Private-Jet Surge

Then you flew your Lear jet up to Nova Scotia, to see the total eclipse of the sun . . . You're so vain.--Carly Simon, singing the rock hit You're So Vain

Learjets, Gulfstreams and Sabreliners were among the conspicuous status symbols of the high-flying 1960s, but as the decade closed, sales of executive jets and other private planes fell as much as 50%. Now, in every category of "general aviation" aircraft, which reaches from the $3,500,000 Grumman Gulfstream II jet to the tiny $14,580 Piper Cherokee, sales are once again on the wing. Manufacturers are pretty much in agreement on the basic reason for the reversal. Says Grumman American Aviation President Russell Meyer: "It's clearly geared to the upswing in the economy."

The biggest seller in the small-jet market is Cessna's Citation, a $725,000 twin fanjet eight-seater (including that of the pilot) with an average range of 1,230 miles; it was brought out early last year. In December Cessna delivered ten Citations, bringing last year's total sales to 52, and company officials expect to sell double that number of planes this year.

Gates Learjet's sales are rising too; last week the Wichita-based firm announced that it had sold 16 planes in the past month alone. A typical model, the six-seater 24D, which retails for $863,000, has a 1,884-mile range and cruises at 550 m.p.h. Lockheed's $2,000,000 JetStar stresses low operating costs, as does North American Rockwell's Sabre 75A ($1.8 million). Beechcraft does not produce its own jet, but markets the comfortable British Beechcraft Hawker BH-125 600, which sells for $592,000. As for Grumman, it sold 22 Gulfstreams in 1972, compared with twelve in 1971. And, says a happily harried Grumman vice president, Jack Rettaliata, "We don't see any let down ahead."

Last year manufacturers produced 9,775 private aircraft worth $558 million, the highest totals since 1969. They turned out 150 private jets, up from 49 in 1971 and 111 in 1969, which was the previous high. Sales of single-engine prop planes have not yet returned to earlier peaks.

Why the popularity of the business jets? Corporate ego trips are still a very real factor. The Administration's recent profit margin limits may have led some companies to put their profits in planes rather than on earnings statements. But there are more pragmatic reasons. According to the private plane manufacturers (not an entirely disinterested source), the U.S. commercial air structure simply is not fully responsive to the needs of the public, and businessmen in particular. While it is easy to jet from New York to Chicago or San Francisco, it is considerably more difficult to reach, say, Albany, Ga., from a big city. Speed and convenience are especially important if an executive is rushed and wants to take two or three important clients along. Orders for new top-of-the-line aircraft are coming in so heavily, in fact, that even the used-jet market may soon run low on stock.

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