Ditch the Jet: It's Cool to Fly Commercial

布拉德•皮特(Brad Pitt)这么做了。劳埃德•布兰克费恩(Lloyd Blankfein, 高盛首席执行长)做了。甚至贾斯汀•汀布莱克(Justin Timberlake)和英国威廉王子(Prince William)也这么做了。他们全都放弃了私人飞机，选择乘坐商业飞机外出旅行。布兰克费恩甚至改乘火车了。自从通用汽车(GM)人士因私人飞机事件遭到抨击之后，私人飞机领域就遭遇了形像问题。似乎没人希望再被别人看到或被镜头拍下他们走下自己的湾流(Gulfstream)商务飞机舷梯的情景。Associated Press布兰克费恩和威廉王子都改乘公共交通工具了。因此，富人名流以及接受救助企业的人士纷纷屈尊选择乘坐商业航班，和平民百姓一起在全美各处的机场安检门前排长队，和他人共享头顶的行李箱。布拉德•皮特和贾斯汀•汀布莱克显然偏爱西南航空(Southwest)，威廉王子和他的女朋友凯特•米德尔顿(Kate Middleton)上月乘商业飞机到日内瓦滑雪度假。更让人吃惊的是，他们坐的是经济舱。王室一位高级伺从说，威廉王子决心将自己的旅行成本降下来。华盛顿的变化尤其明显。那些谦恭而来的企业大亨们尤其不愿被发现从价值4,000万美元的“花钱机器”上下来。（劳埃德•布兰克费恩因此出门乘坐Amtrak的火车。）华盛顿杜勒斯机场私人飞机航站经理约翰•米亨(John Meehan)对NPR说，我们听说，人们现在很怕乘飞机到华盛顿来，因为很有可能成为媒体和政客攻击的靶子。当然，公众的节俭行为给私人航空领域的就业带来了负面影响。航空业咨询师迈克尔•博埃德(Michael Boyd)对NPR说，航空业正在遭到“国会和政府的讨伐”。博埃德说，（我要）打电话给那些乱哼哼的国会议员，让他们别再诋毁我的行业，别在诬蔑它。它们不是魔鬼的工具，不是罪恶的工具。对我的公司来说，商用飞机是非常重要的资产。但对那些富有的很擅长上镜头的人来说，乘坐商业飞机或许正变成一种最重要的塑造形像的手段。Robert Frank（“奢华人生”专注于富人的生活和文化，由Robert Frank主笔。）相关阅读私人飞机成鸡肋 2009-04-03金融危机夺走富人10万亿美元 2009-04-08“正宗”奢侈品又回来了！ 2009-02-17


Brad Pitt does it. Lloyd Blankfein does it. Even Justin Timberlake and Prince William do it.They've all ditched their private planes and opted to fly commercial — or, in Blankfein's case, take the train.Following the GM jet fiasco, the private aircraft business has had an image problem. No one, it seems, wants to be seen or photographed gliding down the steps of their Gulfstream anymore.So the rich, famous and bailed out have all opted to fly what might be called Conspicuous Conservation Air, lining up with the rest of the unwashed at the nation's airport security gates and luggage-bin scrums.Brad Pitt and Justin Timberlake apparently favor Southwest. Prince William and his girlfriend Kate Middleton flew commercial to Geneva last month for a skiing holiday. Even more shocking — they flew economy class.A senior courtier said: 'He is determined to get his traveling costs down.'The shift is especially acute in Washington, where business titans coming hat in hand are especially loath to be seen deplaning from $40 million cost centers. (Hence Lloyd Blankfein's Amtrak excursions.)'We're hearing stories that people are very concerned about flying to Washington, because of the potential for being targeted by the media and the politicians,' John Meehan, a private-jet terminal manager at Washington Dulles, told NPR.Of course, all that public thrift is costing jobs in the private aviation sector. As aviation consultant Michael Boyd told NPR, his industry is suffering a 'congressional and government jihad.''[I would] call up Congressman Snort and say, 'Stop denigrating my industry and stop lying about it. These are not tools of the devil, these are not tools of evil. Business jets are a very important asset for my company,'' Boyd says.But for the rich and well-photographed, flying commercial may have just become the most important image tool of all.Robert Frank