Posts Tagged ‘Aviation and Private jet Travel’
How General Aviation Beat(s) the Powerful Lobbyists in DC
The Battle of a Thousand David’s against the one Goliath.
The title could be both looking back in retrospect, looking at the situaiton in the present tense, and looking at the future. How did we beat back the powerful lobbyists when General Aviation took on the Airline Transport Association that represents the mainline airlines? Did we really beat them or is it an ongoing battle with a brief respite?
The battle I speak of was over proposals to put in place European style aviation user fees that would eventually cripple general aviation as they have in other parts of the world. The old style of slugging it out on “the hill” in D.C. would have left General Aviation (GA) in the dust licking it wounds. ATA had the money and the mainstream media (via advertising dollars) on its side. GA, with several less powerful organizations fighting the battle itself and the big media perception problem, appeared to be outgunned.
What these organizations did have was numbers. 1.3 million aircraft owners, pilots, and aviation workers who make their living flying, maintaining and fueling general aviation aircraft every day, as well as small and medium sized businesses who use small aircraft to grow their businesses. Big media portrayed our industry as one that serves what they called the “fat cats” who ride around in big corporate jets wallowing in corporate excess while asking for government bailouts.
For a while, we let them get away with it. Then the voices started speaking up.
The fight looked pretty dismal two years ago when we were up on the hill going around to different congressional offices asking for support. We had some friendly receptions but we also had some chilling ones. You could tell who had been visited by the ATA lobby and their PACS. It was not a partisan issue we experienced. In fact, the most chilling reception we had from the Tennessee congressional delegation came from an East Tennessee Republican congressman who we wrongly assumed to be a supporter of small business (GA).
Most of us thought it to be a losing battle but, still, none of us would go down without a fight. I can’t speak for the organizations that represent us, but at the time I think they probably saw the battle as an uphill fight. The organizations that supported our interests seemed to be behind the power curve and lacked the money to work the hill the old fashioned way. What we did not understand at that time was the power of the grass roots organizations like AOPA (www.gaservesamerica.com) that mobilized their 500,000 plus membership to inundate congress with calls and letters. Alliance for Aviation Across America formed in 2007 to take on the cause and now has over 4,400 members, including all of the major associations that represent GA. www.aviationacrossamerica.org The formation of this alliance was probably the most brilliant strategy of this game. Politicians can’t ignore the sheer numbers and the broad cross section of this alliance. They realized they were taking on mainstream America – famers, small business, factory workers, pilots, maintenance technicians….. Not good politics in the middle of a recession!
We also did not understand the power of social media and the technology surrounding it.
All of this tells us that the power should no longer be allowed to rest in the hands of the paid for lobbyists and politicians in DC. The power rests in the consumer, the individual voice willing to comment on the articles and blogs, the activists who send emails, write letters and make visits to the hill in DC. Alliances whether informal or formal take on a new power that money can’t silence. Whether you agree with the Tea Party movement or not, you have to agree that it represents a shift in power that comes from the bottom up and it is only the beginning. More ground swell movements will follow and emulate.
The politicians are scared of this new shift in power. It is not business as usual. As a good friend says, “it is business as unusual”.
For the first time in the history of our great country, since its founding 225 years ago, the term “We the People” may have new meaning and significance.
So looking forward, how do we keep winning the battle?
First we have to be right. And if we are right, then we have to win the hearts and minds of the consumers (the people), because the real power moving forward rests in the pocketbooks of the consumers who have gained a voice in the market place.
Do not expect them to relinquish that voice. In fact, expect it to grow louder and stronger as social technology allows the voice to be heard loud and clear.
Can General Aviation “Tip” Again? (Pt 1)
We at Plane Conversations love it when we are able to connect with other people who have an interest in aviation. When we run across someone with a passion for it, that’s even better! We blog each and every day about aviation related issues and stories because we want to start conversations with our peers and the market about the aviation industry.
Through the magic of social media, we recently connected with Chris Findley, a graduate of Auburn University’s Professional Flight Management program, former Army Officer and enthusiastic flight instructor. He has a blog site “The Hangar“, and writes with passion about aviation related issues.
