Archive for the ‘recession’ Category:
The Search For Private Jets
Google Search for the term "Jet Charter"
Google Think Insights is an amazing resource for looking at who is searching on certain terms, and from where. This post shows two search categories and related terms from which we can draw several general ideas about private air travel. These data demonstrates that an increasing amount of people are searching on terms such as private jet, jet charter, VIP travel, etc.
- Increase in related search terms – note cost inquiries at top
Another curious trend is the term “Jet Charter Cost” is also increasing significantly as people seek to find the value threshold for private air travel vs commercial air travel.
Recession or transition?
These data all refer to a date range between the dates of january 2008 and December 2011 corresponding to the greatest economic downturn in the US since the Depression. There are likely many forces acting on the market including the pullout of commercial aviation from minor market, few travel alternatives, increased usage of internet search technology, increased business travel needs, and upper class growth rates.
- Search results for “Business Aviation”
The increase in terms related to cost may suggest that even the most wealthy are becoming cost conscious, more people want to fly private, more businesses need to fly private in order to access their market, and more VIP travel is required.
It is not surprising that the term “business aviation” has a similar location density to the term “Jet Charter”. This reinforces the suggestion that corporations increasingly need to send their executives on travel outings.
Social Flights is in the business of social organization too:
- Search locations for “VIP Travel” terms
It is likely that wherever executives go, so too will managers and lower level employees. Social Flights has long suggested that there is an opportunity to increase private charter shuttle service between key locations. Likewise, there are opportunities for companies to share private aircraft scheduled to fly between regions.
- Increase in related terms for service products
Next we looked at the term “VIP Travel” and identified the following locations where the terms were searched. We found a similar increase in VIP Travel related terms as we did for terms related to jet charter costs, except related to supporting services such as reservation, booking, schedules, and services.
This suggests that the door-to-door experience is underserved and that an air transportation service that is able to connect the dots would hold a true value advantage over one that just drops the passenger off at a hub airport.
Search terms are important because they indicate the intentions of a market.
While little is ever conclusive, the rate at which something changes can say more than the thing being observed alone. At Social Flights, the demands of a dynamic market are clear.
1. Companies must have business travel options.
2. A door-to-door value proposition is essential.
3. People are searching online more than ever
4. The commercial airline industry leaves a market underserved.
Economic recessions have been shown to be more about technological transition and adjustment rather than any single underlying factor. We believe that this transition will be no different.