We’re In A Digital World…
… But Air Service Planning Is Stuck In The 1980s
The New Air Access Paradigms & The Need For A New Approaches
We’re In The 21st Century – But Air Service Planning Is Still In The 1980s
This is the Workshop that every airport director would do well to attend… at this Workshop, Boyd Group International will be discussing a new study it is publishing of the air transportation system that’s emerging in America… and how it’s being totally missed – and in some cases intentionally ignored.
In a world of instant messaging, Skype meetings across continents, e-mail, and digital communication, the approach to developing air access in America is the equivalent of using pay phones, snail mail and typewriters to communicate. And to top it all off, the message and the objectives are often completely obsolete.
According to a new comprehensive study by Boyd Group International, the communication channel represented by air transportation has completely changed in structure, economics, consumer preferences and comparative value. But instead of adjusting and optimizing and recognizing these dynamics, the air service planning has recognized none of these fundamental changes.
The 100-page White Paper – The New Air Service Paradigm – Time For New Thinking – pulls no punches. It’s been developed based on the need to discard current obsolete thinking regarding how air transportation will shape the future.
If the US is to plan for the future, it demands that future realities be accepted, addressed and optimized. But today, that’s not the case.
We can start with how our regulatory system is still firmly rooted in the 1970s… Take just a cursory look.
… The FAA still ranks airports in “hub” categories when most have no such relationship to any activities represented by that term. Nobody is hubbing or connecting in Bangor or Charleston.
… The FAA still thinks there is an independent regional airline system, when it’s been gone for two decades. Go try and book a seat on Air Wisconsin, or SkyWest or Envoy.
… The FAA – and most other forecast sources – still believe that enplanements are the direct result of simple econometric factors. The spikes in enplanements delivered by sudden ULCC entry into several markets have zero to do with GDP or any of the other ancient methodologies used by the FAA.
… FAA data collection is out of date. But it’s consistent with the computer power that was available when Laugh-In was still on TV.
… O&D and other metrics represent the past, but not the future. Increasingly, there is a complete disconnect between historic airline planning and what is represented by the new mission applications of airliners delivering discretionary consumer products, in addition to “air service.”
… Bogus Studies To “Lure” Airlines To Town. It’s gotten to be the modern version of cargo cults, only they cost a lot more.
Just do a search… the number of small airports getting taken for a ride, with “studies” to find more airlines, when the targets are already as obvious as a blemish on prom night… or, simply not there. And how ’bout those “true market analyses” sold to small airports, showing a “catchment area” only slightly smaller than the Louisiana Purchase.
In the meantime, reality marches on. New fleets are changing airline strategies.
Time to look for regional solutions that fit the realities and economics of air transportation.
It’s time to call these things for what they are. Obsolete fantasy that relates little to the air transportation system of the future.
Not Just Information, But A Planning Document. The White Paper is a working document that goes beyond data and into functional planning changes that airports, community planners and financial institutions need to consider if they want to match the trajectory of change taking place in the air transportation system.
The White Paper will cover the hot button issues, including:
The New Foundations of Air Service... Obsolete Government Data & Related Systems… Government Programs Aimed At Reversing The Calendar... Regionalization of Air Access... Internationalization… New Fleets & New Missions… Developing New Planning Programs.
Again, attendees be ready to take notes. And for a lot of Q&A
Complimentary Copy… IAFS attendees who register and attend this Workshop will receive a complimentary copy of the new study.
The 2018 International Aviation Forecast Summit
Optional Pre-Summit Schedule
As our regular attendees will tell you, the IAFS™ is the most valuable annual event in aviation. That’s because it delivers more data, insight and futurist perspectives. Period.
One of the unique features are the pre-Summit events and Workshops, which in themselves deliver more data, information and insight than any other aviation event in its entirety.
Our attendees are already ahead of the completion even before the start of the Summit itself.
Plan on arriving in Denver early thjs year. Here’s the current schedule:
Special! – Get A View of The Supersonic Future!
Saturday, August 18, 2018 – Special Reception – Boom Supersonic
The 55-seat Boom Supersonic airliner is on target for entering service in 2023. It will change the structure of intercontinental travel – materially.
That’s the reason we are excited that Boom has invite Summit attendees are cordially invited to a special reception at the company’s new headquarters and research center, located at Centennial Airport, the company that is building a new airliner that will completely change intercontinental travel.
The reception will include a tour of the company’s new headquarters, including the mock-up of “Baby Boom” – the one-third size concept model, which is scheduled to fly next year.
If you want to see the future, get to Denver a day early and join us!
The Sunday Afternoon Workshop Schedule
Session One: Emerging Criticality Of The FBO In Airport Revenue Streams
FBOs will increasingly be an important part of the economic competitive structure at all airports. But they are facing a future that will demand major business changes.
For example, the hurdles to pilot instruction are going up. Not only is the potential demand in the profession being challenged, but the raw costs of entry into the world of leisure and general aviation are going up. The shift from 100LL to diesel technology engines will affect revenue streams. Plus, competition to attract business aviation is going up.
There are a range of open issues that airports need to address in the coming years, such as whether it’s more productive to own or contract out FBO concessions. Projections of changes in fuel sales due to changes in GA and leisure fleet mixes.
For this Workshop, Boyd Group International is excited to bring in Mr. Mike Dye, President of FBOsForSale, an industry expert on the subject of fixed base operators. Mr. Dye has assisted dozens of airports in analyzing and planning the structure of their FBO program, and will be outlining the factors and dynamics that airports will need to consider in the future.
Session Two: The China Opportunity – Strategies For Communities and Airports
Over $14 billion in industrial and business investment across the US. More than 20 million leisure visitors over the next five years, with an average “spend’ of over $6,000 each.
That’s the scope of the emerging traffic from China. And it’s coming to all parts of the USA. Folks from places like Beijing, Zhengzhou, Tienjin and Shanghai eager to see places like New York State’s Thousand Islands, The River Walk in San Antonio, the Florida Keys, and Little Big Horn… all of America.
Investment? It’s eager investment in places like Louisviille and Saginaw and Edgecomb County – from companies in places like Hefei and Mianyang and Weihai. The opportunities are incredible.
But the advantage will be going to be US cities and airports and businesses that invest now in aggressively posturing for this new investment and travel. It means having an effective China-Welcome program not only locally but in China, too.
Boyd Group International and its partner China Ni Hao, LLC, have been busy this past year assisting client airports and communities in developing and honing programs to capture more of this incoming business.
Be ready to take notes. This is a functional workshop. We’ll be covering not only how to accommodate Chinese visitors, but also how to build an aggressive and cost-effective digital presence in China. Establishing your professional business-registered WeChat app… managing your message in China on Baidu and other channels. Building your profile by letting the China market know that you understand the importance of things like acceptance of things like UnionPay, Alipay, and WeChat Pay.