Plane Conversations would like to share a two-part blog series written by Chris, which we found to be provocative. Enjoy Part 1 today and join us for Part 2 tomorrow.
but I probably will
Yeah, just sitting back trying to recapture
a little of the glory of, well time slips away
and leaves you with nothing mister but
boring stories of glory days
–Bruce Springsteen, “Glory Days” (1984)
Glory Days and Gladwell
Most of us, if we are honest, have a certain amount of wistfulness when we consider the “glory days” of General Aviation. Whether we are considering the 1930’s and 40’s boom in commercial aviation, the incredible pilots and aircraft that came of age in World War II, or the surge in production and training of the 1970’s, there is always a sense that these “glory days” have passed us by.
Gone are the days of Cessna rentals for $13 a day as Time magazine reported in March of 1971. Gone are the days of AvGas hovering around the $.90 to $1.00 mark as they did the year I started flying (1986). But moreover, gone are the days of 1979 when there were over 200,000 student pilots bouncing around the skies of the U.S. In 2007 there were a mere 84,339 licensed student pilots. This represents a drop of 58%. Anyone who cares about the future of general aviation understands the implications of these numbers and what the impact of diminishing ranks of pilots has on the industry.
Are these numbers the result of economic pressures and increased rental fees and fuel costs? Perhaps, but if that were the only issue, then we should see a peak of training in the mid to late 80’s when our economy was very strong. Instead there is a decline during that time. During the recession of the late 70’s there is a general upward trend in student pilots and in the total number of pilots. Common sense dictates that, of course the economic climate has an effect on flying, particularly for recreation. But there seems to be something larger, something more going on in the flight training world.
Recently I read Malcolm Gladwell’s The Tipping Point . I could not stop thinking about how Gladwell’s observations might help the flight training industry. His premise is that trends and epidemics (trends that catch and spread like wildfire) do so as a result of several factors. Therefore if you want to start a trend, or encourage the start of a trend, there are several things that one can do to influence that process.
In The Tipping Point, Gladwell observes that most trend epidemics are influenced by a relatively small number of people who get the ball rolling. He also observes that the message being conveyed has to be memorable, and that the context of the people receiving the message had to be considered.
The Power of the Few
One of the great misconceptions about any movement is that it takes a large number of people to initiate it. This goes for trends in clothing, sports, and religion, remember Jesus began with only twelve. Most clothing trends begin among a small group of people that have a certain influence. Many restaurants grow by word of mouth, most movies owe a lot to not only quality (or in spite of it) but to word of mouth. The key is to get the message one wants to convey to those most likely to have the influence to spread it.
One of the best moves has been the AOPA’s “General Aviation Serves America” campaign which holds up the likes of Morgan Freeman and Harrison Ford as spokesmen for General Aviation. Unfortunately the messages do not seem to be widely disbursed and mainly aimed at protecting legalities of flying. These are important points to be sure, but why not involve these well-known actors in promoting the joy and adventure of flying to the general public in a campaign to increase the number of student pilot starts? Let them share their love of flying in a commercial or informercial that can be purchased by a local airport or Flight School for use in a local television market? Even my eight-year-old recognizes Indiana Jones when he sees him!
Having a few, well-known, established, credible faces speaking of the joy of flying would spark interest and conversation. It’s the power of a few.
If aviation is going to “tip” we need to define the trend we would like to see. For many of us a great goal would be growth in the number of students who start and complete their training for their license. Additionally (and related), we must improve the perception of General Aviation in the eyes of the public. These are lofty goals, but ones that deserve our utmost effort. One fuels the other: improve public perception; you’ll see an increase in the number of new pilot starts. Increase the new pilot starts, and you will increase the public perception because these new pilots will be veritable Aviation evangelists.
In the world of general aviation flight training I’m not sure we’ve ever really considered these things. Most flight schools operate on the “drop in” method of attracting new prospective pilots. They simply unlock the door in the morning and hope someone that is thinking about flying will wander in.
We’ve neglected a simple principle that we all inherently know: The love for flying is caught before the skills of flying can be taught.
So first, we have to consider our message. Then we have to consider the best way to help that desire into reality. It can start with the power of a few that are motivated to spread the word and be creative and proactive in how they do it.
