Corporate Jets Face an Image Problem

[question everything]

Corporate Jets Face an Image Problem

By James Gilden
Special to The Times

October 14, 2006

Last month, a corporate jet flying from Brazil to New York collided with a Boeing 737 in midair above the Amazon jungle. The 737 airliner crashed, killing all 155 people aboard. The seven people on board the smaller plane survived.

Two weeks ago, a Gulfstream corporate jet strayed onto an active runway at Los Angeles International Airport, causing a SkyWest regional jet taking off with 39 people to slam on its brakes while traveling 115 mph.

Despite these and other high-profile incidents involving corporate jets, aviation safety experts say their use is just as safe as flying on a commercial plane. "It's always hard to generalize about aviation safety," said James K. Coyne, president of the National Air Transportation Assn., an aviation business trade group based in Alexandria, Va. But corporate jets are "safer than scheduled airlines."

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Officials say there is room in the skies for more small planes. "There is plenty of capacity," said Steve Brown, a former top official at the Federal Aviation Administration. He is now senior vice president of operations for the Washington--based National Business Aviation Assn., a trade group.

A 2005 FAA regulation changed the way planes are separated while in flight and instantly doubled the nation's air capacity. About 20 airports around the country are building new runways and ramps to add ground capacity, Brown said. In addition, there is plenty of room in the nation's many small airports. "There are some congested airports, but only a couple of dozen of the more than 5,000 public-use airports" in the U.S., Brown said.

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http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-biztravel14oct14,1,853231.story?coll=la-headlines-business