Imagine being able to trust a charter comparison website just like you can with other comparison websites. Having the ability to instantly search all aircraft options including live transient availability, one way prices, empty legs and individual seat purchases – all within a few seconds……and then being able to trust that the search results are all available aircraft and the price you see is the actual quote and is the best price you will get…. You then just click to buy.
Here Steve Westlake, Aviation Director shares his views on the future of charter brokering and the sort of platform that can support charter professionals.
“There is a strong argument for Brokers to keep the personal touch with their clients but buying the right aircraft in the right place for the right price can be almost fully automated using technology. The charter aircraft search and quoting process is currently fragmented which makes it slow and irregular for Brokers and time consuming for many Operators.
At Returnjet we are leading the race to develop such a system. A system that is activated by the Broker’s initial search request which immediately interrogates Operator’s aircraft and crew scheduling, runs a flight plan and calculates the quote based on individual Operator pricing while at the same time harnessing live costs for airports, fuel, catering, overnights, cars and any crew positioning flights…… instantly giving the Broker a list of available and accurately quoted aircraft. A system which then provides Operators with a daily list of requested flights in the knowledge that most of the checks have already been done…automatically. An Operator then performs a quick scan for any flagged cross-checks such as owners permission, airport restrictions, notams, en-route delays etc. before confirming the flight with the press of a button sending all paperwork through to the broker for signing. The Operator then places the necessary bookings through the same system for airport slots/handling, fuel, catering, and crew hotel accommodation. All of these are ready to book and pay for in the knowledge that all providers are approved and prices quoted are live and competitive.
This is the future and Returnjet is leading the way. Brokers can concentrate on customer service and generation of new clients whilst Operators can focus on the performance of a high quality and safe flight. This is not going to happen overnight and will require co-operation of many parties, however, the first place to start is with a progressive platform that everyone can trust and is free to use.”