More “Tipping Point” applications later…
We’re Listening: Fighting Terrorism With Social Currency
On January 25, Dan Robles suggested that Social Currency might be used to fight terrorism. Some of our friends on Linkedin joined the conversation.
Greg Johnson, President, CEO and founder of OneSky Jets, says:
“I think there are a few interesting points of discussion in Dan’s latest post. The first relates to where we catch terrorists… Trying to stop them at the airport checkpoint is an effort in futility. Terrorists are a determined lot and as Dan states, they only have to succeed once. The answer lies in knowing more about everyone who elects to fly as personally invasive as that may sound.
The U.S. and other countries are already starting to collect more data from passengers…birthdate and place of birth in addition to name, even on domestic flights. There has been an ongoing debate about a federal ID card although my opinion is that an additional card would be redundant. The databases exist today to to give law enforcement a pretty decent ability to profile passengers and I only see that capability expanding.
The typical terrorist’s desire to keep a low profile works against them when they are attempting to blend in to an increasingly data-driven society. The absence of data or abnormal patterns will stand out.
I don’t believe that “social currency” on its own is enough. There are billions of peaceful people on the planet that are not actively engaged in social networking today. The fact that my Mother isn’t on Facebook, LinkedIn, or MySpace shouldn’t (on its own) subject her to an additional level of security screening, however a college student today without an online presence might throw a red flag or two.
Also, don’t think that law enforcement isn’t already leveraging social networks. I have an associate who has been involved in government facial recognition projects. When the government needed a database of names and photos to test this new technology, where do you think they went? The publicly available pages of Facebook!
So the net/net here in my opinion is that the publicly available data in social networks can and will be used by governments of the world as one facet in a multi-dimensional campaign to know who is flying before they get anywhere near the airport and in the big picture, that’s a good thing.”
Mike Osborne, Operations AME at Honeywell, shares this concern:
“How do you propose to ascertain their networks and claims? Either or both seem easy enough to falsify.”
My reply is:
“I believe that the idea is to go for a “preponderance of evidence.” Just as the lack of a credit report, utility bills or bank records casts doubt on the authenticity of an identity, the lack of social credit and social activity history casts doubt on the social interaction and perhaps even identity of the passenger. Certainly, just as false credit reports, etc. can be created to support an alias, false social backgrounds could be created to support it as well. I think the point that Dan Robles is making is that to create monetary history and social history that coincide is difficult and would make it more difficult for terrorists to support several believeable aliases.”
Kenneth J. Goldstein, President at KJG International Consulting, responds:
“No as left to their own devices, most would not provide a sufficient background to grant the rest of us security.”
What do you think?
FAA Forecast for Aviation for next 20 years: What does it mean for us in Private Aviation?
The following are excerpts from a March 9 Chicago Tribune article by Jon Hilkevitch.
Passengers on U.S. airlines will pay relatively small increases in airfares over the next 20 years, but they should expect more flights crowding the nation’s busiest airports, including O’Hare International, the Federal Aviation Administration said Tuesday.
Travelers hoping to stretch out across an empty seat next to them will likely be out of luck. And, sorry, the small regional jets that are so unpopular among a significant segment of passengers are here to stay, although the commuter airlines will begin retiring their 50-seat jets in favor of somewhat larger aircraft.
The FAA now says it will take until 2023 to hit the 1 billion mark, indicating modest annual growth from the 704 million passengers carried in 2009 by U.S. airlines, on both domestic and international flights. Total passengers will rise to 1.21 billion by 2030, the agency said.
Coming off 2009, when U.S. airlines lost $8.1 billion, the total number of commercial flights is forecast to decrease 2.7 percent this year, the FAA said. Flight volumes will then grow at an average annual rate of 1.5 percent by 2030, the FAA said.
Jetliners, which are nearly full on most flights today as the carriers try to prop up airfares, will stay that way, leveling out at 82 percent of all seats occupied on flights over the next 20 years, the FAA said.
While most passengers will continue to fly on the big, mainline airlines, that segment of the industry will grow the slowest over the forecast period, officials said. The biggest percentage gains will occur on international flights, followed by regional commuter airlines that operate smaller aircraft. Those regional airlines bucked the negative industry trend by turning a profit in 2009, FAA officials noted.
