Recently we were updating our business plan to help us prepare strategies for the future success of Avionco in the aircraft management sector. For many reasons, we see opportunities among the many challenges all of us in the industry face. Here’s an overview of our thinking.
The Business Jet Market Analysis, Trends and Future Outlook study by Grandview Research predicts a promising future for high profile aviation in the years ahead (2016-2024). Among other things, it singles out emerging economies such as China and India and other developing nations that will be responsible for propelling future demand.
This kind of potential growth is further supported in other related studies such as the 2018 Wealth Report by Knight Frank Research which examines the impact of growing personal wealth around the globe. It observes that growth among the super wealthy continues and will have positive impact on elite services such as private aviation.
The private aircraft industry is defined by two key sectors, Corporate ownership and Private ownership. Regardless of whether aircraft are owned by businesses or individuals, all aircraft must be operated and maintained within strict, legal guidelines. Owners must hire licensed, professional aircraft management firms to ensure overall safety, performance and legal operation as they apply across the globe. The emerging trend to shared or fractional private jet ownership further supports the need for third party firms who can manage aircraft for these groups.
However, as the industry has grown, so have the companies that provide aircraft management services. As a result of this growth in demand, these large firms now dominate the industry and have had to create a service infrastructure of account managers and middlemen, further distancing owners from the actual experts they want to communicate with. This less responsive, more impersonal model has resulted in a commoditization of the aircraft management industry generating declining loyalty among customers.
Josh Dodd, Managing Director of Avionco Ltd, puts it thusly: “Response time is critical. Our customers need what they need now and that’s how we’ve built our service model. Direct access to our leadership team, no waiting for an inexperienced account manager to get back to you.”
Entrepreneurial companies like Avionco are changing the game and giving corporate jet owners new options to access more agile, experienced providers who can meet their expectations without sacrificing communication or responsiveness.