Plane Conversations

Frontier Airlines recently announced it’s dropping nonstop service from Milwaukee to six cities, cutting the number of daily flights nearly in half. Effective in April, the airline will end direct flights to Grand Rapids, Dallas-Fort Worth, Kansas City, Philadelphia, Phoenix and Newark. Frontier’s daily departures will be reduced from 32 to 18.

While Social Flights is announcing new air service between Milwaukee, Branson, Nashville, and Austin – Frontier Airlines is announcing the reduction of services and staff from Milwaukee.  The following report from media FOX6now and Milwaukee Business Journal highlight some of the local implications, impacts, broken promises and lost dreams.

According to a notice filed Monday with the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development, the layoffs are expected to occur in April. The notice states that 230 of the employees are flight crew members who will be reassigned to bases outside of Milwaukee.

230 of the 446 layoffs will be reassigned – as will their families, their children will move out of school, houses will be liquidated in a poor RE market, and communities will lose trust anchors. The new cuts are on top of Frontier‘s decision last fall to eliminate routes to eight other destinations.

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett released a statement Monday after these layoffs were announced, saying: “The loss of 500 jobs is a setback for the region.  My hope is that other airlines will step in and fill the void in this critically important market.”

Frontier is leaving Milwaukee for reasons that would also hold for every other airline; fuel prices, labor prices, large jets, corporate ROI thresholds, etc.  Meanwhile, Social Flights operates under public charter regulations organizing local private operators and supports them with modern aircraft allowing communities to access important hubs as well as sister cities (such as Grand Rapids).

The Community Remembers the promises:

“When that whole deal was made, when Republic bought Midwest and Frontier, there were all these promises made to Milwaukee that they were not only going to keep the service here, but that they were going to bring in hundreds and hundreds of jobs,” Rovito said.

Instead, nearly 800 positions have been cut since November, and the most recent wave of cuts will move more than 200 jobs out of Milwaukee, while completely getting rid of another 200. “Just on its face, it’s really bad news for Milwaukee travelers,” Rovito said.

Who holds the cards?

Communities go through great efforts to attract air service from promising yields to providing public infrastructure to enduring noise and traffic – the airlines take this completely for granted.

Fewer flights means it will be more difficult for travelers to get to their destinations, and also likely more expensive. “It was a convenient flight for me in this particular instance,” Scott Sowa, who was on a Frontier flight heading to Grand Rapids, said. “I would hate to lose that convenience.”

Apparently, communities are not what Frontier needs to remain profitable.  They no longer need Milwaukee because they found business elsewhere.  They are an airline – they can go elsewhere…. they are not a community.

Where communities are the contingency plan

In a statement, the company says: “The reduction in service is another step in our continued effort to ensure that Frontier is a competitive and sustainably profitable airline.”

In other words, ‘Their survival is contingent upon your loss – not your gain.’ FOX6 tried to get in touch with someone from Frontier Airlines Monday, but our calls were unreturned.

Beginning in June 2012, Branson Air in cooperation with CFM aviation and Social Flights, is offering a limited time 79 dollar special on air service between Milwaukee Wisconsin and Branson Missouri. This price will not last long since the route is filling fast.  The next threshold special is 99 dollars…and there is no wonder why tickets are selling fast.

This announcement comes on the heels of air service between Nashville and Branson as well as Austin and Branson.  All continuing flights connect all cities.  This is a big deal for people who travel between secondary markets.

If you are asking yourself what you would do when you get to your final destination,  just check out these posts:

102 Things to do in Branson

101 Things to do in Austin

 101 Things to do in Milwaukee

102 Things to do in Nashville

Or, think of it this way:  

Do a Google search on “Milwaukee Facebook” and you’ll received 183 Million returns.  Next, perform a search on terms: “Branson MO Facebook” and you’ll receive 3.7 Million returns. Finally, do a search on the terms “Branson MO Milwaukee WI Facebook” and you’ll received 1.1 Million returns.

Next, search for airfare from Milwaukee to Branson you’ll find the following result:

NOW, look at the flight from Branson to Milwaukee !!

Hmmm … why does it cost 200 dollars more and take 4 more hours (stationary) to fly from Branson to Milwaukee than from Milwaukee to Branson???