Twenty-nine large hub airports, including O’Hare and Midway, are projected to handle the bulk of the increased flights, growing at an average of 3 percent a year in landings and takeoffs through 2030, the FAA said. It means that to prevent aviation gridlock, the FAA must complete its ambitious transformation of the nation’s air-traffic system, dubbed NextGen, to a satellite-based system that replaces the current ground-based radar.
So what does all of this mean for Private/ Business Aviation?
The airlines are going to crowd more people on aircraft by constraining supply in an effort to raise prices; they are going to use more regional airliners; they are going to focus more on the 29 major airports in the U.S., and focus more on international flights. This looks like mass transit to me.
None of these trends provide better solutions for business travelers in small and mid size markets.
What it does spell is more delays, crowded flights, less tolerance on bad weather days at crowded hubs (I am feeling that right now sitting at ATL on a busy travel day and bad weather).
In all of this I see opportunity like never before for the general aviation and business aviation sectors to step up to fill the voids and ease the pain. There are 5500 airports and the airlines are going to focus growth on the top 29? They only fly to around 500 airports in total so that leaves a lot of room for private aviation to provide point-to-point solutions between the rest of the nation’s airports.
Air travel is supposed to be about time efficiency and if the FAA is correct in their forecast, the time to travel by air mass-transit is going to slow down even more, which widens the gap in time gained by flying private and helps close the gap in costs when you value your time.
When Security Takes Longer Than The Flight
In a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, Scott McCartney talked about security taking longer than the flight.
Ever since the December 25 bombing attempt, travelers heading to the United States have had to face much tighter security. The federal government issued new rules which made inbound travelers have to go through a number of screening processes which include some pretty intrusive searches. And the crazy thing is people adjust. We have all become indoctrinated to this. We don’t like it, but we just have to do it.
I know this because I flew from Brisbane, Australia to Los Angeles a week after the attempted bombing. I was told that I would have to be at the airport three hours prior to my flight. I went through a number of searches, pat-downs, emptying out of personal belongings and carry-on luggage. I removed my shoes about four times. My teenaged son, who happened to be walking ahead of me alone, with his hands in his pockets, wearing a hoodie over his head, was approached by security to have an explosives test.
The article says: “If you’re coming inbound to the U.S., it’s going to be a tough summer unless we get some creative change in the security rules,” said Steve Lott, a spokesman for the International Air Transport Association, a Geneva-based group that represents airlines around the world.
Airports, airlines and government agencies around the world have hired more screeners to perform the “enhanced” security that the U.S. now requires for any flight headed to or flying over the 50 states.
Airline officials said that government agencies and airports in North America, Europe and Asia have promised that they will staff up enough to prevent long lines and delays as travel picks up this spring and summer. “All we’ve got at this point is their word and we hope their word is good,” said an official at a U.S. airline. “It’s a concern.”
This affects not only those traveling to the US from overseas, but also domestic flights around the country. So, what’s the alternative to removing your shoes and standing in long security lines? You could always get a bunch of buddies, or other business travelers heading your way, to charter a private aircraft. You’d be surprised at the price of dividing a charter flight by six or eight. And you’d love the fact that you can drive to the FBO, grab a coffee and board the plane from the ramp 15 minutes before wheels up. And I haven’t even started on the luxury of the experience yet.
Has Airline Travel Turned into a Mass Production Manufacturing System
With the dawn of industrialization came mass production, and mass production lead to mass marketing. Mass marketing lead to the growth of mass media including Newspaper, Radio and TV.
Everything was driven by costs and profit and pushing stuff out to the consumer who also happened to be part of the mass of producers and marketers. If you make it cheap enough and market it to the masses, they will consume it.
With everything geared towards the masses, mass transit developed in the cities to move people to and from their jobs as workers in the large corporate factories that mass produced.
Mass transit started with the rail system and then added buses and eventually the airlines developed into the mass transit system of the air.
Mass transit is all about price and when price is the driving factor, the needs of individuals are sacrificed for the needs of the masses. Load everyone up like cattle, route them through the hubs, off load and reload on to the next flight that gets you somewhere near your destination, maybe not so quickly or in the most comfortable or sociable environment, but do it cheaply. It feels more and more like riding the metro rail?
