Archive for the ‘air travel’ Category:
Social Flights Offers Air Travel Development Services
Source: World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) 2011
Communities, industries, and economic development agencies are looking for solutions to the travel gaps caused by airline consolidation, regulation, and lack of alternate modes of transportation. Millions of American citizens are literally stranded in travel access dead zones.
Besides developing revolutionary social technology for buyers and suppliers of alternative air services, Social Flights also provides professional services to organizations, institutions and governments wishing to improve air service to their constituencies. Our services portfolio is designed to serve national and international markets including Asia, Europe and South America as well as local and affinity group communities.
Social Flights Consulting Services
Our service portfolio is aimed at providing 21st century air service solutions created from innovative data-driven assessment, analysis and strategy. Our professional services team includes resources with credentials in private aviation, airline operations, aircraft manufacturing, statistical analysis, management consulting, strategic development, engineering, planning, yield management, route planning and aircraft acquisition.
Our services include:
- Air Service Determinations
- True Flier Intentions Base Determination & Definition
- Air Services Strategic and Tactical Planning
- Economic Impact & Opportunity Analyses
- Demand Opportunity Analyses
- Private Aviation Services management
- Social Media Marketing, SEO, Community Organization
The genesis of Social Flight Consulting Services came when we all sat in a room together and each looked around at the talent and experience that was looking back at us.
Our people have operated airlines, we have managed airport operations, built substantial FBO operations and facilities. Our people have held top engineering positions in aircraft manufacturers, we have worked for the Federal Government, we are world travelers, global businesspersons, and economic development professionals. The people associated with Social Flights are pilots, mechanics, authors, and teachers. We have world famous social media experts, top travel bloggers, and we come from hospitality industries, event planning, and entrepreneurial communities.
Let us share ourselves with you.
In upcoming blog posts, we will share the details of each of these services as well as case studies, documented accomplishments and personnel highlights.
Our hope is to bring the private air services industry closer in collaboration rather than further in competition. We strongly believe that private operators are far stronger when united than in competition. With airline failures and increase air travel demand, we need to work together with our communities. We are here to share what we have learned with travelers, communities, tourism / hospitality industries, and economic development agencies.
Information Powers Social Flight
From classical economic theory, when the buyer has the same information as the seller, markets are supposed to become more efficient. Then, the online travel agent (OTA) arrived to aggregate all the airline information so customers could get a “the best deal” with all the information presented to them. But that is not really what happened. Instead, customers got lost.
Information Hazard
The OTA industry quickly ignited a race to the bottom on airfare prices with little regard for a “service model”. This led to the unbundling of services (responsible for endless hidden fees on everything from extra baggage to a printed boarding pass), consolidation in the industry, and even bankruptcy of some airlines.
I fought the law and the law won…
Now, endless law suits are being filed over who “owns the customer” as defined by some arbitrary “click” or “like” or “shopping basket”. Other lawsuits challenge the ownership of the information attached to a customer, before and after the flight, etc. You get the idea; this has nothing to do with helping the customer, nothing to do with flying airplanes, and most certainly does not make the market more efficient.
Something different in happening
In fact, the air travel market is more segmented, protected, siloed and regulated than ever – AND, prices are in the tank. Private operators obviously do not want to be a part of this market, however large, simply because they will be drawn into a viscous circle forced to do more of the things that they don’t want to do for less money. Most operators are not looking forward to it.
The Free and The Easy
On the other hand, the Internet has made information free and easy to transport – in formation is the source of knowledge and innovation in any market. There must be a strategy in that can be put in play so private operators can benefit from technology without becoming a slave to technology.
If we told the truth to ourselves…
There is little reason why the private carriers need to compete with each other – the real competition is the dysfunctional mainstream air travel market. There is little competitive advantage to not sharing empty seats and empty legs among each other when we can pull the lucrative premium class away from the commercial airlines.
No Downside to Cooperation
There is no downside to increasing the size, scope, and applicability of the private air service sector. There is little downside to the traditional customers of private services when the airplanes are better utilized, operators are well staffed, and airplane owners are receiving sufficient cash flows and buying more aircraft. There is no downside to steady cashflow.
The Social Flights Platform
Social Flights is building a platform that allows operators to collect their inventory and appear as a single resource to the private travel market. The private air service market should redefine and dominate the “service model” so that the lucrative premium class commercial market can use Private travel as the referenced standard.