A recipe for opportunity

While this is far from a scientific research study, there is little doubt that many people in Branson know somebody in Milwaukee and vice versa.  There are many people in Milwaukee that can find a reason to hop a quick plane out to Branson with all of their friends.  Look at the disadvantage that the smaller community has – small communities are  SUBSIDIZING the larger community!!  The distance is the same so the price should be the same.

By extension – look at all of the communities on the map above that social flight can connect for 1/2 the price and half the transit time of the airlines

Most importantly, there are many things that were never economically possible between these two cities,  but now are.  That is what opportunity is made of.

People who follow Social Flights know that our business model is hugely disruptive to the airlines.  They know that Social Flights opens new frontiers of opportunity.  They know that Social Flights liberates stranded communities from Airline Chess Masters.  With air service between Branson and Austin for under 100 dollars – this is only the beginning.

So the choice is simple;

There are hundreds of things to do with millions of friends, colleagues, relatives, and business relationships for 200 dollars on a flight that lasts less than two hours. Or, spend close to 500 dollars on a 8 hour boondoggle losing two days of work and spending an two extra nights in a hotel with people you don’t know.  The choice is obvious.

Who knew that having fun could be such serious business?

Branson Air, in cooperation with CFM aviation and Social Flights, is offering a special on air service between Austin Texas and Branson Missouri. This price may not last long since the route is filling fast and there is no wonder why.

If you are asking yourself what you would do when you get to your final destination,  just check out these two posts:

102 Things to do in Branson          101 Things to do in Austin

Or, think of it this way:  

Do a Google search on “Austin Tx Facebook” and you’ll received 134 Million returns.  Next, perform a search on terms: “Branson MO Facebook” and you’ll receive 3.7 Million returns. Finally, do a search on the terms “Branson MO Austin TX Facebook” and you’ll received 1.1 Million returns.

Next search for airfare between Branson to Austin and you’ll find the following result:

A recipe for opportunity

While this is far from a scientific research study, there is little doubt that many people in Branson know somebody in Austin and vice versa.  There are many people in Austin that can find a reason to hop a quick plane out to Branson with all of their friends.

Most importantly, there are many things that were never economically possible between these two cities,  but now are.  That is what opportunity is made of.

People who follow Social Flights know that our business model is hugely disruptive to the airlines.  They know that Social Flights opens new frontiers of opportunity.  They know that Social Flights liberates stranded communities from Airline Chess Masters.  With air service between Branson and Austin for under 100 dollars – this is only the beginning.

So the choice is simple;

There are hundreds of things to do with millions of friends, colleagues, relatives, and business relationships for 200 dollars on a flight that lasts less than two hours. Or, spend close to 500 dollars on a 15 hour boondoggle losing two days of work and spending an two extra nights in a hotel with people you don’t know.  The choice is obvious.

Who knew that having fun could be such serious business?

Branson Air, in cooperation with CFM aviation and Social Flights, is offering a special on air service between Austin Texas and Branson Missouri. If you book through Social Flights, you’ll receive an additional 20 dollars discount for a limited time when you mention this post.

If you are wondering what to do when you get to your final destination,  just check out these two posts:

102 Things to do in Branson          101 Things to do in Austin

Or, think of it this way:  

I did a google search on “Austin Tx Facebook” and received 134 Million returns.  Then, I did a search on “Branson MO Facebook” and received 3.7 Million returns. Finally, I did a search on the term “Branson MO Austin TX Facebook” and received 1.1 Million returns.

Next I did a search on airfare Branson to Austin and found the following result:

A recipe for opportunity

While this is far from a scientific research study, there is little doubt that many people in Branson know somebody in Austin and vice versa.  There are many people in Austin that can find a reason to hop a quick plane out to Branson with all of their friends.

Most importantly, there are many things that were never economically possible between these two cities,  but now are.  That is what opportunity is made of.

People who follow Social Flights know that our business model is hugely disruptive to the airlines.  They know that Social Flights opens new frontiers of opportunity.  They know that Social Flights liberates stranded communities from Airline Chess Masters.  With air service between Branson and Austin for under 100 dollars – this is only the beginning.