So the airlines developed terms for describing productivity and efficiency that sound much like production manufacturing terms:
- CASM: Cost per available seat mile. A seat mile is one seat covering one mile.
- RASM: Revenue per available seat mile. The amount of revenue generated for every seat available covering a mile.
- RPM: Revenue per passenger mile. The revenue generated per passenger flown flying one mile.
All of this sounds like mass production. Are airlines in the business of providing transportation to the flying public or are they in the business of producing ASM’s and selling them at a profit generating RASM?
Is there a point where driving the CASM down to make a profit overrides best safety practices? That is a question being asked in the Frontline Documentary entitled “Cheap Flights”. I will leave that answer up to the safety experts for now.
Does the public merely want to get from origin to destination and back again for the lowest possible cost?
Will the public pay for something better than mass transit delivered at the lowest cost?
In the economy of the future, people will be more aware of the value of their time and they will have the tools to quantify its value. They will also value the experience of travel and quantify that experience in a social cost or benefit.
Just as people are longing for the personal touch and experience of buying their food at the farmers’ market versus buying mass produced food, they will long for and seek out solutions to every facet of their lives, including travel that gives back quality, experience and relationships.
And let’s not forget that people want their time back, spending it how they choose, and not how the systems of mass production forces them to spend it.
Delta – If You Can’t Beat Them, Buy Them!
Delta Air Lines’ recent acquisition of North Carolina-based Segrave Aviation speaks volumes about the airline’s recognition that private aviation / business aviation is a viable part of the air transportation system in the United States.
At a time when major air carriers are reducing capacity, pulling out of small markets, and scrapping to make a profit (which for the most part has not happened in a long time), Delta is doubling the size of its corporate jet charter subsidiary Delta Air Elite.
These guys are on to something.
Maybe they see the real value of a system where General Aviation plays a role that compliments the Air Mass Transit System as opposed to viewing us as the enemy? More and more, airlines seem to be consolidating into route structures that serve the high-density traffic lanes between major US cities on domestic routes and between major US cities and major centers of commerce worldwide on international routes.
Can General Aviation serve as a feeder to the airlines much like their subsidiary and code-sharing commuter airline partners have done over the past 20 years?
General Aviation has the flexibility to move with the markets of demand much easier than the airlines do. Flights can be added at the spur of the moment as demand changes with travel seasons, or even events such as conferences and conventions where thousands of people move to a city for a three day event.
And we all know, for sure, that General Aviation delivers a much more stress free and efficient travel experience than the airlines have delivered so far.
So maybe the mantra should be if you can’t beat them out of business, buy them?
What are Travelers’ Intentions?
If those of us in the private aviation / business aviation services industry are to serve the traveler, it might be good for us to understand and know what the travelers’ intentions are. Intention simply signifies a course of action that one proposes to follow, a goal, an end, an objective:
Most of us who work in this business are also customers of this business. Most of us also use the competition – airlines or air mass-transit, as I fondly prefer to name it.
So if we are to understand what the traveler’s intentions are, maybe we should think like the potential customer thinks and not so much like insiders of private aviation.
As a business traveler what is my objective or the course of action that I intend to follow? I want to get from where I am to another location for the purpose of selling, buying, or building a relationship – all the things people do as a normal course of business that require showing up in person.
If I am intending to travel by air then the assumption would be that I do so to save time. If time is not a factor then I may drive or take a train or boat for less money or just for the experience.
I want to arrive on the other end of my journey with the stuff that I need or want to travel with me and hopefully be in physical and mental condition to do the business I intend to do when I get there.
Once business is done, I am ready to come home and hopefully do so as fast as possible. I miss sleeping in my own bed!
Preferably, I want to arrange for all of this to happen as easily as possible. Friction in the process that slows me down while setting up the whole travel agenda is frustrating and time consuming and ,once again, defeats the purpose of fast travel in the first place.
Somewhere in all of this mix it would be icing on the cake if I could be treated special - like someone important, instead of being herded like a cow up the cattle chute being loaded on the freight train. Is that too much to ask in today’s world? To be treated like someone special?
