Posts Tagged ‘consumer’
The Social Flying System
“Systems Thinking” is important in aviation. No single event acts alone from complex air traffic control to complex mechanical aircraft and complex weather systems. Economics is a complex system and markets are complex systems, human behavior is displayed in complex social systems. This is the way that Social Flights approaches business – we are a ride sharing “system” for private jets
It is not surprising then that Google identifies 5 stages of the consumer travel system.
The following is from Trent via Statistics and Research Studies for Travel, Tourism & Lodging:
More than 87% of travelers expect to take the same or more number of personal or business trips in 2011 versus years past. This outlook is positive, and with the rise of mobile, social and video behaviors, we are now seeing seeing travelers move through five key stages of travel. Here are some insights within each stage:
Dreaming: 68% of business travelers watch travel-related online videos. Among them, 68% are thinking about a trip.
Planning: The average traveler visits ~22 travel related sites during 9.5 research sessions prior to booking. 85% of leisure travelers consider the internet their main source of travel planning.
Booking: 37% of leisure travelers report that the internet prompted them to book, up from 28% two years ago. 53% of travelers plan to increase comparison shopping this year.
Experiencing: 70% of business travelers check into their flights/hotel with their mobile device. Almost 1 in 4 hotel queries come from a mobile phone. Over 50% of travelers use mobile phone or device for travel-related information.
Sharing: About 1 in 3 business travelers have posted reviews online of places they’ve been.
At Social Flights we have argued that there is a great need for travel related information to be made available for private aircraft and charter jet inventory. As such, we are developing tools such as our “Instant Quote” feature, and inventory listings to supplement travel information on line. Here’s why:
62% of personal travelers use search engines as the number one source for travel information.
51% of business travelers use mobile devices to get travel information, more than double the rate of two years ago.
46% of personal travelers are watching travel-related videos, versus 36% two years ago.
The quantity and the quality of information that a travel company can provide is directly proportional to the relevance in the 5 stages of consumer travel activity. The effort is paying off.
Social Flights will soon announce several deals with municipalities that are tired of being stranded by airlines
Social Flights will annouce a deal with a major vacation spot that is tired of getting gouged by brokers
Social Flights Instant Quote feature continues to disrupt the “secret handshake” of the charter jet industry
Social Flights will soon announce major deals at world class events where we shuttle people to the doorstep of the action
Social Flights is opening travel circles across the US for people to share their experiences and plan their adventures
At Social Flights, we are aviators, we are system thinkers, we are fully aware and intentional about the system that we are building. We thank all those who are helping, from our pilots to our partners to our investors and to our followers. Together we are developing a Social Flying System
No More Asterisks On Fare Ads
Say what you want about big government consumer watchdogs – increasing information transparency in business transactions makes markets more efficient. Telling someone that they can fly from Albuquerque to Tucson for 59 dollars only to find an 80 dollar fare plus add-ons for everything from baggage, talking to an agent, to requesting a paper boarding pass – this just goes over the top of any ethical disclosure standard.
* additional fees and taxes apply
According to a recent article from the L.A. Times: New rule requires air fare ads to include taxes and fees, starting Jan. 26, no more asterisks. A new U.S. Transportation Department rule requires all advertised air fares to include any compulsory taxes and fees, including fuel charges and the Sept. 11 Security Fee.
At Social Flights, we go a step further – we will tell you the time tax that you pay by not using point-to-point direct private service. For example; if your cheap fare takes two connection flights, with long waits, parking and airport fees plus extra overnights, we will happily tell you that if the value of your time is more than X dollars per hour, then we are cheaper. We can take you there in 3 hours instead of 13…but I digress.
“The price advertising provision was adopted to make sure passengers know the full amount they will have to pay for air transportation when they buy a ticket,” said agency spokesman Bill Mosley.
It’s all about money and time
If anything, quoting a true cost in any form – dollars AND time – provides the traveler with a broader way of thinking about competing options. Many short flights have a true speed of less than 60 miles per hour. The customer needs to be able to compare with the cost of driving. If there are several overnights involved, the traveler needs to be able to measure those costs against taking a train and sleeping car. Of course, private air travel on a shared charter jet holds a distinct segment of the value proposition.
The airlines also described the new rule as “arbitrary and capricious” because the practice of advertising fees and taxes separately has been used for years by “virtually every other industry in the United States.”
Passengers held captive
The airlines may have a good point – although we would prefer that they held themselves to a higher standard than “every other industry”. The fear is that if they quote the true cost, then people would look for alternatives while they still have time … before they are held captive. See, it’s all about money and time.
