BY SUZANNE PEREZ TOBIAS
Tue, Mar. 10, 2009
City leaders on Tuesday invited President Obama to visit Wichita to see the aircraft industry firsthand and to recognize that corporate jets are “an essential part of our economy.”
City Council members voted unanimously for a resolution to that effect, read by Mayor Carl Brewer.
The resolution follows a letter sent recently to the president’s office, Brewer said. It noted that corporate jets unfairly have been made into a symbol of corporate excess.
“The responsible use of corporate jets will spur our national economic recovery,” the resolution said. “It would be a national economic tragedy if this essential business fundamental was lost amid the sensational news coverage of ill-advised corporate jet travel by a tiny percentage of corporate America.”
The city’s push to defend corporate jets echoes a campaign rolled out by Cessna Aircraft in February that showcases the value of business aviation. The industry’s image was hurt after the heads of the nation’s three largest automakers flew their jets to Washington to ask for government bailouts.
Defending corporate jets “isn’t simply about saving aviation jobs in Wichita,” said council member Jeff Longwell.
“There are corporations that can quantify that operating business jets is a more efficient way for them to travel and operate their business,” Longwell said.
http://www.kansas.com/690/story/727948.html
Source: WICHITA EAGLE
Date: 2009-03-10