And last, but not least, I want it all at a great price. Even though I value my time, there is a finite measure of that value in today’s time measuring, value driven business world.
When asked about the perfect restaurant selection, my father-in-law used to say: “Great food, friendly and efficient service, easy parking, all at a low price”. That always got a laugh out of us because we knew all of those requirements to be impossible in one restaurant. You could get it all except not at the low price.
So is it impossible to deliver that type of expectation in travel?
Here is how it stacks up today:
Airlines (Air Mass-Transit): Decent price – sometimes, terrible service, inconvenient time travel, wasted time in the process around actually getting in the air, cattle car treatment, stressful experience due to reliability of meeting the schedule, possibility of losing my stuff, and lack of control plus all of the above.
Private Air Travel: Expensive Price, great service, convenient time travel (my schedule), no wasted time in the process of getting in the air, VIP treatment, no stress because the schedule is made, my stuff arrives with me and I control the departure time.
How does it add up? Private Air 6 – Airlines (Mass Transit) 1
I like that score, don’t you? But how do we make it 7 to ZIP?
It’s All About the Baby Boomers!
There are 77 million of them and, according to an online article on Barron’s website, Baby Boomers are being ignored by marketers. What’s more, they are being ignored when they are the group who has driven 45% of all consumer spending for the last 60 years. In the next few years, it is estimated that the number will grow to 52%.
So who are the marketers going after? They favor the 18- to 49-year-olds, as they are the age group who are forming opinions, forming families, and are making major purchases like homes, cars, etc. However, they are not the age group with their wallets out ready to spend. Look at most advertising done today; it is aimed at the younger, hip crowd, in spite of the fact that over half of spending comes from the 45 to 63 year olds. And this trend is expected to continue for the next 20 years, Barron’s says.
So what about the traveler? Do we, in the aviation industry, target the Baby Boomers or Gen Xers? Do we even know?
Travel Marketing Decisions interviewed a series of experts to gather insight into this enormous and potentially lucrative segment. Below are some truths about Baby Boomers and the marketing implications for the travel industry.
1. Boomers consider travel a necessity, not a luxury. This is good news for the industry on two counts. First, the sheer number of boomers traveling will cause business to grow. Second, since travel is a necessity, Boomers engage in it no matter how scarce their time or money. Their travel behavior, therefore, is less dependent on life stage or the economy.
2. Boomers have traveled more than their predecessors. While their parents first visited Europe when they retired, Boomers criss-crossed the Continent as students. They’re already seasoned travelers, and know what they like and don’t like. They also seek out more in-depth ways of experiencing familiar places.
3. Boomers want to have fun. It’s not surprising that adult teenagers put a premium on having a good time. Although fun, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder, Courtney Day, of a New Jersey research and marketing firm, said companionship, stimulation and the cultural/social experience make travel fun for Boomers. She added, “Part of the enjoyment of the experience is knowing it’s unique - that’s part of the rush.”
4. Boomers demand immediate gratification. Unlike their Depression-era parents, Boomers grew up in times of plenty. Easy gratification bred a desire for still more and quicker rewards. As a result, Boomers don’t wait to take the trips they want. If they don’t have the money, they just use plastic.
5. Boomers are not passive. They want a measure of control in designing their travel experience, and, once on the road, they want to choose their activities. “If you tell them they’re going to do A, B and C, they might want to do E or F,” noted editor Malott. The challenge for travel marketers is to make it clear their product offers plenty of options.
6. Boomers think they are special. Having always been a force to be reckoned with, they are very demanding consumers. Whether they go budget or luxury, Boomers tend to want the best.
7. Boomers like creature comforts. This fact, according to Malott, actually keeps Boomers from booking the exotic locales they profess to like. Day puts a slightly different spin on the issue. “A tent is OK,” she said, “but it better have a great view and great food. Even if you’re in the wilderness, luxury is being served a delicious meal without having to lift a finger.”
