Operators Call for More Efficiency

Almost half (45 per cent) of operators who responded agreed that the global recession has been their single biggest challenge to date. But ironically, for an industry that delivers business efficiency for its customers, the private charter market as a whole seems remarkably inefficient. Nearly all (98 per cent) recognised that the Internet was beginning to make the industry more efficient, but the wider results do indicate that there is still a significant opportunity to improve efficiency.

“The charter industry is still highly fragmented and operates predominantly offline, from a customer point of view. There’s an exciting opportunity to bring both customer transparency and online efficiency to this market, reflecting how the wider travel industry has been transformed in the last ten years” said Adam Twidell, CEO of PrivateFly.

The survey also revealed the following

• Three quarters (74% per cent) of operators say that over a third (30-40%) of their flights are empty sectors.
   
• Nearly two-thirds of operators (61 per cent) prepare 20 or more quotes for every charter sale with almost a quarter, (22 per cent) saying that they prepare 40+ quotes per booking.
   
• 69 per cent of operators believe price competitiveness is the single biggest factor in winning charter business – above speed of returning a quote (17 per cent) and their safety record (7 per cent).
   
• Recommendation is unsurprisingly top of the list, with 83 per cent relying on word of mouth. But 50 per cent of operators now use search engine optimisation as part of their marketing efforts, while social media sites are used by 22 per cent. Over half of operators (52 per cent) agreed that showing 360 degree imagery of aircraft on their websites would improve sales.
   
• On average, operators said that 68 per cent of private jet passengers were male, with a slightly lower male majority making the bookings (63 per cent).

Commenting on the results, Twidell continued: “While the majority of operators see price competitiveness as the biggest decision driver for private jet customers, they themselves feel strongly that customer service and safety are paramount. But there are clearly areas of industry-wide inefficiency – and therefore the opportunity for cost savings for both operators and customers”

The full survey results are published here