Next month in Las Vegas over 25,000 business aviation professionals will come together for their biggest conference of the year. There will be about a million square feet of exhibits at the convention center with some stands towering two and three floors high. At Henderson Airport nearby there will be around 100 private jets in a static display. Warren Buffett has been known to pop in and order a few billion dollars in airplanes for NetJets, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway. It's a big industry that contributes 1.1 million jobs and $219 billion to the U.S. economy. Normally, the convention is a hectic week, but this year, the hustle and bustle may seem like a vacation for many of the attendees.
Screenshot: National Business Aviation Association websiteBusiness aviation is a key for relief and recovery efforts after natural disasters
Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, plus a magnitude 8.1 earthquake in Mexico in the span of days, revealed a side of the private jet industry politicians and media usually don’t spotlight. In what is a routine before, during and after natural disasters, business aviation is playing a critical role in helping out. While it may be more popular to paint an image of highly paid investment bankers and trophy companions jetting around, and yes, they certainly do have the money and do fly privately, the industry’s truth is much more grounded.
As Harvey was bearing down on Houston and commercial airlines were canceling flights and winding down scheduled operations, the lights were staying on at Million Air, an FBO located at Hobby Airport. “In theory, there was no reason to stay open,” said Roger Woolsey, CEO of the private jet terminal chain, adding, “The airport closed. We never closed. We got 51 inches of rain and there was up to two feet of water on the taxiways.”
[embedded content]However, the ramp in front of Million Air’s terminal did not flood, and one Blackhawk helicopter ended up using it as a diversion from Ellington Field Joint Reserve Base where most of the Air National Guard, Army, Coast Guard and other operations were based. After getting fueled up, toweled down, literally, and stocked with supplies of food Woolsey’s team had provisioned, word got out and within an hour eight more helicopters showed up alleviating the backlog at Ellington and getting them fueled and back out for rescue missions life-saving minutes faster. The pace continued around the clock for the next several days.
Woolsey said the plan was for the initial team to stay for 48 hours, but that turned into four days as access to the terminal was cut off, and then a relief team of employees went the next 48 hours nonstop. By making the choice to stay open, Million Air also ended up being an early arrivals point for critical medical supplies, including doctors and dialysis nurses who were being flown in to cover for local staff who couldn’t make it to their hospitals.
Woolsey said even as charter flights started arriving to take displaced residents out of the area, the owners and operators of those private jets sent them “loaded with supplies – with sheets and pillows, bleach, water, anything and everything people needed." He said several jet owners who were out of town during the storm sent their jets in simply to bring supplies to their neighbors in need.
Screenshot: NBAA websiteThe National Business Aviation Association activated its HERO (Humanitarian Emergency Relief Operator) program for Harvey, now Irma and the Mexico earthquake.
“Newspapers, magazines, and politicians frequently portray business aircraft as mere indulgences of the rich,” said Jeff Burger, editor of Business Jet Traveler magazine. “In fact, they are not only essential tools for countless large and small companies but also lifesavers in a crisis. Charities like Corporate Angel Network routinely fly cancer patients to care facilities on business jets, for example. And when a natural disaster strikes—like the Haitian earthquake in 2010 or this year’s hurricanes Harvey and Irma—business aviation is always ready to lend a hand, delivering supplies, aiding in evacuations, and transporting the injured to hospitals. This work seems to get relatively little media coverage.”
While still working on local recovery efforts, Woolsey said his Chief Business Officer Sandy Nelson was busy reaching out to colleagues at FBOs in the Caribbean and Florida, sharing with them Million Air’s operations and response playbook so that they could use it as Irma approached. Both were at the FBO during the initial impact of Harvey.
">Next month in Las Vegas over 25,000 business aviation professionals will come together for their biggest conference of the year. There will be about a million square feet of exhibits at the convention center with some stands towering two and three floors high. At Henderson Airport nearby there will be around 100 private jets in a static display. Warren Buffett has been known to pop in and order a few billion dollars in airplanes for NetJets, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway. It's a big industry that contributes 1.1 million jobs and $219 billion to the U.S. economy. Normally, the convention is a hectic week, but this year, the hustle and bustle may seem like a vacation for many of the attendees.
Screenshot: National Business Aviation Association websiteBusiness aviation is a key for relief and recovery efforts after natural disasters
Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, plus a magnitude 8.1 earthquake in Mexico in the span of days, revealed a side of the private jet industry politicians and media usually don’t spotlight. In what is a routine before, during and after natural disasters, business aviation is playing a critical role in helping out. While it may be more popular to paint an image of highly paid investment bankers and trophy companions jetting around, and yes, they certainly do have the money and do fly privately, the industry’s truth is much more grounded.
As Harvey was bearing down on Houston and commercial airlines were canceling flights and winding down scheduled operations, the lights were staying on at Million Air, an FBO located at Hobby Airport. “In theory, there was no reason to stay open,” said Roger Woolsey, CEO of the private jet terminal chain, adding, “The airport closed. We never closed. We got 51 inches of rain and there was up to two feet of water on the taxiways.”
[embedded content]However, the ramp in front of Million Air’s terminal did not flood, and one Blackhawk helicopter ended up using it as a diversion from Ellington Field Joint Reserve Base where most of the Air National Guard, Army, Coast Guard and other operations were based. After getting fueled up, toweled down, literally, and stocked with supplies of food Woolsey’s team had provisioned, word got out and within an hour eight more helicopters showed up alleviating the backlog at Ellington and getting them fueled and back out for rescue missions life-saving minutes faster. The pace continued around the clock for the next several days.
Woolsey said the plan was for the initial team to stay for 48 hours, but that turned into four days as access to the terminal was cut off, and then a relief team of employees went the next 48 hours nonstop. By making the choice to stay open, Million Air also ended up being an early arrivals point for critical medical supplies, including doctors and dialysis nurses who were being flown in to cover for local staff who couldn’t make it to their hospitals.
Woolsey said even as charter flights started arriving to take displaced residents out of the area, the owners and operators of those private jets sent them “loaded with supplies – with sheets and pillows, bleach, water, anything and everything people needed." He said several jet owners who were out of town during the storm sent their jets in simply to bring supplies to their neighbors in need.
Screenshot: NBAA websiteThe National Business Aviation Association activated its HERO (Humanitarian Emergency Relief Operator) program for Harvey, now Irma and the Mexico earthquake.
“Newspapers, magazines, and politicians frequently portray business aircraft as mere indulgences of the rich,” said Jeff Burger, editor of Business Jet Traveler magazine. “In fact, they are not only essential tools for countless large and small companies but also lifesavers in a crisis. Charities like Corporate Angel Network routinely fly cancer patients to care facilities on business jets, for example. And when a natural disaster strikes—like the Haitian earthquake in 2010 or this year’s hurricanes Harvey and Irma—business aviation is always ready to lend a hand, delivering supplies, aiding in evacuations, and transporting the injured to hospitals. This work seems to get relatively little media coverage.”
While still working on local recovery efforts, Woolsey said his Chief Business Officer Sandy Nelson was busy reaching out to colleagues at FBOs in the Caribbean and Florida, sharing with them Million Air’s operations and response playbook so that they could use it as Irma approached. Both were at the FBO during the initial impact of Harvey.
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