8. Boomers are time deprived. To get relief from their stressful schedules, Boomers vacation where they can do absolutely nothing but be pampered. Or they may go to the opposite extreme, choosing adventures that are physically or mentally challenging – or both. When booking travel, Boomers also need time-saving devices. They like 800 numbers, the Internet, videos and virtual reality because they offer convenience and interactivity. Internet use is so common among Mature Traveler readers, editor Malott automatically lists website addresses along with phone numbers. Day pointed out that Boomers use the Internet more for information gathering than booking. “It’s human nature to want to feel connected to what you’re about to sign up for,” she said. However, she added, Boomers also like the freedom of not involving other people when they are exploring a subject. Their attitude is, “When I’ve decided, I’ll initiate the next move.”
9. Boomers will pay for luxury, expertise and convenience. ATM fees, nannies and bottled water prove Boomers are willing to pay for what they want.
Seems to me Baby Boomers are the perfect customer for the private aviation industry. So how do we reach them? We should concentrate on adding value to the process of buying experiences. So…a Citation XLS or a Lear 45?
A Social Flight?
On a recent podcast interview with Max Flight and the guys who are regulars on the www.airplanegeeks.com pod cast, I made the statement that flying on business or private aircraft is “social.” One of the guys asked me to define what I meant by “social”.
Honestly speaking, I did not really even think about the definition of social when I made that remark - it just came out.
So here is a definition of social that I like: “marked by or passed in pleasant companionship with one’s friends or associates”.
My off the cuff response was that flying on a private jet is a pleasant and enjoyable experience. It is comfortable and the treatment the passenger receives from the flight crew is good. Compare this with the anti-social experience of riding the airlines.
Why shouldn’t travel by air be social? I mean it used to be when I was a kid. As I wrote on my very first post on this blog site – I remember that first airline flight in 1969 on American Airlines. We put on our best clothes like we were going to church. The flight attendant and pilots made us feel special and even gave us wings!
The one airline that engages in social flying today is Southwest Airlines. One of the last Southwest flights I took was coming out of New York’s LaGuardia Airport. While waiting for the passengers to finish boarding, the captain entertained us by playing ‘Oh, Susannah!’ on the harmonica. He jokingly said that he was not going to stop playing until everyone was seated. I love it! Taunting a bunch of New Yorkers with a song from the South on the harmonica. Truth is, even the New Yorkers loved it. Now, that is Social!
I hope Southwest never loses that social culture they have carefully created and nurtured over 30 plus years of operating.
Why can’t all airlines get the culture of making it fun and social. Even if we are crowded into seats a little too small, at least they could make it fun.
Having said all of that what is so ‘social’ about flying on a private jet?
First and foremost, it is a more personal experience. You are greeted by the pilots who help load your bags as you board the aircraft. They know your name and you will know theirs. They may tell you about the enroute and destination weather, if that is a factor, and they may ask if you are OK with proceeding. I usually say, “I am good if you are” but some folks would rather wait it out or go another day if the weather is too lousy. Wait a minute. You mean I can call it off? You bet you can.
Once on board, you get the feel of riding in the limousine instead of the subway. It is easy to ask the pilots a question like “where are we?” or” what is the name of that river?” Or you can just sit back with your friends or business associates and enjoy the ride in comfortable seating. Want to talk business with your travel mates? You don’t have to worry about the guy behind you listening in on the conversation since you already know who he is. When you arrive on the other end you are usually greeted by the smiling face of a person who parks the aircraft at the Fixed Based Operation (private air terminal) at the destination. Most roll out a red carpet even if you are not a rock star!
You then walk to the terminal (FBO) and someone has your rental car keys ready or the hired car is waiting close to the aircraft and you are off to your ultimate destination – the business meeting, dinner or vacation spot. If the business meeting runs a little long, the aircraft will not leave without you. A courtesy call to the pilots or company dispatch will update the crew so they can update the flight plan -emphasis here on “courtesy” since the pilots do have legal lmitations on their time and need to be rested to be safe to fly you home.
One of the most common feedback points we get from customers is how much they enjoyed flying with crew and frequently they request to fly with that same crew again. Flying is a comfortable experience when you get to know the crew upfront and they get to know you. People like to be treated with respect by the people they do business with. On a private jet, courteous treatment is the norm, not the exception.
If all of this sounds like an experience “marked by or passed in pleasant companionship with one’s friends or associates,” then it’s social.