March 24, 2024
Air Partner is pushing the human touch in private jet charter, but JetSmarter, PrivateFly, Stratajet and others report increases in online bookings.
While many private jet companies are investing and promoting apps where customers can request and book private jet charters or book flights in jet card programs, the CEO of Air Partner says people do a better job than technology.
Speaking to Aviation Week during EBACE in Geneva, Air Partner CEO Mark Briffa told the B2B publication, “We believe our Customer First strategy, which delivers an unrivaled level of service, particularly for JetCard, together with our financial stability, transparency, and security, means we have a unique proposition. We have some exciting initiatives underway which we believe will further extend our services in this area and deliver exceptional services to our customers.”
The Air Partner boss added, “But we fundamentally believe and our customers seem to agree that until technological capabilities have further developed, complex travel scheduling is better handled by people rather than machines.”
He said the company has “no intention” of becoming an online broker, and instead is focused on high-touch concierge services for its C-Suite and UHNW customers.
At the same time, online players such as PrivateFly, Victor, JetSmarter and Stratajet continue to boast rapid growth in users and revenue. Private jet card seller Sentient Jet has released an app that combines both scheduling and concierge services, including promoting special services for customers from its partners. For example, a customer landing in New York might receive an instant message from Italian suitmaker Brioni with a special offer to make a private visit to its store.