And technology is just beginning
Many new technologies are beginning to impact the travel market in many profound ways. The private air services providers have an opportunity to work together and leap frog the commercial airlines to dominate the conversation related to the true value of air travel.
Information Powers Social Flight
From classical economic theory, when the buyer has the same information as the seller, markets are more efficient. Then, the online travel agent (OTA) arrived to aggregate all the airline information so customers could get a “the best deal”. But that is not really what happened, customers got lost.
Information Hazard
The OTA industry quickly ignited a race to the bottom on airfare prices with little regard for a “service model”. This led to the unbundling of services (responsible for endless hidden fees on everything from extra baggage to a printed boarding pass), consolidation in the industry, and even bankruptcy of some airlines.
I fought the law and the law won…
Now, endless law suits are being filed over who “owns the customer” as defined by some arbitrary “click” or “like” or “shopping basket”. Other lawsuits challenge the ownership of the information attached to a customer, before and after the flight, etc. You get the idea; this has nothing to do with helping the customer, nothing to do with flying airplanes, and most certainly does not make the market more efficient.
Something different in happening
In fact, the air travel market is more segmented, protected, siloed and regulated than ever – AND, prices are in the tank. Private operators obviously do not want to be a part of this market, however large, simply because they will be drawn into a viscous circle forced to do more of the things that they don’t want to do for less money. Most operators are not looking forward to it.
The Free and The Easy
On the other hand, the Internet has made information free and easy to transport – in formation is the source of knowledge and innovation in any market. There must be a strategy in that can be put in play so private operators can benefit from technology without becoming a slave to technology.
If we told the truth to ourselves…
There is little reason why the private carriers need to compete with each other – the real competition is the dysfunctional mainstream air travel market. There is little competitive advantage to not sharing empty seats and empty legs among each other when we can pull the lucrative premium class away from the commercial airlines.
No Downside to Cooperation
There is no downside to increasing the size, scope, and applicability of the private air service sector. There is little downside to the traditional customers of private services when the airplanes are better utilized, operators are well staffed, and airplane owners are receiving sufficient cash flows and buying more aircraft. There is no downside to steady cashflow.
The Social Flights Platform
Social Flights is building a platform that allows operators to collect their inventory and appear as a single resource to the private travel market. The private air service market should redefine and dominate the “service model” so that the lucrative premium class commercial market can use Private travel as the referenced standard.
And technology is just beginning
Many new technologies are beginning to impact the travel market in many profound ways. The private air services providers have an opportunity to work together and leap frog the commercial airlines to dominate the conversation related to the true value of air travel.
Share a Private Jet to The Preakness Stakes
The most important series of equestrian events is right around the corner and Social Flights is busy filling seats on private aircraft from several locations in the US.
Private Jet traffic can get pretty busy and prices are at a premium. Commercial airlines cannot get you in and out in the same day and booking a hotel can be a nightmare.
When you share a private jet into this event with people who you know from the same town, you enjoy a first class experience with people with whom you can share a lifelong memory. Let Social Flights be your source of air transportation service for The Preakness Stakes.
via Preakness Stakes – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
The Preakness Stakes is an American flat Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds held on the third Saturday in May each year at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. It is a Grade I race run over a distance of 9.5 furlongs on dirt. Colts and geldings carry 126 pounds (57 kg); fillies 121 lb (55 kg). It is the second leg of the US Triple Crown, with the Kentucky Derby preceding it and the Belmont Stakes following it. The horse must win all three races to win the Triple Crown.
The Preakness Stakes has been termed “The Run for the Black-Eyed Susans” because a blanket of Black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia hirta, the state flower of Maryland) is traditionally placed around the winner’s neck. The attendance at the Preakness Stakes ranks second in North America and usually surpasses the attendance of all other stakes races including the Belmont Stakes, the Breeders’ Cup and the Kentucky Oaks. The attendance of the Preakness Stakes typically only trails the Kentucky Derby, for more information see American Thoroughbred Racing top Attended Events.
Visit social flights to get an instant quote under “Create a Flight” option. Then we’ll notify you as others join your itinerary. The best time to start is now. Invite your family, friends, and colleagues for an exceptional experience at an most exceptional event.
Social Flights As Economic Enabler
The Federal Aviation Administration is more than just a dour old government bureaucracy. The FAA also collects and publishes very important information.
