WAY FORWARD

The government needs to work with greater empathy and trust towards the industry and to ensure that the businesses are given immediate blood transfusion so that they can survive

- ROHIT KAPUR

MUCH HAS BEEN WRITTEN ABOUT THE ECONOMIC FALLOUT of the COVID-19 situation and how it is going to impact the growth of the Indian economy and the job situation in the coming times. One thing is for sure; no one is going to escape the impact of this pandemic! The aviation, hospitality, and the travel/tourism industries are going to be the most severely affected and will take the longest time to get back on their feet, as per most experts. These sectors are staring at phenomenal job losses, with large scale distress all around. However, as with every adverse situation, there will be opportunities and new ways of doing business, which need to be considered. There will be a new definition of how things were done earlier and how they will be done in the future. A sort of “Before COVID-19” (BC) and “After Disease” (AD).

I will limit this article to the Business Aviation (BA) industry, the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on this sector, and how we need to reorient ourselves to survive. I will also cover a section on the initiatives that need to be taken by the government to ease the pain and help the industry to survive.

BUSINESS AVIATION INDUSTRY: AN OVERVIEW

The term Business Aviation (BA) is unique, and not found in the ICAO terminology. However, it is used by the NBAA and other industry bodies. NBAA defines Business Aviation (BA) as “The use of any general aviation aircraft for a business purpose”. The Federal Aviation Administration defines general aviation as all flights that are not conducted by the military or the scheduled airlines. As such, business aviation is a part of general aviation that focuses on the business use of airplanes and helicopters.

In India, BA consists of the following: