executives to show they are joining the belt-tightening effort, as mass unemployment returns to the world's major economies.
Once de rigueur, travel by company jet -- on a par with big bonuses or golden parachutes -- is a conspicuous expense that leaves executives open to attack.
In November, bosses at US carmakers General Motors, Chrysler and Ford were dragged through the mud for travelling to Washington aboard private jets to ask Congress for a bailout.
"Couldn't you all have downgraded to first class or jet-pooled or something to get here?" Democratic Representative Gary Ackerman asked at the time.
Gloom also hangs over airline companies, as their most lucrative customers -- willing until now to pay top dollar for comfort or to make last-minute ticket changes -- axe their travel budgets.
Executives in the finance and car industries, the sectors reeling hardest from the crisis, are traditionally among the biggest air travellers, notes an industry observer.
Carmaker Renault said Monday it had cancelled plans to reward its best sales executives with an exotic holiday in 2009, after a website published details of recent executive trips to resorts in Bali and Mauritius.
Worldwide, the number of business or first class travellers fell 16.7 percent in January compared to the same period last year, after a 13.3-percent drop in December, according to an industry body.
Across all seat categories, travel fell 5.9 percent in January, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which represents 230 airlines, accounting for 93 percent of air traffic.
"There is some evidence of passengers trading down from premium to economy seats, particularly in Europe," the IATA said in a recent market report.
The drop was deepest in major exporting countries in Asia, falling 23.4 percent, and throughout the Pacific region with a 24.7-percent fall, but Europe also reported a decline of 22.2 percent.
Bracing for a slowdown set to continue well into 2010, carriers are looking for solutions to woo back executives who are deserting premium travel.
One is Air France, which is launching a new class of ticket, priced half way between business and economy, to be rolled out next month on popular business routes, from Paris to New York, Tokyo and Osaka.
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