Guest Author
As hurricane season enters another month, Floridians have gotten a temporary respite from tropical storm damage. However, they are not just counting their blessings; they are doing the right thing for their Caribbean neighbors.
One of America’s most important industries — business aviation — has dedicated itself to providing relief for the Bahamians negatively impacted by Mother Nature in recent weeks. For those unfamiliar with the term, “business aviation” is used to describe the manufacture and use of small aircraft for business-related transportation. Florida is home to nearly 130 public-use airports, many of which only service small-aircraft flights for business transport and other important purposes.
These airports serve the local communities around them and connect thousands of local companies to the global economy, allowing them to succeed domestically and abroad. The overwhelming majority of businesses using an airplane to help meet their transportation needs (97 percent) are small- to mid-size companies, in addition to nonprofit organizations and other entities.
And many of them take it upon themselves to step up when disaster strikes. Because of our expertise in transportation and the aircraft at our disposal, the business aviation community is uniquely positioned to be a first responder. Local entrepreneurs are especially adept at providing disaster relief before federal and state authorities can take over, which we’re seeing across Florida now, to make the Caribbean crossing to get critical supplies into affected areas, and help get victims to safety.
I made that crossing myself, bringing essential supplies to the Bahamas and evacuating a family of three. Business aviation operators, who regularly fly humanitarian missions, know that Bahamians will need us for weeks, if not months. We are here for them, providing not just flights, but an entire logistical network.
For example, a Boca Raton Airport administration office is serving as a collection site for donations, while the airport suspended all customs clearing fees until recently. Service providers at Palm Beach International Airport have established another collection point.
Local charter companies based at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL), have been coordinating with the Bahamas Civil Aviation Authority and flying supplies into the Bahamas since Hurricane Dorian made landfall — their planes are small and nimble enough to go where the airlines cannot, including Fox Town and Green Turtle Cay.
The results of this multifaceted relief effort are encouraging. By some estimates, more than 400 volunteer pilots have been able to relocate more than hundreds of victims and deliver around a half-million pounds of supplies.
This kind of effort is not new for us. After hurricanes ravaged Florida, Texas, and Puerto Rico in 2017, business aviation stepped up as a first responder. When flooding struck Nebraska earlier this year, we stepped up again.
Beyond the role of business aviation in providing disaster relief, it is key to expanding businesses and creating jobs for countless Americans. In Florida alone, general aviation (GA) — primarily driven by business flying — supports more than 108,000 jobs, in addition to a $5.4 billion payroll. This amounts to an economic impact of $18.5 billion per year.
Indeed, business aviation is an invaluable piece of the economic puzzle in good times and bad. But, most importantly, business aviation is about more than job creation and economic growth: It’s an essential and uniquely American industry, for a variety of important reasons.
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Brad Pierce serves as president and CEO of Restaurant Equipment World in Orlando.
