Archive for the ‘big data’ Category:
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.
The Cooperative Advantage in Private Aviation
Any number of b-school power plays will cite the competitive advantage necessary in hard economic times. But how many people talk about the cooperative advantage?
Information is power
When the buyer has the same information as the seller, markets are more efficient. The Internet has made information free and easy to transport. So, understandably, any business that hopes to survive by restricting information will ultimately find competition from a start-up that does not.
The “equal information” playing field
This scenario plays out over and over as industries as diverse as newspapers to higher education to government to commercial aviation are forced into profound transformation by the availability of equal information. True to conventional wisdom, good information creates more good information and bad information creates more bad information. For Social Flights, our best customer is the educated customer because they’ll educate each other.
Coming to an Airfield near you…
The true cost of flying private jets is one of the best-kept secrets in aviation. Corporate Jets are a source of mystery, controversy, and symbolism. There are many reasons for suppressing true costs such as avoiding public disclosure of VIP expenditures, or to protect profit margins enjoyed by charter brokers.
On the other hand, there are many important and legitimate reasons why some people should fly private instead of commercial. Social Flights believes that there are many situations where the true value of private flight greatly exceeds the cost of private flight for a large population of travelers. The problem is to find possibly millions of passengers who do not know that Social Flights applies to them.
Information Transparency
For this reason, it is essential that a baseline cost be established in a market so that everyone can use the same data to make educated decisions about how to travel efficiently. It is essential that the market can eliminate price distortions, suppress arbitrage opportunities, and equalize asymmetric information. The focus of the industry should be on expanding the market through transparency, not short term gain by hoarding the limited existing market.
Cooperation is the new market advantage
Social Flights has developed an instant flight quote feature that calculates a nominal estimate to fly a private aircraft from any airport in the US to any other airport in the US. This establishes a baseline on the actual cost to fly. From this baseline, jet operators can bid and win missions that are naturally most profitable to them. Or, operators can cooperate with each other by sharing legs in an abundant market rather than compete with each other for a constrained market.
Event planners, corporate executives, travel agents, economic development agencies, and travelers of every type now have the information that allows them to access private aviation inventory for businesses and the magnificent value that it brings to communities. That is the new market advantage.