Sales of business jets worldwide were down 22% in the first quarter of 2011 compared to the same period a year earlier, according to data provided by General Aviation Manufacturers Association, an industry trade group. Sales of business jets by American manufacturers in the first quarter of 2011 totaled 75, similar to the 74 in Q1 of 2010. These numbers are lower by a staggering 39% from the 124 business jets shipped by American manufacturers in the first quarter of 2009. For all of 2010, only 364 business jets were shipped by American manufacturers, down 29% from 2009 – the year the Stimulus bill gave a favorable tax formula for corporations who bought jets.
The worldwide industry of private and business jets amounts to a mere twenty billion dollars in annual sales, according to GAMA date. With the United States deficit for the month of June totaling $45 billion, it is unclear how much of a difference it will make even if the United States Government would seize this industry in its entirety.
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