Understand Airline Priorities and your community’s position within those priorities:  “Think like the airline”

Understand airline priorities and your community’s position within those priorities:
“Think like the airline”. The airline focus is on their stockholder earnings and their overall profit.

Professional guidance to a community is critical to speaking the airlines language in a convincing way to acquire air service and most effectively coordinate flight support efforts with the airline. You need to understand airline priorities because the airline focuses on these priorities. If you’re focused on actions other than those that will meet the airlines priorities you will not get the airlines support. Without that airline support optimizing your air service performance will be difficult and getting air service next to impossible.

You can show you understand airline priorities, and thus gain as much airline support as possible, by endeavoring to bi-sect your communities needs with these priorities when you pitch acquiring new service or when you look for airline support of incumbent service.

You do understand airline priorities when you understand that the airline focuses on their needs and really only engages with your community when your needs bi-sect their needs.

Community Flights has developed over 35 best practices and guiding principles for communities looking to improve their air service. The above is just a small sample of a complete guidebook of best practice.

If you’d like to receive the complete guidebook for FREE: Community Flights Air Service Development Best Practices and Guiding Principles, email: scott@communityflights.com and ask that we send the full guide.

Scott Stewart is the principle of Community Flights; an air service support, development and management company. Community Flights works with communities, organizations or businesses on leveraging the great economic asset that air service is for economic gain. Scott formed Community Flights in January 2013 to help mobilize community support efforts and guide clients in bridging the “air service understanding gap” with the airlines to create an airline and community win-win air service support and performance environment. You can find more info about Community Flights at www.communityflights.com. Contact Scott Stewart directly at scott@communityflights.com .

Airline Staff Community Engagement
Drives Successful Community Flights

Airline staff community engagement – every community looking to develop their air service should focus on this. This won’t get you NEW air service but it can get the airlines more active engagement in your current air service which can lead to successful air service. This success, in turn, can help you attract new flights in the future.

When airline staff community engagement is active they know more about the flying guests and the support mechanisms available to help support their flights. This helps build more confidence in the community and comfort in their support of your flights. To engage airline staff most effectively we recommend you get your local tourism partners to host key airline staff and offer “Deals” for less critical staff so that they can visit and familiarize themselves with your community.

Often, multiple invitations are necessary to get airline staff community engagement through familiarization visits to your community. I’ve found tailoring an itinerary to the specific airline staff works best.

Community Flights has developed over 35 best practices and guiding principles for communities looking to improve their air service. The above is just a small sample of a complete guidebook of best practice.

If you’d like to receive the complete guidebook for FREE: Community Flights Air Service Development Best Practices and Guiding Principles, email: scott@communityflights.com and ask that we send the full guide.

Scott Stewart is the principle of Community Flights; an air service support, development and management company. Community Flights works with communities, organizations or businesses on leveraging the great economic asset that air service is for economic gain. Scott formed Community Flights in January 2013 to help mobilize community support efforts and guide clients in bridging the “air service understanding gap” with the airlines to create an airline and community win-win air service support and performance environment. You can find more info about Community Flights at www.communityflights.com. Contact Scott Stewart directly at scott@communityflights.com .

Community Air Service Development is more than just Post-Flight Analysis

Community Air Service Development requires more than just post flight analysis and creation of airline sales pitches. Community Air Service Development is also about more than increasing flight capacity and markets served.

Increasing air service is not always possible in many community air markets today. Many communities may have already met their flight service potential. Despite this, community’s may still have air service development needs. This includes sustaining the air service they now have.

Communities with air service currently meeting their air service potential, may still have air service development needs. Effective community air service development is also about maximizing air passenger capture and optimizing flight revenues and profitability. These features of air service development bring increased community economic activity and improved flight security! If a community is not constantly focused on developing their air service, they could lose the high-stakes competition to keep air service. They can also lose the many economic benefits that go with this.

Community Air Service Development needs to fly on two Engines which includes post flight analysis and pre-flight departure passenger and revenue capture support efforts.

At Community Flights, our community air service development efforts focus on pre-flight departure air service support in addition to post flight analysis. With an effort that includes focus on post-departure analysis we insure your community air service can reach optimum success. Community Flights believes a community is operating on one engine at best, if you are not executing an airline passenger capture program:

• We mobilize communities to effectively support airport airline service.
• We improve air passenger capture, flight revenues and flight profitability.
• We improve airport opportunities to increase capacity and airline market service.
• We enhance community economic benefits driven by airport airline service.