So the choice is simple;

There are hundreds of things to do with millions of friends, colleagues, relatives, and business relationships for 160 dollars on a flight that lasts less than two hours. Or, spend close to 500 dollars on a 15 hour flight losing two days of work and spending an two extra nights in a hotel with people you don’t know.  The choice is obvious.

Who knew that having fun could be such serious business?

Paraphrased from an excellent article in the Wichita Business Journal by Emily Behlmann:

With all the attention social media is getting these days, (the results) of a recent survey shows that 45 percent said social media was a low priority.  Deanna Harms, executive vice president at the Greteman Group , a Wichita branding agency who lists aviation brands to be a specialty, says business aviation companies, some of the most major brands in Wichita, have hung back on [Social Media] even more than other B2B firms.

Harms says she thinks one reason could be related to recent criticism of business jets as unnecessary luxuries. “Even in newsletters, it’s difficult to get aircraft owners to agree to being profiled,” Harms says. “You’ve heard the campaign ‘No plane. No gain.’ Aircraft owners, unfortunately, often think, ‘No ink. No criticism.’ The minute you start talking about your use of business aviation, the naysayers attack.”

Let’s rethink this:

Social Flights uses social media tools to fill empty legs and sell primary charter “by the seat”.  We also provide limited calendar air service (FAA Part 380 Public Charter).  In addition to marketing, we use these tools to aggregate private airplane operators and their inventory so we can “systemize” a large virtual fleet.

These innovations are a far cry from the domain of the demonized elitist corporate jet owner.  In fact, we are hearing from dozens of small communities who are functionally stranded without access to commercial aviation with very few other practical travel modes. Communities passionately ask us for air- service into a hub like Atlanta instead of bouncing around several regional airports and enduring a 3-hour drive to anywhere.  Millions of American need access to each other and global markets beyond their parochial economies.  People need opportunities – that’s what social media is all about.

You can’t Globalize until you Regionalize

Regionalization is where small communities want direct service to other small communities.  Social Flights is introducing air service between Branson MO, Nashville, Tri-cities TN,  Austin, and Milwaukee. It almost takes less time to drive between some of these places than to fly commercial. The same holds true for Wichita.

It Boils down to Supply and Demand

Meanwhile, hundreds of commuter jets are coming into the market.  Utilization of corporate jets is 1/20 of a commercial jet.  Corporations are looking for increased revenue from their jet assets.  Manufacturers can deliver white tails into a new air-service system to keep production lines steady. Airlines can off load volatility (overbooking and low yield flights) to private carriers, Next Gen air traffic control will open thousands of smaller airports to air service, ironically, this includes Wichita.

This boils down to huge inventory, huge need, greater efficiency, and nobody to serve the market.  Our prediction is that Social media is the glue that will hold this thing together.  People travel across their social graph (Facebook, linkedin, and g+ connections) not to the hub airports, period.  People want to work where they live and play, not just surviving in 1 of 28 U.S. hub cities. People want to go to where they are going.

There is profound opportunity in private aviation and Social Flights is the pioneer.

At Social Flights, we are continually amazed at the communities that we work with looking for an opportunity to bypass commercial airline service.  Communities know what they want and they know where they want to go – most importantly, in the great American Tradition, they are not waiting for someone else to do it for them.   Tri-Cities Tennessee is one such community.

In Tennessee and Virginia the name “Tri-Cities” refers to the region comprising the cities of Kingsport, Johnson City and Bristol and the surrounding smaller towns and communities in Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia. All three of the principal cities are located in the extreme northeastern corner of Tennessee, while Bristol has a Twin city of the same name on the Virginia side.

Tri Cities is one of those great places that few people know about.  They represent a vibrant American community of over 500,000 located in a beautiful part of the country with mild temperate weather yet in close proximity to many economically important places such as Nashville, Washington, DC, New York, Atlanta, St. Louis, etc.   When airlines cut service to a community like Tri-Cities, they cut off a half million people from the vast economic opportunity.

Similarly, the deprive many people of a wonderful place to visit, vacation, or  relocate to.  By all accounts, Tri-Cities is a magnificent place to raise a family.  Tri-Cities has an abundance of recreational opportunities in nearby Lake Boone, the Blue Ridge Mountains, rivers and forest. Real estate is still reasonably priced.

