RUNWAY GUIDE: CALIBRATING YOUR CORPORATE TRAVEL BY BUSINESS JET
MAY 26, 2023
In today’s world, business is more decentralized than ever before, and corporate flight departments are now beginning to look at private aviation solutions in a new light.
As many industries continue to pull out of the Covid-induced dynamics and challenges, businesses have had to embrace remote working environments, and now in some cases, prefer it. Leadership and teams also need to be more efficient and strategic with their travel time, creating a need to fly to multiple destinations in just one day.
This is where fractional or jet lease programs can really provide a valuable, cost-effective solution for large corporate travel needs.
Learn how to assess, consider, and optimally calibrate your corporate travel agenda that allows for the best business jet investment and keeps your flight options flexible, optimized, and convenient.
EFFICIENT BUSINESS EXECUTIVE TRAVEL
A new environment requires a new strategy. And new strategies that address critical business needs, from technologies to policies to processes, are the successful ones. How corporations adapt to this new reality of doing business will be the basis for the next chapter and its best outcomes.
Often preoccupied with the challenging, lean, and dynamic environments of recent years, leadership is now looking for longer-term, more efficient solutions to staffing, production, and even corporate travel. Staffing departments, under less pressure to find local candidates, fill growth-related positions to out-of-area executives as leaders to these largely remote or hybrid work location teams.
Commercial airlines fly to about 500 airports in the U.S., and most flights connect through 70 major airports. In contrast, private air travel serves more than 5,000 airports, many of them closer to departure and destinations, further reducing travel times. That’s why private air makes sense for those jumping from destination to destination.
Additionally – corporate retreats have become an increasingly popular mode of business promotion and strategic incubation, creating unique travel needs to possible foreign and remote destinations. Commercial air travel dynamics like routing seasonality and reductions to peripheral markets, hit-or-miss business class experiences, and overall unpredictability have led to more companies valuing the jet lease or share private model.
Because business is now conducted anywhere, some decision-makers may prefer to supplement an extensive travel schedule with a logical private solution – after all it’s not just the CEOs and business executives who can benefit from the private jet model of company travel. Corporate flight departments can now spend less time having to stress over simultaneous travel demands when they supplement their in-house capabilities with a fractional jet provider with aircraft positioned throughout North America and Europe.
Thanks to innovative aircraft like the Gulfstream G450 and G650, which seat up to 15, traveling together as a team is now commonplace and, in some circumstances, presents greater value than 15 commercial itineraries, for example.
Top providers like Flexjet may also grant you the ability to upgrade or downgrade (or adjust the size of) your aircraft to other available fleet cabin classes, depending on your needs. This aircraft flexibility and attractive interchange opportunities allow you the freedom to utilize several different aircraft and cabin classes while optimizing for your specific trip needs.
ARE PRIVATE JETS RIGHT FOR MY CORPORATE TRAVEL AGENDA?
Corporate solutions and programs in private aviation can range from whole aircraft ownership to leasing to fractional ownership to jet cards to charters. There are more ways to access private jet travel today than ever.
One of the chief metrics for decision-makers to consider when choosing among these options is an organization’s total annual hours of travel and its nature. Those who spend 400 to 800 hours in the air per year may want to consider buying their own aircraft. Less frequent travelers who spend between 50 and 400 hours in the air per year may get the most out of fractional ownership.
For anything between 25 and 50 hours per year, travelers may be best suited for jet cards, which give an allotment of hours that cardholders can use as needed.
CONSIDER THESE IMPORTANT QUESTIONS…
- How often would you, or those within your organization, be best served by flying privately, and to what locations? How many hours does this translate to per year?
- Is the travel to places with poor or expensive air service? Direct flight frequency into secondary markets is still not recovering and may never be at the levels they were prior to 2020.
- Is it essential to avoid delays or lengthy layovers? Beyond just delays, short-notice flight rescheduling, cancellations and lost luggage rates were also up significantly last year.
- Are you looking for and willing to invest in air transportation that allows your company to be more productive and removes a level of uncertainty from your overall operation? The National Business Aviation Association estimates that private travelers are productive 80% of the time versus 30% of airline users.
Private aviation is not a one-size-fits-all solution. There are many nuances and considerations to ponder before electing your preferred program or provider. What may make sense for one company may be different from another, but there are companies like Flexjet that will take a consultative approach to tailor a solution that takes into account as many of the varied considerations as possible.
Even corporate flight departments will see how, in many situations, partnering with an established provider like Flexjet for supplemental lift makes sense, is more operationally nimble and more cost-effective for their organization.
Whether you are looking to purchase a jet or interested in private business travel, there’s a program solution for you and your team. Contact our team at flexjet.com or call us at (866) 309-2214.