Community Flights can solve your community’s problem of getting the airlines attention. We can help get the airline consideration of adding air service to your community. When your current air service demonstrates strong passenger demand, flight revenues and profit, the airlines often become very interested. This helps in sustaining and sometimes growing your flight service. When the airlines look at your community, if the community is seen as a low risk high profit opportunity, you will get more air service access opportunities!

Currently, there is not a lot of air service growth domestically in the United States. Now more than ever if you want to reach your air service goals you want to insure you’re taking every reasonable action possible to support your flights. Investing wisely in professional air service pre-flight departure support, in addition to post-flight analysis is a difference maker that separates your community from competing communities.

Airports. If you have an air service consultant helping you with air service development and they are not mobilizing and aligning the community on air support efforts you are flying on one engine. You are only doing half of what you can to drive success. Tracking regularly your community’s competitive position and consistently executing on community awareness and engagement, will help complete your air service development effort. Community Flights can start the important second engine of air service development (Maximizing passenger and revenue capture on your flights) and take your air program farther faster.

Call Community Flights at 970-759-3559 or email us at scott@communityflights.com to discuss how our successful air passenger capture program can drive effective community air service development and help your community break through and meet your air service goals. www.communityflights.com for more information on Community flights services.

Air Service Funding Plan – It Needs to be Effective
Should Cover Many Program Cost Areas

Air service funding plan should cover the following cost areas: administration, air service experts, air service incentives, reliable data and marketing support. Air service is not just a get it and the flights will be the filled-and-successful proposition. Regularly focused community support and marketing efforts are necessary to increase awareness and usage of the air service in order for your air program success.

An air service funding plan is one of the critical roadmaps to a communities air service success. When a community acquires new air service but doesn’t have the other funding to support the new service it becomes like buying a car and then putting no gas in it. The car won’t go very far and your new flights may not capture enough extra passengers to produce enough flight revenues.

Community Flights has developed over 35 best practices and guiding principles for communities looking to improve their air service. The above is just a small sample of a complete guidebook of best practice.

If you’d like to receive the complete guidebook for FREE: Community Flights Air Service Development Best Practices and Guiding Principles, email: scott@communityflights.com and ask we send the full guide.

Scott Stewart is the principle of Community Flights; an air service support, development and management company. Community Flights works with communities, organizations or businesses on leveraging the great economic asset that air service is for economic gain. Scott formed Community Flights in January 2013 to mobilize community support efforts and help clients, bridge the “air service understanding gap” with the airlines to create an airline and community win-win air service support and performance environment. You can find more info about Community Flights at www.communityflights.com. You can contact Scott Stewart at scott@communityflights.com .

Community Air Service Funding Targets Should be Fair
Should be proportional within the region and industries

Community air service funding targets and should be fair. They should also be proportional within the region/ industries and based on the “Benefit” of the air service within the community air program. Many community agencies will “keep score” so a funding mechanism that focuses on fair contribution will help keep the focus on effective air service support and not funding equability.

When community air service funding targets are not well-considered upfront or unfairly structured, this can cause lack of community business participation and insufficient funding for ongoing support of the community air service.

Community Flights experience has shown that when community air service funding targets do not show fairness,  both in businesses and organizations identified and level of funding to request, effective community air service support and development will be hand-cuffed. We recommend that communities don’t set their air programs back from the start by setting up fund-raising efforts that have unfair structures.

Community Flights has developed over 35 best practices and guiding principles for communities looking to improve their air service. The above is just a small sample of a complete guidebook of best practice.

If you’d like to receive the complete guidebook for FREE: Community Flights Air Service Development Best Practices and Guiding Principles, email: scott@communityflights.com and ask we send the full guide.

Scott Stewart is the principle of Community Flights; an air service support, development and management company. Community Flights works with communities, organizations or businesses on leveraging the great economic asset that air service is for economic gain. Scott formed Community Flights in January 2013 to mobilize community support efforts and help clients, bridge the “air service understanding gap” with the airlines to create an airline and community win-win air service support and performance environment. You can find more info about Community Flights at www.communityflights.com. You can contact Scott Stewart directly at scott@communityflights.com.

