Plane Conversations

This is part 2 in a series on Social Media and Business Aviation

Business Aviation is in a battle and the fight is over the business traveler.

The battle is against the airlines and those in politics and big media who have for economic reasons aligned themselves with the airlines. It is all about money.  That is what we are fighting over. The business traveler so coveted, yet mistreated, by the airlines spends billions a year on air travel and the airlines don’t want to cede the business traveler over to us.

We didn’t start the fight, they did.

All we did was come up with a better solution for certain travelers who need to get to their markets in a more efficient way. The other guys didn’t like it; so, they picked a fight.

The easy thing for the airlines to do would be to stop the fight and admit that they are what they are: Mass transit by air between big cities. There is nothing wrong with that. We need mass transit systems – airlines, trains, metro rail, and buses to get us where we need to go. Mass Transit works efficiently to move a lot of people to the same place at the same time. It doesn’t work everywhere in this country because it simply doesn’t exist in many parts of the country.   

I personally think there is enough room out there for the airlines and business and general aviation to peacefully coexist but the airlines don’t seem to think so. So we battle!

As I have stated in previous posts we have primarily been on the defensive in this battle defending our position and value to the market place. They attack and we defend. I have also stated that it is time we go on the offensive with our message. We have never had that ability before because it was always the small guys against the big guys and the big guys had more money and control over the message.  

So how do we go on the offensive?

Social Media!

We now have the ability to communicate our message, our value proposition, to the market like never before. The evidence is clear about this by the mere fact that you are reading this post. I am not a journalist. I am a CEO of a general aviation services company. Posting this blog gives me the opportunity to weigh in on the fight - to give my opinion and state my case for why my business should exist. And those who read what I say have the opportunity to agree, disagree, or add to the conversation by commenting on this site or writing their own post on their own blog site.  

I recognize that if I don’t communicate to the market with relevance and value and, more importantly, listen and respond to the market, I won’t be heard. I will be ignored.

As I have spent time trying to learn and understand this form of communication called the blog and social media ( and I admit to still being a rookie at this), I have discovered some interesting things that many of you may already know.

• I don’t see many CEOs for the airlines communicating directly to the market. To me, it looks as if they have outsourced their communications to Advertising and PR firms and are pushing the message out to the market without the feedback loop that social media offers.  For the most part, these guys are holed up in their offices trying to figure out how to survive.
• Southwest, Virgin America and JetBlue seem to be doing a pretty good job with using Twitter as a means to communicate fare sales, build brand loyalty and provide a feedback loop for customer service issues. The other big guys seem to be doing almost nothing in this area. Twitter is a good tool but it is not the be-all and end-all for communicating to the market.
• On our side of the battle, the associations that represent us have awakened to the power of social media and are taking it on with a zeal. I appreciate the ground breaking that these associations are doing to get our message out. It is starting to have an impact.  It is viral and it’s time we catch the virus.

However, I feel strongly that we cannot delegate our communications to the trade associations. They can lead the charge eloquently; but, if we are not in the battle with them, then it is a few voices against the powerful and well-funded voices of the opposition. It is no longer about who has the most money to buy advertising, politicians and big media. Money can’t control the message anymore unless we sit on the sidelines and let it.  

Here is how we win by taking the field in an offensive play.

If those of us whose livelihoods and jobs depend on the prosperity of business aviation will start communicating to our markets through this great new tool called social media, we will force the other team out of the battle. Let’s connect to our friends on Facebook and Linked In, and twitter our message and write blogs on our value and comment when others write for us and against us. Let’s encourage our peers in the industry to join in! Let’s listen to the market of travelers who are desperate for better solutions and give them what they want. When we do that they become our voices in a more powerful way than we can be. The market’s voice is heard when they spend their money.   

There are thousands of small businesses and large businesses in this country and around the world that exist because of  value that business and general aviation brings to the economy. Can you envision thousands communicating though social media the value of what we do and the other side, although well-funded and powerful, letting their message be advertising? They can’t buy their message anymore though advertising! No one can.

The  power is no longer concentrated in the hands of a few when it comes to communications. It is now in the hands of the market. If the numbers are true, and there a 1.2 million of us out here in the US who make our living supporting this mode of travel called business and general aviation, then we are not just the supplier to the market, we are also part of the market.   

Battles can be won with words. Edward Bulwer-Lytton said “The pen is mightier than the sword.” Or could it now be that the blog is more powerful than the dollar?

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