Things improving a bit, not just for Netjets, but General Aviation in general

source- Columbus dispatch

"After a miserable 2009, private aviation is showing signs of a turnaround.

Private-jet operator NetJets Inc., based in Columbus, swung to a profit for the first quarter, and other companies that charter or sell shares in private aircraft are also reporting positive first-quarter results.

While no one's breaking out the champagne yet, the market appears to have turned a corner, a good sign for the country's overall economic health.

"We were profitable for each month of the first quarter," said David Sokol, CEO of NetJets.

The company, owned by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, made a profit of just more than $50 million compared with a year-ago first-quarter loss of $126 million, Sokol said. For all of 2009, NetJets lost $711million, much of that because of write-downs on the value of its aircraft.

Flight activity for the first quarter was up nearly 9percent year-over-year, still below first-quarter 2008 levels but "still very positive," Sokol said. NetJets also got a "significant" gain in fractional-share sales to new owners during the first quarter after losing owners last year, he said.

Employment at NetJets, which took a hit last year, is expected to be stable locally. Sokol laid off about 800 workers after taking the reins of the company in August"