As Bombardier’s Flexjet celebrates its 10th anniversary by moving into the black, it has been surprised to see increased interest from flight departments for supplemental lift.
Traditionally, they have been wary of fractionals, but because of a shortage of aircraft, flight departments are increasingly looking towards fractional providers to plug the gap.
Bob Knebel, vice-president sales, says: “Aviation department managers are recognizing that service may involve a blend of solutions. As companies become more geographically dispersed, their fleets may be unable to service their outlying offices and their total need may not support using another whole aircraft. A fractional can serve as supplemental lift permanently or temporarily until a distant office may wish to support its own aircraft. The flight department may find the nature of the need small enough to purchase ad-hoc charters, which is sufficient for many. If the total demand is sufficient to suggest a more cost-effective solution, or their needs are higher, fractional is a valid answer.”
Flexjet believes this marks the beginning of a trend for flight departments to include fractional providers in their plans. Knebel says: “There is clearly an increase in the interest expressed for our fractional service. We also offer this to non-Bombardier business jet departments. Current take-up is around 50% Bombardier to 50% non-Bombardier.”
Flexjet is keen to forge stronger relationships with flight departments. Knebel says: “We want them to get to know us – to see that we are not a threat.”
There are several reasons for Flexjet’s recent turnaround, including its purchase of Optimizer aircraft and crew positioning software; maintaining a young fleet consisting of five aircraft types and keeping its cardholder program at no more than 7% of the fleet. “The industry has oversold cards,” says Knebel. “This has negatively impacted service performance for owners and cardholders. When there is 9-10% of the fleet involved, it clearly damages delivery.” Flexjet has also waived its ferry fees for Challengers going to Europe and Hawaii.
Honesty
Customer retention is as important as acquisition, and Flexjet retained 83% of the contracts that came to term this year. Part of its strategy was to advise customers when they had over-bought their hours. Knebel says: “We told one bank they were wasting their money and advised them to downsize. They said ‘we’ve never had a supplier talk to us in that manner before’. But you can bet they will stay with us forever.”
Source: Flight Daily News
