Important parts of the Covid-fueled business aviation bounce have begun to fade. What began as a triple-play of bad news for three industry operators—Wheels Up, VistaJet, and Jet It—during 10 consecutive days in May might be a harbinger of things to come, according to industry analyst Brian Foley.

“I do think that there's more to come. The common theme that I've seen is they're [distressed fractional, membership, and subscription-model companies] all losing money to begin with and never made a dime,” he told AIN.

Large fractional operations and charter operations now have the option of establishing a 70-year-old age ceiling for pilots under a little-noticed provision in the omnibus federal spending bill that was adopted in December 2022.

The measure is not mandatory but provides the option of a 70-year-old age limit to Part 91K and 135 operators that logged at least 75,000 jet operations a year in 2019 or any subsequent year. This threshold is half the number of hours of an unsuccessful but similar measure offered in the 2018 FAA reauthorization package that had represented a carefully crafted compromise between NetJets and the NetJets Association of Shared Aircraft Pilots.

Space Coast Executive Jet Center (SCEJC) is the prototypical mom-and-pop FBO, according to its owner, Carsten Petersen, who purchased the facility in 2021 with his wife, Wendy. One of two service providers at Florida’s Space Coast Regional Airport (KTIX), the company has occupied the same 1,500-sq-ft terminal since the late 1970s and has a staff of six full-time employees.

“Titusville has been a sleepy little city for years, but it is growing now,” said Petersen. “There are about 6,000 housing units being built, and big companies are buying land.”

A recent Wall Street Journal (WSJ) editorial endorsing the concept of privatizing air traffic control raised concerns among business leaders that the issue could gain traction once again. The WSJ editorial board wrote an editorial outlining the airline delays this summer and pointing to comments citing air traffic control (ATC) staffing as contributing to these issues.

“This illustrates why the U.S. would benefit from spinning off air traffic control from the government, as countries such as Canada have done to salutary effect. Air traffic control could rely on user fees, instead of taxes, and not be hostage to special-interest politics,” the editorial board wrote.