Graduate Thesis Research Project Proposal about the Corporate Flight Department\’s Effect on the Company\’s Financial Performance

1. Corporate Flight Department’s Effect on a Company’s Financial Performance by Can Bayrak # 1479227 bayrakc@my.erau.edu

3. Private aircrafts versus scheduled airliners

4. Complete schedule and destination flexibility

5. Organized by Corporate Flight Department; good management results in optimization of the aircraft.

6. Airport congestion is eliminated.

7. Maximum safety2

9. Company Prestige

10. Enables companies to respond instantly and directly to possible threats and challenges.

11. Maximum top management and employee utilization

12. Increase in customer and business relationship interaction

13. Supplier, cargo, customer, charity transportations when needed.3

15. Expensive

16. Extra liabilities, taxes, insurance etc.

17. in-direct operation costs

18. direct operation costs

19. Un-related and/or new type of management type for most companies.

20. Un-trained personnel

21. Different type of aircraft for different type of operation needed (Passenger count, destination variety etc.)

22. Constant managerial scrutiny4

24. Do companies buy an aircraft because it helps to achieve better financial performance or do they have an aircraft because they are already rich?

25. If the companies with a corporate flight department performs better, a significant increase in private jet sales can be expected.

26. Companies will look forward into establishing a corporate flight department which will result in various employment diversity.5

28. New market to compete in

29. Various relevant relationships; aircraft manufacturers regulators, airports, aircraft lease or fractional ownership providers, etc.

30. Most of all, increase in financial performance6

31. Hypothesis There is a difference in annual sales volume, number of employees, value of assets, stockholder’s equity, annual income, total current liabilities, and retained earnings among companies with a corporate flight department and companies without a corporate flight department. 7

33. Samples are divided into two: 30 companies that are in the National Business Aviation Association’s (NBAA) Member Directory & 30 companies that are not in the NBAA Member Directory.

34. Membership in NBAA means that the company has an established corporate flight department and an aircraft ready to use8

36. annual sales volume,number of employees,value of assets,stockholder’s equity,annual income,total current liabilities,retained earnings

37. Independent Variables are the companies that have an established corporate flight department and the companies that do not have an established corporate flight department.9

39. Online data sources such as MergentOnline’s Annual Financial Reports that can be accessed through Embry-Riddle’s Hunt Library Online Databases.

40. 30 Companies that have an established corporate flight department (eg. PepsiCo) and 30 companies that do not have an established corporate flight department (eg. Google Inc.) will be compared.10

42. MergentOnline’s financial data will be imported to MS Excel and intended data will be exported to SPSS in order to be analyzed. 11

44. ERAU’s name will be used in order to gain a temporary membership in NBAA, therefore being able to reach to Member Directory. NBAA is the leading organization for companies that rely on general aviation aircraft to help make their businesses more efficient, productive and successful.12