This chart tells a very important story. It says that the economy depends on aviation as much (if not more) than aviation depends on the economy. So when Social Flights talks about private jets, it’s a whole lot more than wealthy people keeping their shoes on. Private aviation is in fact an important conduit for economic growth. The way that we organize aviation assets such as aircraft, operators, airports, and support services can have a profound impact on a region.
For all economic development professionals:
These statistics should be stark. If your community has air service, then the products and services that your community can trade will be 69 times higher in value than ground transportation such as trucking routes. Yet many economic development reports treat these two modes roughly equal.
Furthermore, the market is huge; 1/2 Trillion dollars worth of products are flying over your head and 1/4 Trillion dollars worth of direct expenditure is looking down at you through an impenetrable window – EVERY YEAR. And, that’s just the tangible value. Ideas, knowledge, wisdom, trust, influence, and experience are all extremely expensive to create on your own or by trial and error. Yet this value is readily stored and transported in the cabins of aircraft. This intangible value far out-weighs anything that can be carried in a truck.
What is truly surprising is that it only requires 2 million people to keep 2 trillion dollars worth of value aloft. As such, every job that an economic development office creates in aviation, can potentially return 500,000 – 1,000,000 dollars in value to a community. If a community is going to “buy jobs” with their taxes, they should buy aviation jobs.
Likewise, it would NOT be wise to lose control of this valuable resource to the whims of the airlines or outside corporate charter – their bottom line is not the same as yours.
Social Flights now brings a complete aviation solution to your community. Our CASP (Community Air Service Program) can provide a community with modern aircraft, operational knowledge, and certification authority to operate your own public charter airline. The connection is clear – airplanes equal money. Give us a call, let us design your community air service program to integrate with your hotels, restaurants, tourism board, artistic community, and industries.
After all, that is what community is all about.
Is There An Alternative To Commercial Airlines?
In Japan and Europe, high speed rail often competes with air travel for short distance routes. While it may take 3-4 hours door-to-door to travel 300 miles in an aircraft, the high-speed train can cover the same door-to-door distance in more comfort, the same time, and for less money. An automobile may need 6 hours to complete the same journey at a similar cost of ownership.
What many peoples fail to realize is the possibility that a community can operate their own airline. This alternative is being pioneered by Social Flights. The regionalization of air service is a new concept that allows communities to own and operate one or more aircraft maintaining control over the schedules and locations where the aircraft flies.
In the United States, a rift continues to grow between available air service and reasonable alternatives to air service. This creates a substantial burden on families; but it also creates a compound burden on the economy upon which those families depend for their livelihood. If corporate travel is constrained, the economy as a whole is constrained.
From this article in the NY Times:
Consider the new realities of air travel. Competition is decreasing, fares are rising and airlines are adjusting routes (and charging extra fees) in ruthless calculations to extract the greatest possible revenue per mile flown.
Many airlines will continue shrinking overall capacity and trimming domestic routes in 2012, and the Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing of AMR, the parent company of American Airlines, will merely exacerbate the situation. In 2012, American will “ground some planes and resize our network,” the company’s chief executive, Thomas W. Horton, recently told employees.
In addition, John P. Heimlich, the chief economist of the trade group Airlines for America, said, “Capacity reduction is one of the steps the industry is taking to preserve profitability.”
Several articles are now popping up comparing the alternatives that are available. An overnight Amtrak in a cozy sleeper car can cost the same for some routes as the aircraft - unfortunately, Amtrak is not universally connected to very many routes. High speed rail is still on the drawing boards but still many years away with fewer stops and likely connecting major hubs anyway. The other alternative is to simply drive; with the ground travel and delays incurred t hub airports, a commercial flight less than 750 miles can have an door-to-door average speed of around 70 miles per hour.
Michael Boyd, the president of the consulting company Boyd Group International, sums up the phenomenon succinctly. “The cost of flying airplanes across the sky has eclipsed the ability to support it at many communities,” he said in a recent forecast. In 2012, he predicts, airlines will accelerate the mothballing of smaller 50-seat jets, the workhorses for connecting service between many midsize airports, and even some big ones.
Social Flights can provide the knowledge, expertise, personnel, certification, and equipment to maintain and operate an aircraft fleet, as well as the social media backbone that allows people to self-organize around the aircraft asset.
As such, the community can create direct flights bypassing hubs, they can schedule flights for their corporations and shuttle their executives to new business markets for a price that is hugely favorable to any existing alternative; which is often nothing.