A $500,000 private jet booking conducted via an iPhone app has sparked an number of changes in the way individuals and businesses are booking their flights. As wealthy clients have access to mobile technology and are using it for virtually everything, it is also changing the way private jet companies are conducting their chartering business.
Private Jet Companies Embrace Changes
Since the market for this business was already prepared, app bookings have more than doubled and are expected to grow as much as 15% within the next year. As a result, companies are having to re-engineer their mobile strategy in order to accommodate these needs. Companies are also discovering the main target audience for app bookings are business fliers who experience cancellations and delayed flights.
Although there are benefits to booking flights via a mobile app, there are downsides as well. One of which is large sums of money must be verified before the aircraft booking is complete. Before these transactions are confirmed, a two-step process (at least) must be conducted. In the meantime, companies like BlackJet, a charter company based in San Francisco, are using this mobile technology for businesses and individuals who book individual seats vs. whole jets. Since implementation, the aircraft company has booked approximately half of their charters from travelers using their company’s app. The group that this covers, however, consists of the most technical savvy because they like the convenience of being able to book what they need on their mobile phone.
Mobile App Gearing Up for Success
More an annual fee of $2,500, individuals in this group have the ability to download a jet app to use as needed at their convenience. To date, this type of accessibility is directed toward businesses who can afford to pay for their employees’ business flights. In the near future, mobile apps for flight booking will be opened up to millions of other customers to use. While this new strategy is changing the face of how flight booking is done, some of these major companies are not expecting traditional booking to be completely eliminated.
Mobile app flight booking is quickly gearing up and it is taking a front seat in sparking changes in the jet industry. Both the wealthy and business travelers are being provided with an opportunity to book flights from an app prior to traveling from one destination to another. Currently, there are at least two strong markets that the jet industry is catering to and they include the wealthy and businesses. Based on the present forecast, there will be an increase in usage by as much 15% within the next year.
