When should a private jet charter broker put an operator on hold?

Recently, Dan Harris of charter broker Ironbird Partners posted a question on LinkedIn for other brokers.

Harris often addresses provocative issues such as FBO event fees and catering costs.

He asked, “At what point do you stop working with an operator?”

Harris continued, “If an operator has issues on three out of five trips — pilot scheduling, maintenance delays, crew getting sick (out of their control) — how long do you keep sending them trips?”

He added, “The tricky part is they have good airplanes and good people, but three out of five is a tough pill to swallow.”

Many brokers advertise the ability to source from thousands of charter aircraft as a key selling point.

Harris told followers, “As a broker, it’s a tough call.”

He said, “If you stop working with them, you limit aircraft availability for your clients,” adding, “If you keep working with them, you risk another blown trip.”

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In less than 24 hours, his post garnered more than a dozen comments.

Private aviation and lifestyle consultant Nora Snelling responded, “I’m in the same boat….five trips in a row with issues and I’m not booking with them anymore!”

She adds, “In fact, this has led my client to finally make the jump into aircraft ownership.”

Dubai-based founder of broker and concierge Altara Prive’s James Carter, posted:

‘I think it’s really down to how you feel they are managing the issues. You mentioned scheduling, crew sickness, etc. Those feel like issues that can pop up at any time and hard to foresee (if true). If that’s the case and you have an extensive relationship with them, then I’d have a chat with them and explain where you’re at: You have a great fleet, and I want to do business with you, but your issues are hurting my clients and my business. And then ask them, what can you do to help ease my concerns and for me to feel confident using you again? It has to be a two-way street, especially on the trust side.’

Ryan Schneider of Jackson Aviation Group posted, “You have to have the conversation.”

He believes, “They’ll never improve if they aren’t cognizant of the issues, and it can be a good ‘scare’ for them at the prospect of losing a good broker/client.”

Icarus Jet’s Kevin Singh says, “It’s not a tough call.”

He asks, “The question is how many of these trips can you afford to hurt your clients with until your clients leave you a bad online review and your company falls apart?”

FXAir Vice President Ross Prussin posted:

‘Three out of five trips is not a great ratio, but if the issues were truly out of their control (pilot sickness) and could happen to anyone, then I probably tend to give a pass. Maintenance problems, pilot scheduling, etc., can’t all be blamed on things out of their control. If there are consistent maintenance problems, I am questioning the quality of their aircraft and the quality of their maintenance teams/vendors. If they are scheduling improperly and having duty issues, that doesn’t say a whole lot of positive for their operations team. The thing I look for most is how does the operator communicate and what processes will they adjust to make sure the error doesn’t happen again. You can have an operator that executes a flawless trip and communicates terribly, and you can have an operator who has a terrible trip but is proactive, communicative, and forward thinking. If they are more of the latter, I am not putting them in the penalty box so quickly.’

Rich Brennan, Head of Broker Sales at B2B platform Goodwin, adds, “I would say put them on hold and communicate. Don’t sleep on some of the home-based operators out there.”

READ: 16 reasons to use a private jet charter broker

Race To The Bottom?

Operator Baker Aviation’s Timothy Livingston posted, “If they are the cheapest option, then there is no limit.”

One broker noted, “I have had operators that I would have stopped using, but the client requested that I present their quotes. So we continued using them. It worked out in the long run as the client got what they requested, and the operators’ success ratios with us improved.”

Broker Malachi O’Neill responded, “The challenge of not presenting an option is that it might look like you (were) incomplete in your search.”

Another broker posted, “A CEO of a large operator once told me, ‘Brokers will always come back to the cheapest price, no matter what. I will prioritize a retail jet card client who is willing to pay more per hour every time.”

The poster continued, “Most brokers are loyal to price and nothing else. Brokers have driven some operators out of business in a race to the bottom.”

The poster added, “I am very careful to say, ‘I will never work with you again.'”

He concluded, “The two times I have said it, I went right back when in a jam.”

(Editor’s note: This story was updated with additional comments from the LinkedIn thread.)