President Obama’s Jobs Council Members are Outsourcing Jobs     

GE and Boeing leading the way

It is interesting to note that several of the “Jobs Council” members, CEOs of fortune 500 companies, which serve on the panel, are involved to some extent in outsourcing.

If GOP Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney really wanted a good example of outsourcing, he would have to look no further than the President’s appointed Special Council Leader, Jeffrey Immelt. Jeffrey Immelt, the head of Barack Obama's highly touted "Jobs Council", is moving more GE infrastructure to China.

Jeffery Immelt of GE is one of the nation’s leading outsourcers over the last decade. "I know that despite the fact that 60 percent of GE revenues are outside the United States," he said, "I personally and this country share responsibility and accountability to make sure this is the most competitive and productive country in the world”.

Apparently Immelt's idea of being part of the solution is to ship as many jobs overseas as he possibly can.

Boeing, who’s CEO, James McNerney, also chairs the President’s Export Council, the principal advisory committee on international trade. Boeing has outsourced over 14,000 American jobs since 2008, according to a recent report by Public Campaign, a campaign reform advocacy group.

Nearly every part of the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner jet was outsourced. Boeing has admitted that outsourcing was responsible for driving up costs and delaying the project for three years.

“Boeing now views China as a trading partner, rather than a competitor”, said Stan Sorscher, who worked as a physicist at Boeing from 1980 to 2000.  “Boeing is counting on China to buy 5,000 new planes by 2030.”

In September 2011, Boeing signed a 10-year contract with the state-owned Shanghai Aircraft Manufacturing Co. to build horizontal stabilizers for the 737 jet. The contract is the company’s largest with a Chinese supplier. And in March, Boeing announced partnership with the Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China on energy research.

Gary Kelly, CEO and Board Chairman of Southwest Airlines, is a member of the President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness. He joins 19 other business leaders on the panel designed to advise the president on how to make the U.S. more competitive in the global economy while creating new jobs at home, however, the President is MIA.

Gary Kelly has successfully created jobs in one of the most competitive industries in the US. Mr. Kelly definitely knows something about creating jobs and competitiveness at home.

Its the very people that have been entrusted with solving the unemployment crisis that are shipping jobs out of the country. What hope is there that things are going to turn around any time soon?

“Delegating work works, provided the one delegating works, too”. Robert Half

Incentives for 2012 Business Aircraft Equipment

Greensboro NC, July 16, 2012:  New business aircraft purchases and new equipment purchases for used aircraft are subject to a special 50% bonus depreciation allowance through 2013, if contract is in place by 2012.

Such contracts must be in writing, must be binding under state law against the purchaser, and must not include any liquidated damages clause that limits damages to an amount less than 5% of the aircraft/component price. 

Depending on the details of the contract through which the 2012 aircraft is acquired, the bonus depreciation may be enhanced to 100% of the aircraft or component cost.  The additional first year depreciation deduction is allowable both for regular income tax purposes and alternative minimum tax purposes.  

All property qualifying for bonus depreciation must be new and used primarily for business purposes, and meet other tests necessary to qualify for MACRS (Modified Accelerated Cost Recovery System).  The new bonus depreciation excludes property acquired underwritten binding contract in effect prior to January 1, 2008.

In calculation of cost eligible for bonus depreciation, a taxpayer may include the cost of installation, inspection, certification, and the like.  If refurbished equipment includes both new and used components, the entire cost is subject to bonus depreciation if less than 20% of the value is attributable to the value of the used asset.

In addition to the bonus depreciation allowance, an expensing election is also available to small businesses which engage in capital investments of less than $699,000 within the year.  The expensing election applies to both new and used business property acquired through purchase and placed in service during 2012. 

The expensing election allows taxpayer to write-off up to $139,000 of equipment, but in no case more than the taxpayer’s yearly income.  Further, the available write-off decreases dollar-for-dollar to the extent that the taxpayer’s total capital investment for the year exceeds $560,000.  The major advantage of the expensing election over bonus depreciation is it’s available for used property.

Under the new tax laws passed in December 2010, the Section 179 deduction limit for 2012 is $125,000 and the overall property value limit for 2012 is $500,000. Without this provision, the dollar and investment limits would have reverted to $25,000 and $200,000 respectively, for tax years beginning after 2011.

For more information contact Aircraft Management Services - 1-800-257-0582.

Corporate Aircraft Ownership and Travel on the Rise 

Local Company Gears up for a Promising 2013

Greensboro NC, July 5, 2012: On July 2^nd, Aircraft Management Services opened a new corporate aircraft sales division in Greensboro. “Corporate aviation is steadily improving and the future looks very promising for the industry”, said Lee F. Boyd, Vice-President of Sales. “It is a great time to purchase an aircraft. Aircraft prices have dropped dramatically over the past year and aviation fuel cost continues to fall”.

Centrally located in North Carolina’s picturesque heartland, Greensboro is merely one to three hours by corporate aircraft to most destinations along the east coast, reaching multiple destinations quickly and efficiently.

Corporate aviation plays a vital role in Greensboro with the potential of serving ten times the number of communities than the airlines. This means business aviation can allow companies to locate plants or facilities in small towns or rural communities along the east coast with little or no commercial airline service.

Two award winning FBO’s make Greensboro an attractive place for corporate aircraft ownership. Many improvements have been made to Piedmont Triad International Airport, including a new 9000 ft runway and the promise of a new state of the art air traffic control tower to be completed and opened in 2019.

With additional TSA requirements looming and their uncertainty, corporate aviation allows businesses to travel on their own private aircraft at their leisure, without all the hustle and bustle of flying with the airlines.

Nationwide, the airlines are predicting a significant increase in passenger traffic over the next several years. As passenger traffic increases, so will the delays. Nearly one quarter of airline flights are delayed today, because of record load factors and a growing pilot shortage. If a flight is cancelled or delayed, the odds of getting on a connecting flight are significantly reduced.

Exciting times certainly lie ahead for corporate aviation in Greensboro, especially with the introduction of the very light jet (VLJ) aircraft. VLJ aircraft will be less expensive to purchase, operate and maintain. Some VLJ aircraft have long range capability and high speed (up to 425 knots) that will allow for higher cruise altitudes reducing overall operating cost. VLJ passenger cabins can seat as many as six passengers in the back with two pilots up front with substantial external baggage capacity.

For more information about Aircraft Management Services, please call 1-800-257-0582.