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With the growth of Artificial Intelligence (AI), is using a traditional broker / travel consultant regarded as a helpful tool or just another mouth to feed for an already premium service product?

You decide.


Whether you are reading this from the position of a personal assistant or the principal charterer, with so much information readily available, what is the current value of using a private jet broker or consultant?




Tim Rees, Jet Members Flight Director, considers this: "With a fundamental respect, as much as we see the value in AI and the publicity of its abilities, I know that if there is a problem or a need to amend the service or product I have purchased, I genuinely want to speak to a human and explain / sort the problem. After all, a problem shared is a problem halved."


In private aviation specifically, many of the tasks needed to be undertaken involve human interaction, dealing with elements that can’t be answered with a simple yes or no, black or white, one or zero. For example, how would AI handle a client if the weather was 50/50 on the day, or if there was an issue with the aircraft, crew, permits, handling, parking, catering or industrial action, to name but a few.


We wouldn’t rule out AI / search bots having a place - they can certainly help search for aircraft and provide indicative options, but setting up a private charter flight properly is knowing how to balance the client's needs at a very personal level.


Experience and the ability to think with foresight and originality can really ease the process, and enable solutions faster than resolving them on your own or through some super new computer wizardry (which inevitably fails on you when you need it most, and a good reason we still have pilots on board). This is just one of the values of working with a good (human) broker / charter consultant.



But is a broker service worth it? Are people still prepared to call a broker to find out when they can search out possible airlines directly?


Clients naturally want to know if / what broker's fees may be for a service; some may add their fee to the charter price or receive a commission from the operator. Understandably, you want to mitigate these fees to be as low as possible without effecting the product being provided.


A broker must demonstrate their commercial value to the client through market knowledge, airline negotiation, or ancillary protections. Sadly, true value is only seen when situations unfortunately go awry with the airline or aircraft, and / or the client needs difficult trip amendments.


Broker fees also don’t necessarily mean you are paying above the market price; relationships developed over years of flying give better buying power. Somebody placing 30, 40, 90 flights with an operator is naturally in a better position who will only use them once.


A broker is there to provide the client with the best option and the best rate, so an early conversation may identify ways of reducing the costs, whether this be the choice of airport, number of passengers, or even the time of departure. Speaking with airlines directly may not give you a truly unbiased opinion or range of offers.


Conclusion


In the UK specifically, many of us have little time for telesales and almost take a guarded approach whenever the phone rings –  be honest, it is far easier to be shielded by WhatsApp or email, than engage in a call with a potential sales agent or salesperson.


"I would say that whenever I may be dealing with a salesperson in any professional industry, their interest, empathy and persona that they put into a deal is what really makes the difference. We would be amiss to forget this for the sake of trying to get some new AI software to do every task, though I fear the times are changing."


Tim Rees, Director, Jet Members.



So, is AI the next big thing, and is the role of a human broker redundant?


"Not just yet. When the proverbial spanner is thrown into the mix, and knowing in my 20 year tenure, I can assure you that every flight will have some complication to overcome. Whether this may be technical, contractual, industrial, or meteorological – life, as they say, ‘happens’ and having someone to speak to is essential."


Don’t be fearful of the callback, use it to your advantage.

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