Social Flights is looking forward to an opportunity to provide air service to Tri-Cities and the remarkable people who make up that community.  It is our sincere desire to create an air service plan that meets the needs of so many 500K population communities across the United States.  With Tri-Cities, we all get there together!

Tri-cities Events

Debbie Miller is a social media and hospitality blogger who recently outlined some social media efforts of airlines.  Her analysis is important for two reasons;  first, it demonstrates how the industry can use social media to communicate with travelers and their network of friends and family.

Second, it demonstrates how communities respond to social media inputs; what works and what does not.

Luggage Tracking

Delta Airlines implemented a system for travelers to track their checked baggage. Via the airline carrier’s iPhone app, guests are able to monitor the whereabouts of their luggage at all times. [response unknown]

Influencer Events

In the fall, All Nippon Airways (ANA), Japan’s leading airline carrier, announced that its “Inspiration of Japan” service brand would be introduced to the Los Angeles-Narita (Tokyo) route beginning in January.  [ANA is threw a big party through social media resulting in 5.4 Million brand impressions]

Choose Your Seat Mate

Recently, Royal Dutch airline KLM announced a new program called “Meat and Seat,” allowing people to choose who they might sit next to on a flight by viewing other travelers’ social media profiles. [Reaction remains mixed]

15 Minute Flights

Last summer, a bridge over LA’s popular 405 Freeway was set to be demolished, leaving a significant portion of highly-trafficked highway to be closed for a weekend in July.  As a result, JetBlue Airlines decided to offer $4 flights from Long Beach to Burbank and vice versa on Saturday.  [surpassed all expectations and all flights sold out in 3 hours.]

Building a company on Social Media:

Meanwhile, Social Flights is building the company on Social Media – and we are learning many new things.  Today we have over 14,000 registered users, over 90 private operators representing 500 aircraft.  We have dozens of partners who want to service our travelers.

Social Flights has opened flights between Branson, Milwaukee, Austin, and Nashville.  We have flown Football, NASCAR, and Corporate passengers as well as VIPs, Celebrities, and politicians.  Apparently, our  social media design is working well.

Lessons learned

Ideally, we would like to have a person on the ground in each location to interpret data related to that location to proactively match supply and demand.   This person would be able to nudge a community toward the private air service option and educate them to the value proposition.

Now comparing our experience with the airline experience cited above, there are several similarities;

• Each seeks to distinguish themselves by introducing a scalable service
• They operate in a hyper-local domain.

In other words, they seek to improve the travel experience and they have someone on the ground meeting a local need.  Those are the activities that work best.

The use of social media in air service industry is still very new, but already we can see important trends for social media usage in air service industries

Social Flights, in coordination with Branson Air Express and Corporate Flight Management, Inc. announce air service between Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Branson, Missouri.

Near-daily public charter service begins on May 12, 2012.  The flight time is approximately 2 hours and the current one-way price is $144.00.  By comparison, a commercial flight on the same route would take 7 hours (+TSA) with a stop in Denver and a cost of $210.00 dollars each way.

This is important because Social Flights represents the regionalization of air service by providing the right sized aircraft to meet the needs of the smaller communities without hub airports. These are the type of routes that the commercial carriers would never fly direct.   As such, traveling is far more time consuming and expensive than it otherwise needs to be.  Now, Social Flight filling the void.

The Milwaukee metropolitan area has an estimated population of over 2 million people and ranks fifth in the United States in terms of the number of Fortune 500 company headquarters as a share of the population. Milwaukee has one of the highest per capita student populations in North America, ranking 6th among U.S. and Canadian cities in number of college students per 100 residents, according to a January 2000 study from McGill University

Branson is a city in Taney County in the U.S. state of Missouri. Branson has long been a popular destination for vacationers from Missouri and neighboring areas. The construction of music theaters by nationally-known performers along Highway 76 has increased Branson’s popularity as a tourist destination.  Branson draws tourists from all over the World.

I first discovered Keith Johnson’s blog, PlannerWire.net  starting with his article 13 Event Industry Blogs and Sites That You Should Check Out. Last July he updated the list to 44 event industry blogs that are important.  It it just too hard to resist not publishing the list he compiled.  Below (after a few of my comments) please find the best event planner blogs on the Internet, by Keith Johnson.

