Originally Posted by Varsity
Meanwhile corp flight departments are often tied to 'downturn resistant' industries. We flew ag-pharma sales people into small towns. Even in the worst of times people still need food and drugs. 08' wasn't even a blip on our company radar financially, except for the hundred+ airline pilot apps received.
How many flight departments do you know shut down during the Great Recession? How many departments continued operations, but downsized number/type of aircraft or headcount?
Very glad your company weathered the storm so well, but from where I sat at the time (a small 91 operation) bizav was hit WAY harder in 08-09 than airlines were.
I would submit that structural changes to airlines post-9/11 (ie. consolidation via M&A activity) have made them financially more stable than their historical mean, whereas public corporations have become much more sensitive in a 24/7 news and social media society to public and shareholder perception of 'corporate excess'.