Selecting Air Carrier Service – Best Questions to Ask Meridian, MS City Leaders Studying New Airline Services
Questions to Help Select the Best Air Service

When Selecting Air Carrier Service, Asking the Right Air Service Questions is Critical!
Meridian, Mississippi has a fantastic opportunity according to a news article that came out recently. { http://www.meridianstar.com/local/x1760092838/Airlines-submit-bids-to-serve-Meridian-other-MS-markets } They are in the process of selecting air carrier service. They have two air carriers that have bid to serve their community giving them an option in selecting air carrier service. While I don’t have access to the two airline bids from ExpressJet and Aerodynamics Incorporated, I have a hunch which would be the better choice and on the steps taken to give the selected service the best chance for success.

Successful Air Service is more than just having the best carrier(s) serving your community!
Before I suggest the best questions to help lead to a good for selecting air carrier service, I do want to emphasize that getting to a result of successful air service takes a lot more than deciding on the operating carrier. Air service isn’t just an “acquire air service and it will be sustainable” proposition. Consistent and effective community support by a mobilized community is critical to success. Investing in a professional air service support program several months before the start of new service is critical to an effective community effort. Airlines need to see air service succeed right away or they will move unprofitable air service and the plane serving your market to another market where they can make money.

Some Air Service Questions a Community Should ask when Selecting Air Carrier Service
Key Drivers of Air Service Success

Key Driver: 40%-60% of most passengers using local airports are local origination
Question: What are your top demand destinations from your local population?

Since Meridian does not have air service at this time, residents fly out of Jackson and other regional airports. However, data is available to show the destination of Meridian residents. Meridian should professionally analyze the data to help decide the best carriers for Meridian based on who will better serve the travel destinations of its residents.

Typically in today’s airline industry, flights use a hub airport which then feeds passengers to multiple other feed flights to get these passengers to their destination. About 70% (this can vary) of the passengers on the flight from your market to the hub market are going on via another flight from the hub to their destination and only 30% are flying to the hub and terminating their trip there. Matching air service with the best airline system to deliver the passengers to the top destination markets can help recapture local flyers from alternate regional airports and be a guide in selecting air carrier service.

Key Driver: Meridian is home to a key military installation, the Meridian Air Station
Question: Will the carrier(s) offer a military air rate and what will this be?

Recapturing a good part of these local passengers, including military service members, will be critical to successfully supporting the local airport flights. If the military rate is not competitive with alternate competing regional airports like Jackson MS, the recapture of enough of these air passengers won’t occur and your air service will struggle. Unprofitable air service would put the air service in jeopardy of being cancelled. Military traffic is a key part in selecting air carrier service.

Key Driver: Sustainable Air Service in the long-term
Question: Which air carrier option will best help growth to larger aircraft in the future?

Due to economics and plane costs, smaller regional jets of less than 70 seats are finding it harder and harder to deliver a profit to operating carriers. Currently there is a retirement of more and more of the aircraft with fewer than 70 seats. These aircraft are not being replaced by the airlines. Meridian is choosing between two operators who would use 50 seat regional jets. To avoid making an air carrier choice that could mean losing air service after just four or five years, Meridian needs to what service provides the best growth opportunities when selecting air carrier service. The community will need to create or capture a higher level air passenger demand at the local airport. Meridian will likely need to support air service on 70 seat or larger aircraft in the not too distant future if they want commercial air service long-term. Meridian needs to decide the present, but with an eye to the future.

This idea of Meridian building their air service with the future in mind is also critical feature in selecting air carrier service. I caution Meridian against just thinking about thinking their choice from the two air carrier options is their only key air service decision. Unless Meridian puts in a formal air service support effort that they intend to continue long-term, they will not position their flights successfully for the air service industry of the future. Their initiative will just create an air service “Episode” for a few years instead of an air service legacy that will drive economic benefits thru their community flights for the long-term.

I hope Meridian uses futurist thinking in their selecting air carrier service decision-making process. Further, Meridian should engage professional assistance to help and support their decisions. These questions are just a sample of what I think Meridian should ask in regards to successfully re-establishing commercial air service in Meridian, Mississippi. Other questions  I would suggest asking with an eye to long-term commercial air service access for the Meridian region. Professional advice can help ask the right questions.

Scott Stewart is the principle of Community Flights; an air service support, development and management company. Community Flights works with communities, organizations or businesses on leveraging the great economic asset that air service is for economic gain. Scott formed Community Flights in January 2013 to mobilize community support efforts and help clients, bridge the “air service understanding gap” with the airlines to create an airline and community win-win air service support and performance environment. You can find more info about Community Flights at www.communityflights.com. You can contact Scott Stewart at scott@communityflights.com .