In December, we were inspired by a year-end blog written by Alexandre de Juniac, Director General of IATA. He regularly writes on a variety of interesting flight topics and in this case, his blog was titled “The business of freedom” and you can find it on IATA’s website.
The title immediately caught our eye since our own tagline for our aircraft management services business is close to that: “Avionco. The Business of Flight”.
The real thing that inspired us about de Juniac’s article though was the understated wonder with which he speaks about the profound impact of aviation and the freedom to roam the world that it gives us. In his blog he observes that “On January 1, 1914, exactly one person flew as a commercial passenger. If you are travelling today, you are in the company of eleven million fellow travelers.” That’s pretty amazing.
Our inspiration after reading that was to flip his perspective around a bit and talk about “The freedom of business” that aviation makes available to today’s corporate world.
Think about it. Without the benefits of aviation, it would be impossible to conduct business as quickly and seamlessly as we do today all around the world. And while cell phone and computer technology have made it even easier to reach across geographic barriers, we continue to marvel at how the business of flight continues to play a critical role in putting the right people in the right places to get the job done.
Our customers continually tell us that despite available communications technologies, there is still nothing like being in the same room and looking the people in the eye with whom you are doing business… and doing so on a reasonably regular basis. They consistently report that negotiations and conflicts are far easier to resolve in person than over a conference call or video link. There’s still something impersonal about the latter that seems to impair the intuitive abilities that we trust to serve us effectively in person to person interactions. Body language for example, is still a very communicative element of human nature and without that we sometimes miss the opportunity to correct or adjust our approach on the fly. Our clients also tell us that relationships are as important as they’ve ever been in developing successful business partnerships with customers as well as suppliers. In an increasingly global business environment, having a strong partner in aircraft management services gives organizations the ability to meet in person to solve problems, make agreements, close deals and drive their mutual interests forward.
That need for effective aircraft management services has created an industry driven to provide tangible benefits to those who have global interests and value productivity, communication and results.