Plane Conversations

In less than three weeks those of us in the US will go to the voting polls to cast our votes in what we call the mid term elections, mid term between the four year interval of the Presidential election cycle. This election is probably the most important one in my 32 years of being old enough to vote.  

We are now two years into a new presidential administration, and the economy is still not healed from the crisis that became apparent two years ago when the banking industry started collapsing. Unemployment is in a  holding pattern at near 10%.  

This administration did not cause the crisis and is glad to let us all know that they inherited it. This administration also has the misguided belief that “big government” in Washington can solve the problem by becoming “bigger government”.

Congress on the other hand can’t point the finger to the politicians that are no longer in office. Most of the leadership that is in place today in Congress, in both the Senate and the House of Representatives, has been around for a long time. Possibly too long?  

So what does all of this have to do with Business Aviation in the US?

Business Aviation is dependent on the success of all business in the US economy. Or maybe better put, the success of business aviation as an industry is intertwined with the success of the economy. Those of us in this industry believe we are a contributor to the overall prosperity of the economy by increasing the efficiency of business through time saving and productive travel. Our industry contributes to the success, but also feeds off the success of the economy. If the economy is productive and prospers then individuals and businesses have the ability to use business aircraft as a means of travel, both in their business and personal travel needs.

A big majority of the elected politicians and those that feed off of the system in DC believe that prosperity emanates from inside the beltway. They have lost touch with reality. They do not understand that that the real prosperity, that has built this nation, comes from small and large businesses alike, and the men and women work in those businesses; People who innovate, create and produce goods, services and new knowledge that increase the standard of living.

When you go to the polls to cast your vote, think about voting for the candidate who is most likely to support small business and free market capitalism. Has the candidate ever started, run or worked in a small business? Have they ever stayed up late at night worrying about how they can make the payroll on Friday and the year end tax payment? Have they created jobs and paid health insurance and contributed to retirement accounts by putting in long hours delivering a product or service that the market values? If not, are they close to someone who has?  If so, then they probably get it.

Who are the politicians that are friends of Business Aviation?

I would posit that those politicians who understand businesses, large and small, must prosper in a global economy are friends to our industry. Those who understand that wealth creation is not a bad thing, because a poor man can’t give another one a job, are friends to business aviation.

When the US economy prospers, then our industry will be one of the ships that rises with the tide. If the ecnomy sinks the only people riding in business jets will be the politicians.

Party politics don’t mean much to me. There has been a lot of sell out to big government and fiscal irresponsibility on both sides of the aisle.

It is time for a change with people serving us in Washington who get it and will not forget who they work for.

Consider seriously who to vote for and make sure to take the time to cast the vote on November 2.

Business Aviation needs people in Washington who understand Business!

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Delta is in the Social Media Game

You can now book a flight on Facebook on Delta Airlines Facebook  page and tell your friends about it without ever leaving Facebook.

When you are on Delta Airlines Facebook page you click the “Book a Flight” Button, then click the get started button. Immediately Delta asks for permission to access your information on your Facebook page including your Friends, user ID, networks, gender, and profile picture. If you don’t allow it the process stops as far as I can tell.

I guess the assumption is that you must give up your data if you want to play the booking game through Facebook. So to figure this out, I let them have my information.

From there it is a fairly easy process and not much different than booking on their main site. You have the option to share the flight with your friends. I have not booked a flight on Facebook to see what happens next. If anyone reading this has used this application I would like to hear your thoughts.

I can see this being used for personal travel but not so much for business. I am not totally sure what the real value proposition to booking through Facebook is at this point, with the exception of the ‘Sharing” of my flight information, and maybe for the Faceobook junkies who cant leave the site it does something?

I wonder what Delta does with my information they now have access to? Will they use it to help me solve travel problems or use it to target me for advertising messages?  

Delta at the time of this posting has about 38,500 Fans on their page. Lots of comments:  some positive and and a lot of negative about service issues.

It is hard to tell if Delta uses Facebook to actually communicate to the market.

Delta has also gotten more active in the use of Twitter and now has a staff to respond to Tweets. When I go to their Twitter acccount  they have 78.000 followers, they follow 730 people and it looks like they don’t respond daily as there are lapses in their tweets on their corporate account.  They do have a Twitter account “deltaassist‘  that focuses on resolving customer issues. This account has 2300 followers.

The airlines are waking up to the use Social Media tools. What will be interesting to watch is how they use the technology. Will they enhance the customer experience, listen and react to the market of travelers needs, or will it just be another way to get more money from the traveler with no value added?  

Could Business Aviation and the Air Charter Industry use these same tools to reach the market in a postive and social way?

An Article  titled Six Ways the Travel Industry can use Social Media is a good read if you have the time.

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