This year’s NBAA‑BACE surfaced a clear theme: investors and seasoned operators believe high‑touch service and curated experiences are underserved.
Two examples: BOND (an owners‑only, Bombardier‑focused fractional with elevated hospitality and embedded OEM support) and Kenny Dichter’s REAL SLX / REAL JET (an experiences platform feeding an asset‑light, no‑deposit charter brokerage), arrive with different models yet a shared premise: clients will pay for care, certainty, and curation.
That observation isn’t limited to operators. It touches OEMs, MROs, brokers, FBOs, training, catering, finance, and tech providers - anyone shaping the owner’s door‑to‑door journey.
The question I’d invite you to consider is straightforward: Are you competing on hours and assets, or on outcomes and feelings?
If the latter is true, your systems must make reliability and hospitality measurable, repeatable, and visible.
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Where to focus (three lenses)
Service Promise (care)
Define the baseline experience you will never compromise - clear pre‑flight personalization, warm day‑of communication, and cabin standards appropriate to aircraft class.
Ask: Would a discerning client notice the difference on their very next trip?
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Reliability System (certainty)
Move beyond quoting availability or service to guaranteeing it - capacity discipline, transparent service agreements for AOG‑to‑airborne, and tighter OEM/parts pathways.
Ask: Can you prove uptime with data the client trusts?
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Journey Orchestration (curation)
Own what happens before and after the flight or service - ground logistics, FBO handoffs, and (for some segments) event access that aligns with the traveler’s purpose.
Ask: Are we removing friction for clients who previously accepted “just how it is”?
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Three practical moves with a question and a metric
1) Institutionalize hospitality (for any role that touches the customer)
What to do: Define and standardize the “moments that matter” in your segment - what a great first touch, update, handoff, and wrap‑up look like - so care is designed, not left to heroics. Train for tone and timing; script the minimum viable touches and empower teams to personalize above that line.
Question to ask: Could a new client tell - after one interaction—that our standard of care is different?
Core metric: First‑touch wow rate (FTWR) - % of new/returning decision‑makers scoring 9–10 on “Based on this interaction, would you choose us again?”
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2) Operationalize reliability (make promises measurable)
What to do: Convert promises into agreements and track variance publicly (internally and, where appropriate, with clients). Tie capacity, parts, staffing, and partners to those agreements. Build early‑warning signals so you renegotiate expectations before you miss them.
Question to ask: Are we guaranteeing outcomes - or selling intentions?
Core metric: Promise‑Keeping Index (PKI) - % of commitments delivered on time, as specified, the first time.
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3) Curate the total journey (own the thread, reduce handoffs)
What to do: Give the client a single thread of care - one number to text/call, one owner through the lifecycle - and orchestrate partners behind the scenes. Pre‑compute alternates, communicate proactively during irregular ops, and close the loop with next‑day follow‑through.
Question to ask: Would the client describe their day as “effortless end‑to‑end” without needing to manage us?
Core metric: Single‑Thread Resolution Rate (STRR) - % of interactions resolved without the client re‑explaining or being bounced.
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If you apply these three moves, you’ll raise performance across segments:
- Care (felt quality)
- Certainty (kept promises)
- Curation (effortless orchestration)
Which one will you pilot first for 60–90 days, and what’s the smallest client group that would give you a clean read?
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How to start
Run a 90‑day pilot on a defined route set or client group. Publish the three metrics above, learn fast, and then scale what proves out.
Whether you align more with BOND’s owners‑only reliability thesis or REAL SLX / REAL JET’s frictionless‑access thesis, the takeaway is the same: intentional systems that deliver care, certainty, and curation are where the next margin, and loyalty, will come from.
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