Value Overcomes Price
Over the years we have seen more and more travel aggregators come into the online marketplace. Now you can go to dozens of different websites to find the lowest possible price for your next trip. As an industry, we have subsequently seen prices going lower as the airlines fight to the bottom to fight for market share. This does not drive down the cost of operation for flying the aircraft, it just lowers the consumer perception of what travel is worth.
(via http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2011/11/29/prweb8985424.DTL) Superfly, a technology startup at the forefront of travel innovation, today announced its new smart flight search engine. Superfly’s engine is a unique online platform that personalizes flight search by adding an individual’s data — frequent flyer miles, elite statuses, rewards programs and individual preferences — into the decision-making process of choosing a flight. For the first time, travelers can fully take advantage of their frequent flyer miles and rewards programs when booking travel online.
“Today’s mainstream flight search websites completely ignore the impact of consumer data,” said Jonathan Meiri, CEO of Superfly. “This is a defining issue for the future of online travel services. Superfly is a secure tool that not only has access to all the flights in the world, it also combines that information with personal travel preferences in order to help consumers figure out which flight is right for them.”
Google’s recent acquisition of ITA Software has marked the dawn of a new age in online travel. Many industry players are now using the same travel data, essentially turning flight search into a commodity. This will most likely unleash a wave of innovation as incumbents look to differentiate their services.
“Superfly is an incredible tool that will bring great value to travelers, particularly frequent flyers,” said Kenneth Esterow, an advisor of Superfly and former CEO of GTA by Travelport. “It is particularly useful to heavy users and corporate travelers.”
Superfly enables consumers to maximize the value of their miles and make better travel decisions. Rather than focusing solely on presenting the cheapest flight, Superfly helps individual consumers identify the options with the greatest personal value. Travelers can use Superfly’s personal travel insights to better manage their rewards programs and cash-in on the opportunities they present.
When all you focus on when you are looking for a service is price, everyone will lose. Value is a much more sustainable model and can lead to more growth and innovation. All of us here at Social Flights support the efforts of companies like Superfly and look forward to leading the charge with them into an innovative and prosperous age of travel.
Can You Create A Better Airline?
Airlines are taking a beating from on-line conversations.
In yesterday’s article titled “Four Strategic Social Experiences” we illustrated, using a word cloud, what a consumer might find if they were searching for shared experiences about a particular airline. Not good.
A new report from PhoCusWright finds that “Flyers are essentially giving airlines a grade of C+, which is barely above satisfactory,” said Carroll Rheem, director of research for PhoCusWright. “But even more concerning for airlines is that their most valuable customers — business travelers and those with higher annual household incomes — are even less happy than the average.” Airlines are stuck in a spiral to the bottom. They all compete on price and subsequently as margins get squeezed so does service.
In a time of mergers, fluctuating fuel prices and economic turbulence, airlines are pulling out of many small citiesbecause they say it no longer makes financial sense. And the federal program that has subsidized air service to many of the smaller cities is in jeopardy as Congress must cut $1.5 trillion from the nation’s debt in the next decade. Add to this the problem larger airport congestion, homeland security pat downs, delays from the hub and spoke system and smaller seats then you can easily predict that customer satisfaction will get worse.
Can Social Technology Create A Better Airline?
Social technology enables people to connect, converse and find relevant information of interest. The market of on-line travel applications is exploding. These application help people find people and travel information of interest. But few if any actually help improve the travelers experience with the airline system.
What would it take for social technology to actually create a new and improved airline that would exceed travelers expectations and serve local communities? It would only take a few…..
How realistic is it for consumers to actually collaborate and create their own airline? Actually it is more realistic than every before. Starting your own airline has never been easier.
There are thousands of under-utilized private aircraft parked in community airports all over North America. These aircraft range in capacity from eight seats, nineteen seats, thirty, fifty and even over a hundred seats. These aircraft are operated by professional aviation companies staffed with professionals who are use to serving customers with high expectations. Now what do you do to create your airline?
You, the traveler, live in communities, online and off, where there are other travelers. If you knew where you and your “connections” intended to travel every week, month, quarter or yearly then a scheduled round trip public charter service could be arranged at a per seat price comparable to commercial airfares. You would save lots of time, flight direct to your destination, avoid the commercial airport hassles and delays while truly “connecting” with other like minded travelers seeking “a better way to fly“. Call it social networking in the sky.
