Cheese, pasta makers give small jets shot in the arm

The turnaround in the private-jet market is finally reaching the small- and medium-sized models that fell out of favor after the 2008-09 global financial crisis.

Buyers in 2014 included a mozzarella maker, a seller of building materials and a pasta producer. With the US economic rebound picking up steam, midsize companies are again feeling flush enough to invest in corporate planes, said Brian Foley, a Sparta, New Jersey-based aviation consultant.

"There's pent-up demand out there," Foley said. "Buyers of that smaller category had stayed on the sidelines until they regained confidence in the economy."