February Marks Fifth Anniversary of No Plane No Gain Advocacy Campaign

Feb. 20, 2014

Feb. 17 was the fifth anniversary of the launch of the No Plane No Gain advocacy campaign, a joint effort of NBAA and the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) to educate the public on the importance of business aviation to our country and its communities, companies and citizens.

The coordinated advocacy between the two organizations started in early 2009, when U.S. businesses and business aviation were facing formidable challenges. The world economy was mired in what would become known as the Great Recession, and after executives from America’s auto manufacturers flew to Washington, DC aboard business airplanes to ask for taxpayer assistance, business aviation was subjected to scathing and unwarranted criticism.

NBAA and GAMA responded by launching a new advocacy campaign under a legendary industry banner: No Plane No Gain.

As part of GAMA’s 2009 State of the Industry press conference, Bunce and NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen joined on stage to detail how the campaign would tell government decision-makers and opinion leaders about the essential role business aviation plays in generating more than a million U.S. jobs, providing a lifeline to American communities with little or no airline service, helping thousands of U.S. businesses of all sizes to be more productive and efficient and providing emergency and humanitarian services to people in need.

Since the launch of No Plane No Gain, NBAA and GAMA have been taking this positive message about business aviation directly to Capitol Hill and state legislatures, and the message is resonating with government officials. Today, more than half of the members of the House of Representatives are in the House GA Caucus, nearly 50 percent of U.S. senators are in the Senate GA Caucus, and governors from 49 states have proclaimed the industry’s value. Review lawmakers’ proclamations about general aviation.

The campaign has done this, in part, through a multi-media approach that includes a series of TV, print and online ads, a dedicated website and a stream of social media messages on Twitter and Facebook and other techniques. The campaign has also commissioned a series of studies and surveys showing how business aviation works for all kinds of companies, in good times and in bad. In fact, a five-part series of studies by NEXA Advisors has shown that companies using business aircraft routinely outperform similar companies that do not use business aircraft – meaning that the use of an airplane is the sign of a well-managed company. View the studies, surveys, ads and other No Plane No Gain offerings on the campaign’s website.

The most recent No Plane No Gain product is Top Ten, a publication in which 10 CEOs from well-recognized and respected organizations explain how using business aviation has contributed to their company’s success. These testimonials also are being used in the latest No Plane No Gain print and online ads. Read more about the Top 10 initiative, and order copies of the publication at publications@nbaa.org.

Going forward, NBAA and GAMA plan to continue to develop additional resources to tell the No Plane No Gain story in new and compelling ways. Learn more about No Plane No Gain at www.noplanenogain.org, on the No Plane No Gain Twitter account and No Plane No Gain Facebook page.