You don’t have to buy a plane to form your airline all you have to do is find travelers in common and use Social Flights. We’ll do the rest while you can rest and experience flying like it used to be, social.
So yes, you can create a better airline. To do so contact matt.solosky@socialflights.com
More on the Airlines and Deregulation versus Re-Regulation.
In a September 2 post I discussed Congressman Oberstar’s statement that possibly we should consider re-regulating the airline industry. His opinion is that the mergers happening between major carriers are bad for the consumer and will leave them with fewer choices, higher prices and less service.
I am opposed to regulation of the airlines in matters of customer service and free market competition. With the exception of matters of safety, I believe the government should step aside and let the market work things out. The government does not have a good track record meddling in matters of the free market.
A September 5 blog by William Swelbar at www.swelblog.com has been posted that intelligently puts the facts out and further convinces me of the government’s need to get out of the way. The blog title, “Dear Chairman Oberstar: What Do You Mean This Is Not What You Voted For?” sets the tone of this post.
If you are interested in this issue Swelbar’s post is a well written argument on the history and merits of the deregulation of the airline industry that happened in 1978. Jump over to his site and take a read .
Even though business aviation and general aviation compete with the airlines for some portion of the travel market it is still good for the economy and the aviation industry as a whole to have a free market system of profitable and competitive airlines to keep our economy moving.
Should the Government Reregulate the Airline Industry?
After the justice department approved the merger of Continental Airlines and United Airlines last Friday, Congressman James Oberstar (D-Minn) voiced his displeasure again with the merger and suggested that Congress might just need to reconsider the deregulation of airlines that happened in 1978.
The airlines have been stuck between a rock and a hard place for years. Combined profits of the industry are non-existent and customer satisfaction with airline service is somewhere down there in the range of our approval ratings of congress’s performance.
What we have received from deregulation are cheap air fares. Most people don’t remember what it cost to fly on the airlines prior to 1978 because they were either not old enough or did not fly on the airlines back then due to the costs. Real costs for flying via commercial airlines have come down over the past 30 years but the by-product of lower fares has been a reduction in what we consider to be service and the amenities of air travel. In some ways, airline travel has become just another form of mass transit much like rail service.
What we want we can’t have, and the government stepping in will not solve the problem.
We want our cheap $99 return fares, anywhere, anytime, and we want great service and convenient on-time departure schedules to go with the low price.
Deregulation brought on the competition with low cost carriers, which brought down the fares that we all enjoy.
Low fares combined with volatile fuel prices, worldwide competition with lower labor costs and airlines irrationally putting too much inventory of seats in the market took the profits out of the airline industry.
So now we have to adjust to some new fare structure and service level that the free market should work out. Mergers of air carriers are a part of this evolutionary process.
The airlines and their shareholders deserve to make a profit, or at least attempt to do so, while providing air transportation to the consumer. Unlike a utility where we have no choice, we don’t have to fly if we don’t like the combination of price, service and time efficiency of air travel.
As my Southwest flight pulled into the gate Sunday afternoon at Nashville, the flight attendant reminded us that we have many choices about who we fly with and he thanked us for choosing Southwest Airlines. In reality, we have choices beyond whom we fly with because we can drive and, in some cases, take the train. We can also choose not to go at all.
Regulation of air travel from the federal government should be limited to matters of safety. Congress should not venture anymore than they already have into the regulation of customer service, pricing and competition.
Government intervention has not brought much value to anything lately and I can’t imagine a scenario where reregulation of the airline industry will ultimately benefit the US economy and the consumer of air travel.
Social Letters of Intent
Every time someone posts something online the context of their content reveals an intent. Intentions have become transparent and discernment of intent is becoming the wisdom of crowds.
The aggregation of consumer conversations enabled by technology has fueled awareness of market methods and intents. Consumers have found influence and have begun to “opt out” of the old methods created by old market methods of intent to capture and sell.
Social technology has created a transparency of intent. Intent is a relational attribute that reveals motive. The “markets of conversations” are no longer motivated by old methods used by the markets over the last 40 years. Doc Searls says “The Intention Economy is built around more than transactions. Conversations matter. So do relationships. So do reputation, authority and respect. Those virtues, however, are earned by sellers (as well as buyers) and not just “branded” by sellers on the minds of buyers like the symbols of ranchers burned on the hides of cattle.”
A Brands Letter of Intent
A letter of intent or LOI is a document outlining an agreement between two or more parties before the agreement is finalized. Such agreements may be for employment, acquisitions, mergers, purchases of services or products. Agreements which aim to specify the intents of parties engaged in a relationship for specific purposes.