Why is an aviation company like Social Flights interested in event planners?

Nobody ever suggests that UAL or Alaska Airlines would ever ask anyone who intends to stay on the ground that day what their opinion is regarding airline service.  Airlines are too busy to worry about what happens before and after their clients board their planes.   The airlines are in the business of filling seats so why would they care about the communities whose collective posteriors occupy the spaces in between the lines on their balance sheets?

Maybe that’s the problem with airlines.

Social Flights has every intention to understand the needs of the travelers for whom we provide air service.  We exist because the communities we serve tell us to exist.  Communities of travelers tell us where to fly and when to fly.  They tell us how many people they need to arrive at any geographic point in North America and how many people to depart from any point.  Without event planners, there is no reason to travel.  Think about that for a moment.

CHICAGO – March 12, 2012 – N-Jet, one of Chicago’s premier private jet operators, launched Private Air Reserve, an online market that allows college basketball fans to buy and trade options for highly discounted private jet reservations to the NCAA championship in New Orleans.  For $1,995, a Private Air Reserve can be purchased for a favorite NCAA team.  If that team qualifies for the April 2 championship, the buyer has the right to charter a luxury private jet to and from the game at a 75% discount.

“When the two winners for the final championship emerge, it usually sets off a mad scramble for travel reservations among passionate fans,” said Howard Seedorf, CEO and founder of N-Jet. “If your team makes it to the championship, a Private Air Reserve is like an insurance plan.  It takes away the pain and worry of finding reservations, and removes the headaches of commercial travel.”

Eight people chartering a luxury mid-cabin private jet from Chicago to New Orleans would normally cost about $20,000.  Although seats cannot be sold separately, the Private Air Reserve cost of $4,995 is less than $700 per person, and is comparable to traditional full-fare coach rates.

“Instead of enduring a back-of-the-bus middle seat, Private Air Reserve lets you fly at your preferred time in the luxury of a private jet, accompanied by seven of your friends without the delays, inexplicable last-minute cancellations, long lines, and other hassles,” adds Seedorf.

In order to become active, a “tipping point” of 15 Private Air Reserves must be met.  Fans may then begin bidding and trading at different prices depending on the likelihood of a certain team qualifying.   Unless the tipping point of 15 is not reached, Private Air Reserves are non-refundable.  However, if the selected team does not qualify, N-Jet converts the $1,995 reserve into a $2,000 Jet Card for use on future travel (minimum purchase of $25,000).

If the selected team qualifies but the holder chooses not to exercise the reservation, N-Jet will provide a $5,000 Jet Card credit toward a future N-Jet private charter (minimum purchase of $50,000).  If the winner decides to exercise the reservation but is suddenly unable to travel, N-Jet will provide a $10,000 Jet Card credit toward a future N-Jet private charter (minimum purchase of $50,000).

The Private Air Reserve market is built on a market-proven technology platform by TTR, Inc. The platform deploys Forward Markets in which fans conditionally reserve and buy/sell after-market reservations for high-demand tickets and services.  TTR’s patented technology is the basis for Major League Baseball’s successful “Postseason Ticket Reservations” and TeamTix Reservations for numerous high-profile college football games, including the BCS National Championship Game.

(Disclosure: N-Jet is an esteemed partner air service operator of Social Flights)

About N-Jet

N-Jet is an aircraft management company and FAR-part-135 certified on-demand air carrier with more than 33 years of experience in air transportation.  All aircraft are owned by individuals or corporations and managed by N-Jet.  With access to an alliance of luxury private jet operators, the company can secure access to the right aircraft to any destination around the world on a moment’s notice.  For more information, visit www.n-jet.com or www.privateairreserve.com.

About TTR

TTR, Inc., the exclusive provider of technology and services to enable Forward Markets, connects passionate fans and consumers with the events, products, and content they seek through an open and transparent Forward Marketplace residing within the digital domain of the actual Rights Holder and in certain instances in the domains of their media partners and sponsors.  The company is based in Lake Forest, Ill. For more information, visit www.ticketreserve.com.

NCAA is a registered trademark of the National Collegiate Athletic Association.