...And Here Are The Heartbreakers

It is both the most "fun," and most difficult task, facing the ANN staff at the end of every year -- determining who, or what, did the most to promote the cause of aviation in the past 365 days... while also chastising those who did all they could to undermine the successes the aerospace community has managed to accomplish.

Alas, 2006 saw more than its fair share of downers, aviation-wise. Sure, "stuff" happens... but a few folks seemed to go out of their way to create problems for the world of aviation. Be it ignorance, arrogance or just plain incompetence, these were the folks that made our lot a whole lot more difficult and immeasurably injured the aviation world in the past year.

Shame on them...

James May, ATA President/CEO

If you work in the airline management, you may look upon ATA President James May as one of your best friends... but to the rest of aviation, we think James May represents a myopic (at best) leader who has sold out the rest of the aviation world for what he perceives to be a potential advantage for the airline world. How unfortunate... and destructive.

ATA President James May has done a masterful job of presenting the airline industry as a fairly unified force bent on a exerting its will over all of the aviation world, and forcing the rest of us to shoulder the costs of services and facilities that were meant to support the airlines, are used only by the airlines, and (rightfully) should be paid for -- only -- by the airlines.

ATA President James May and FAA Administrator Marion Blakey seem to be double-teaming the aviation world into thinking the current funding mechanism is not only broken, but also not fair to the airline industry that has heretofore served as the backbone of our nation's air transportation system. What May is really doing, is segregating the airline world from the rest of aviation -- and creating divisions whereby the support that the rest of aviation may have had for the airlines is eroding and starting to disappear.

After several years of airline industry doldrums, bankruptcies, horrific earning reports, even more horrific business practices, and the decimation of the employee base that has been the backbone of the airline world... it seems strange that anyone in the airline industry thinks they have the right to dictate how the rest of aviation should act or what they should pay for.

Mind you, May is doing what he's being paid for... focusing on an issue that the airline industry would dearly love to see go their way. And May, for all intents and purposes, seems to be doing a very good job of promoting airline interests and intent. But, if May was half the leader we think he could be, we would hope he would counsel the rest of the airline industry into rethinking their position, because the alienation of a customer base (comprised by general aviation and business aviation users), that has been such a loyal and significant purchaser of airline services, is just plain stupid. Believe you me, if the GA and BizAv world starts avoiding the use of airline travel... the airlines are going to feel it.

ATA and James May need to go back to their membership, find out what it is they really need (rather than what they hope they can rip off), and find a way to make an accommodation with the rest of aviation so that the entire industry can present a single united front to our elected officials and the traveling public in order to instill confidence, start doing better business, and continue the slow road of recovery for the airline industry while NOT interfering in the continuing growth of the general and business aviation industry.

FMI: www.airlines.org, www.gama.aero, www.nbaa.org

Industry Bad-Mouthing

Much of the aviation business has a depressing tendency to shoot itself in the foot with uncanny accuracy. While I realize I've remarked upon this propensity before, it seems to me that the aviation world is doing itself a severe disservice by putting itself in the position to appear petty and negative.

ANN has heard dozens of complaints over the years from people getting ready to make purchases of whole aircraft, avionics, engines, and a number of other expensive aviation related equipment... only to be held back by the fact that as they conduct their due diligence, they run into negative comments from sales and marketing personnel trying to steer them away from a competing product.

Folks, it's one thing to be proud of what you do and what you sell... and no one is going to argue that there are many products within aviation that can be portrayed in a very positive manner. However, running down your competition, bad mouthing the alternatives, and coming off like a sleaze merchant is counterproductive for the entire aviation world -- and we know for a fact that a number of major purchase decisions, some involving airplanes that cost in excess of $1 million, have been put off because potential purchasers were so dismayed by all the negative flak they were getting about each of their selections from each selection's competitor, that they threw their hands up in disgust and decided the time was not right to buy an airplane.

Oooopppsss...

There's no excuse for this. Aviation has long been an embattled industry... but we need to stick together, we need to compete fairly, and we need to be displaying our wares with as positive a viewpoint as possible -- while instilling our potential customers with confidence that the products they're buying and the money they're spending are going to companies who uphold high standards. Companies that utilize sales and marketing personnel who have to make nasty comments about every competitor, real or imagined, off as petty, come off as sleazy, and often come off as outright liars. And in many cases, they are.

I'm not saying that a salesman can't feel that they're selling the best product in the business, I'm not even saying that they can't point out things that they think they can do better or features that they believe to be superior to another, but when you paint your competitor (either their product or the whole company), with highly negative, often profane descriptions ("what, you want to buy that piece of..."), how can you possibly gain the confidence of a customer?

The bad mouthing has reached a fever pitch. We've never seen it be as bad as it has been in the last few years, which is a shame, as this industry keeps showing progress toward better sales figures from year to year. The pie is getting a little larger, good products are selling in greater numbers, and we can't help but believe that the figures would be significantly improved if this industry would quit bellyaching and bad mouthing their competition thus proving to future customers, that they are entering an industry of solid professionalism, proper business ethics, and companies with whom they can have confidence that their money and their safety are in good hands.

It's bad business to act like bad guys... it's time that these negative industry practices be relegated to the trash heap... where they belong.

FMI: www.etiquettehell.com

The Apparent Demise Of Tiger Aircraft

It's a great little plane, combining a proven airframe with advanced Garmin avionics. But all the good ideas in the world apparently couldn't save oft-beleagured Tiger Aircraft LLC, which appears to be in its final death throes.

Reports surfaced in August that the company, which builds the four-seat AG-5B aircraft in Martinsburg, WV, had sold rights to the design to a Florida consortium headed up by Network Hosts Inc. Then-TALLC president Gene Criss said he sold his "nearly bankrupt" company to settle its unpaid debt. The language of the deal, however, indicated the sale wasn't as cut-and-dried as perhaps Tiger Aircraft had wanted many to believe.

Sure enough, just five days later, Tiger Aircraft Corporation (the Florida company that had been formed to produce the AG-5B Tiger) CEO and Chairman Sam Miller told ANN that Tiger Aircraft LLC breached the sale agreement. Claims of fradulent sale receipts surfaced... and TAC announced it would instead focus its resources towards producing a single-engine, four-seat plane to rival the AG-5B.

Soon, officials in Martinsburg were sniffing around Tiger's facility at the local airport, inquiring about unpaid real estate and personal property taxes. By that time, Tiger Aircraft had laid off all but two workers... and only three new planes had been produced for 2006. The city announced it was looking for a new tenant for the 75,000 square-foot production facility.

In an apparent last-ditch attempt to save the company, Tiger responded with a plan to sell its assembly facilities at the Eastern West Virginia Regional Airport for $5 million. That price would include the rights to Tiger's lease with the airport to occupy the space, and Tiger said it hoped the buyer would resurrect the company.

Company officials have steadfastly refused to declare bankruptcy... something the ANN staff finds somewhat odd, as one would think it would give the company a means to continue operations.

We've yet to hear if any buyers have stepped up... and that's shame for the general aviation industry. But given the drama surrounding Tiger's last couple of years, and the inexplicable events of the past several months... perhaps it's understandable.

FMI: Comments? Suggestions?