The purposes of a LOI may be:
- to clarify the key points of a complex or simple transaction for the convenience of the parties
- to declare officially that the parties are now engaged with an intent implied or specifically spelled out
- to offer safeguards for when the relationship collapses during an engagement with intent
A LOI may also be referred to as a memorandum of understanding (MOU), term sheet or discussion sheet. The different terms show different styles, but do not show any difference under law. Social letters of intent exist when and where buyers and sellers engage on-line through the exchange of information and later a transaction which has certain expectations of delivery.
Social Agreements Represent LOI’s
When people engage with other people or entire organizations on-line there is an implied social agreement represented within the communications. The social agreement may be in response to an inquiry, a comment on posted content or an intent to investigate or take action from an ad or marketing message. The social agreement may also simply be a response to a need or an exchange of communications centric to topical discussions.
Given the reach of social technology and the engagement of markets, buyers and sellers, the underlying social agreement is similar to the traditional letter of intent. While social agreements are not legal instruments the expectations of fulfillment by both parties remain the same as if they were legally agreements.
The very nature of social technology and the emerging dynamics are raising people’s expectation to fulfill implied intents contained in context with the content (communications). It is clear that traditional marketing and advertising methods are being rejected because the intent of such methods are not what buyers expect. Today’s buyers expect honesty, integrity, responsiveness, performance and respect for their time, attention and intentions.
Cluttering buyers time, attention and relevant intentions with irrelevant ads and slick marketing messages does not show respect. Treating buyers like cattle waiting to be herded does not show respect. The currency of communications represents the value of ones intent to fulfill or fail to fulfill the intent of a social agreement. Failure to fulfill a social agreement means the buyers currency, both in the form of money and communications, will not follow you rather both will be spent and shared elsewhere.
Social letters of intent are not created by or from the supplier rather from the buyer. To ignore or not fulfill these intents means you lose the buyers currency and that of their “friends”. That represents a return, or lack thereof, from this thing called social media.
Brazil is developing an aviation biofuels industry. Should that surprise anyone?
I have an interest in the development of aviation bio fuels. After riding through too many volatile price swings in aviation fuel (sometimes for reasons no one can explain), I think it would be nice to one day wake up with some predictability in one of the majors costs to fly aircraft – fuel. And what if the solution happened to be much more carbon neutral? That would be a nice bonus!
Both General Aviation and the Airlines are subject to world price swings in fuel that can destroy profits overnight with no ability to control it on our end. The airlines who sell many seats far in advance are especially vulnerable to fuel price swings since they can not go back to the consumer and ask for more money when they have sold a seat on next months flight.
I have written a couple posts on our site about the development of bio fuels for aviation. Over the long haul this could provide an answer to the problem of price volatility. I also like the idea of our country becoming energy independent. It seems to make sense to not be reliant on other countries for a commodity that keeps the country running, especially since many of the countries we buy that commodity from are not our friends.
I have been to Brazil twice to visit the Embraer factory and on my trips I noticed that Brazil offers more choices to the consumer when you pull up to the gas station to fill your car up. On my first trip when I asked our driver about it he commented proudly that Brazil it energy independent. The country has developed a variety of fuels for their cars and trucks including Liquid Natural Gas and Ethanol or Alcohol based fuel. They have cars that will run on multiple fuels so as not to be limited by supply of one fuel or the other.
So it does not surprise me that the country’s airlines, bio fuels producers and agricultural producers of the raw products for bio fuels have come together to form an alliance to develop bio fuels for aviation.
The blog site http://www.biomassintel.com reports on this alliance (Aliança Brasileira para Biocombustíveis de Aviação – ABRABA) in a May 20 post.
Quoting from the post:
According to a statement released by the alliance, ABRABA argues:
“The use of sustainable biofuels produced from biomass is key to maintaining the growth of the aviation industry within a low carbon economy. The proven ability of Brazil to develop alternative energy sources, combined with its knowledge of aviation technologies, will result in a significant gain for the environment by minimizing the impact on economic development.”
The Bio Mass Intel site has a whole section on Aviation Bio fuels under the heading “Aviation 2.0” (link – . http://www.biomassintel.com/category/transportation/aviation-2-0/) It is worth checking out.
This is part of the innovation that will be required to keep our industry sustainable into the future – both from an economic standpoint and environmentally.
Maybe our country should consider a national policy that orients development of bio fuels for aviation. I can’t see where anyone could complain about it in light of the mess we have in the Gulf of Mexico?