Recently, when top executives of the Big 3 auto makers flew on their business aircraft to make an appeal for bailout money from Congress, the expense of flying on private planes in the face of their obvious financial crisis was questioned. NBAA Members, who have long understood the place business aviation holds in modern commerce, were quick to answer the media’s questions.

The next time the Big 3 traveled to make an appeal, however, they took other transportation. Though the executives’ use of business aircraft wasn’t so much the issue as their use of it at a time when they were threatening bankruptcies that could cripple the nation’s economy further, the misconceptions many people hold about the use of private aircraft became clear during the national debate over the issue.

The generally held belief that only the most wealthy and high-powered executives running major corporations were the ones to ever use business aircraft was countered by the NBAA’s explanation that most business aircraft, about 85 percent in fact, were used by small businesses, mid-size businesses and non-profit organizations. The NBAA also proved another widely held belief to be a myth—that only CEOs rode on these private aircraft. They explained that 86 percent of those who regularly fly on business airplanes are not CEOs, but salespeople and other mid-level employees.

The NBAA explained the misunderstood concept of why organizations want their employees to travel exclusively on a company aircraft. The need for real-time and uninterrupted communication with the home office is mission-critical in some corporations, and flying on a company plane as opposed to a commercial flight or taking other types of transportation makes this possible.

Business security is also an overriding issue in the decision to fly employees via business craft as opposed to other means. Business discussions can take place aboard a private craft in a secure environment, especially when the company is a very well-known entity. And convenience is an issue, too. Not every form of transportation goes to the places certain business travelers need to go, when they need to go there. Scheduling can be more flexible with private aircraft.

Media questions after the Big 3 incident also revealed that many seem to believe that companies use business aircraft to avoid traveling by commercial carriers, only in order to avoid the common hassles that go along with air travel today. But this is another misconception. Member Companies of the NBAA still fly commercially, to the tune of $11 billion dollars spent on commercial flights per year, in addition to all the travel on business aircraft.

Some areas are just difficult to access via commercial carrier, while at other times it’s more cost effective to fly commercially. The NBAA’s Travel$ense software can help a company determine if private or commercial travel is the best value for a destination. Sometimes, business craft is the best option, regardless of cost. A traveler on a business craft can use one of about 5,000 airports nationally, while only about 500 of those are available to commercial travelers.