‘Uber for X’ is passé, but as the digitalisation of the business aviation industry during and after the COVID-19 pandemic continues to accelerate, how will passengers be booking private jet flights — and eVTOLs — in the future? We sat down with Andrew Collins, president and chief executive officer of Sentient Jet, the company credited with inventing the jet card, to discuss.
“Coming out of the pandemic, we saw an increased need for technology adaptation at a rate we have never seen before,” Collins tells us. “As consumers continue to become proficient with communication technologies, travel and hospitality brands will need to evolve to meet customers’ demands for mobile and digital booking options, and those who do so will be the ones to succeed.”
In the three years since the COVID-19 pandemic upended the world, the need for almost every aspect of our lives to become online accelerated the digitalisation curve by something between five to ten years. Business aviation was no different.
“If we look back to 2019, technology adoption was most definitely taking place but it wasn’t a necessity yet. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we saw a large increase in fliers switching from commercial to private for a variety of reasons but primarily because it offered a level of comfort and safety that commercial just wasn’t able to at the time,” Collins explains. “We knew we had to create something that would meet the needs of this additional demand and make it seamless for people to book their flights. The new flier has been using private aviation as a utility to get from point A to point B … as commercial airlines reduced and cancelled flight paths to smaller cities.”
During COVID, international flights were particularly complicated, with private aviation edging out commercial in many cases for ease and simplicity. Yet as lockdowns in most key markets have been lifted — with the notable exception of China — managing the growth to a new normal requires much thought.
“The return to international destinations is stirring an appetite for even farther and longer trips, especially as borders continue to reopen across the globe. These longer trips are going to lead to an increased need for large cabin aircrafts to fly to those distances. Sentient Jet is expecting to see more large cabin aircraft bookings from New York to points across Europe as the company has seen increases in the number of daily flight legs back and forth across the Atlantic.”
Managing these bookings as they grow in both number and complexity is no mean feat, and one that requires substantial investment in technology. Without a centralised set of pricing and distribution engines like the commercial aviation world, the complexity behind pricing and booking is inherently different for private aviation.
The trick, Collins says, is “streamlining the process in such a way that it puts the control in the users’ hands”.
To that end, moving beyond the app-based model, Sentient Jet is offering automated text-to-book as an option — and promises the entire process need take no more than a minute. Prospective travellers use their own device’s messaging app to make travel arrangements. Interactions and workflow are systematised and use AI to parse text (‘March 5th’ or ‘next Thursday’).
“Looking ahead, we can expect commercial aviation to begin taking cues from private aviation from how they book flights to the elevated experience private aviation provides as they continue to face staffing shortages, long lines, and delayed/cancelled flights,” Collins predicts. “We are also big believers in the future of ‘text-based commerce’ and are working to pave the way to introduce more AI-like interactions into the travel industry. This new way of booking is a real innovation in an already incredibly dynamic and complex market.”
Adding complexity is the sustainability agenda, where travellers — even those onboard private aircraft — are both aware and concerned about the environmental impact of their trips. Both corporate and individual travel planners are already selecting brands based on environmental credentials and credible plans to reduce emissions. The forthcoming advanced air mobility and eVTOL revolutions, as well as the growth in availability of more sustainable aviation fuels, will only amplify this requirement.
The experience truly starts with the booking process, so it is important to make that process as seamless as possible.
Author: John Walton
Published 31st January 2023
;
