By: Mark Patiky, a special to Overdrive

In any period of financial turbulence, opportunities emerge. That’s when companies with vision, foresight and agility can change their fortunes dramatically for the better. That’s where business aviation comes in. From industry giants to independent firms, companies and indi­viduals are realizing that the true cost of a business aircraft is in not having one at all.

Companies around the globe with their own business air­craft are traveling when and where they want to with speed, safety and security. These business aircraft enable busy executives to visit multiple cit­ies in a day; to compress long, wasted hours of commercial air travel into short, intensely productive periods of time; and to bring key prospects to a facility. With the ability to land at 5,000 local airports across the country, business aircraft provide unfettered direct access to virtually any community. You certainly won’t get there easily via airlines, which serve barely 10% of these non-hub locations.