Adam Twidell speaks about the flaws in the European private aviation charter market.
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Adam
Twidell is a private jet pilot and founder of PrivateFly, an online
private jet quoting and booking network. Here he speaks about the flaws
in the European private aviation charter market, calling for European
charter operators to unite and improve communication through a central
booking network. Is market collaboration the key to moving forward and
protecting this booming charter industry from imploding?
W e
are witnessing a rapid expansion of private aviation in Europe that has
been a direct result of the successful US model. The incredibly
successful NetJets fractional ownership model is just one example of
the US leading Europe by the hand. But significant challenges are now
facing Europe that have so far eluded our colleagues across the pond.
The European business jet community must now unite and face up to these
new challenges or face unwelcome legislation.
Private jet gridlock
Whilst history has
taught us to expect the inevitable down turn, the private jet industry
is enjoying sustained growth and success. Booming aircraft sales,
unprecedented customer demand and airport security alerts further
strengthen our position as an alternative to scheduled airlines.
However a number of factors are now putting the brakes on the expansion
of the industry and the previously unthinkable is happening: new
charter customers are being turned away. The key limiting factors are
lack of pilots, aircraft and slots.
The aviation world as
a whole is suffering from a shortage of qualified pilots. This is the
biggest challenge for the private charter industry, above all others.
Whilst flying schools are ramping up, it takes almost five years to
train a pilot to the high standards required to fly a private jet.
Private aviation offers pilots many more challenging situations to test
their skills, both in the air and on the ground.
Then there is the shortage of aircraft. Wait lists for new
aircraft can be several years, so charter companies cannot respond
quickly or reactively to satisfy the market. Second-hand aircraft
change hands rapidly and are hugely in demand. finally we come to the
lack of slots. Despite private jets being able to use remote airfields
not serviced by scheduled airlines, the reality is that the majority of
private jets are all visiting the same 20 or so busy airports. Until
now, most of these airports have traditionally treated private aviation
as an excellent revenue "filler" in between their peak periods. With
the steady increase in scheduled airline services, private jets are now
being squeezed out of these airports. Europe will undoubtedly attempt
to follow the US?s lead, with the introduction of very light jet air
taxi services, but where are these new aircraft going to land?
Even dedicated business jet airports like RAF Northolt and Cannes have
reached their slot capacity and availability is only assured by
advanced bookings. But private jet aviation is an industry which sells
itself on flexibility and reactivity, so herein lies the conundrum. Our
industry was intended to make travel flexible,
allowing the movers and shakers of the business world to overrun their
meetings and still make it home in time to put their kids to bed. Ask a
pilot in today?s private jet world if that is the case and they will
tell you a different story. Turn up late from your meeting and you can
kiss goodbye to your London arrival slot. Company executives who once
requested departure times to meet their planned meetings, are
increasingly needing to fit their meetings around available landing
slots. Private jet flexibility is rapidly solidifying itself into a
corner. There?s a real threat of disillusioned customers committing to
fractional ownership, or else going full circle and re-considering
scheduled airlines in order to meet their business needs. Further,
fractional ownership schemes and private jet cards have advantages over
the charter market in that they can guarantee aircraft access for their
passengers. There are obviously peak demand days when a customer may
need to be flexible on timings but, generally, aircraft availability is
a given. Unfortunately the charter market is not blessed with the same
degree of
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booming - largely due to its image as a business tool to drive
corporate efficiency - but behind the scenes the private jet charter
network is completely inefficient and fragmented, suffering from a lack
of communication and collaboration. The facts are astonishing. There
are 2,500 jets, operated by 950 operators, rocketing around Europe like
a feeding frenzy at the zoo. It?s every man for himself, as aircraft
drop passengers then race across the skies empty to another corner of
Europe where the next load of passengers awaits. Brokers hunt for
availability whilst operators hunt for pilots to fill their new
aircraft. So there is no availability for passengers whilst the sky is
full of empty aircraft.
Every day pilots see this inefficiency first-hand. A
Cannes-based operator drops passengers in London City then returns home
empty at the same time as a London-based operator takes off with
passengers for Cannes. Not only is this complete financial madness but
it is also an environmental sin. In an ideal world these operators
would speak to each other and agree that one aircraft and crew should
simply stay in the hanger. The combined profits would soar.
Solutions - work smarter
No magic wand can be waved to change this situation overnight.
Previously, the airlines faced a similar eficiency problem and, instead
of competing with each other on certain sectors, they opted to form
alliances and share passengers. The same must now happen in the charter
market. We, as an industry, need to
respond differently and more efficiently with the resource that we do
have. An alliance between groups of smaller operators at central nodes
in the popular network - for example, London, Paris, Geneva and Nice -
would lead to a massive combined strength to compete with the market
leaders. With 40% of European private jets flying empty at any one
time, and with no direct line of communication between the end user and
the operator, the charter market is lacking the sophisticated software
support it requires - a central booking system where all empty sectors
are registered and competitive flights made available to potential
customers. But this is not as simple as it sounds. What happens when
the previous flight is cancelled or delayed? The empty sector passenger
could be left stranded and scrambling in the airline ticket queue. This
is where the alliances would support each other and carry each other's
passengers with the common goal of improving the reputation of the
industry. Faced with these issues, the inevitable - and workable -
solution is for the industry to unite and agree to use one central
booking network: the "stock exchange" for all charter transactions.
This would be a central hub of up-to- date information on aircraft
movements, crucially allowing customers to have a transparent picture
of the market place. It would be a place where professionalism can be
rewarded by reviews and recommendations, where operator
can
form a much-needed alliance and support each other in times of crises.
With the environmental lobby quite rightly demanding increased
efficiency in aviation, we in the private jet industry have a
professional and moral obligation to put our house in order before
legislation is forced upon us. A combined booking network where
information is shared gives every operator the opportunity to compete
for customers based on both cost and reputation, and this is not blue
sky thinking - it's set to happen in the US with the launch of Virgin
Charter, and with the recent launch of PrivateFly in Europe. What's
certain is that the private jet charter industry needs to communicate
better, and only through collaboration and forward-thinking can we
avoid losing frustrated customers.
If you require more information on our services, or would like to talk to us about about your particular requirements, then call on our experienced sales staff on +44 (0)1 747 642 777 to help you select the right aircraft for your journey and your needs.
Alternatively email
enquiries@privatefly.com
and we will endeavour to respond to your enquiry as quickly as possible.
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can
form a much-needed alliance and support each other in times of crises.
With the environmental lobby quite rightly demanding increased
efficiency in aviation, we in the private jet industry have a
professional and moral obligation to put our house in order before
legislation is forced upon us. A combined booking network where
information is shared gives every operator the opportunity to compete
for customers based on both cost and reputation, and this is not blue
sky thinking - it's set to happen in the US with the launch of Virgin
Charter, and with the recent launch of PrivateFly in Europe. What's
certain is that the private jet charter industry needs to communicate
better, and only through collaboration and forward-thinking can we
avoid losing frustrated customers.
