Jay Mesinger

Questions & Answers

October 14, 2005:

Q: I have run across the term ‘culture of use’ in several of your articles. Can you explain this term?

A: I have to admit, it is not an industry term. It is, however, a great way to describe the patterns of use for an aircraft.

Some questions that help define a culture of use are: How is the plane used? Does it just move the senior management or is it a tool used to move a sales force to the customer or the customer to the home office? Is there a small or large component of international use? How many overnights are contemplated with each 100 hours of use?

By asking these kinds of questions, you and your management team will have an idea what culture of use is currently in existence and many of your budget and staffing questions will begin to have clear answers.

Payroll benchmarks, number of pilots and support personnel can be better established. Defining your department in this way will help you to establish your current and future direction and alert you to issues before they become problems.

Culture of use is important for those clients who use their aircraft to reach out to customers by bringing them to the main office. It can define how the corporate experience will be delivered, using the flight department and its aircraft assets.

An aircraft should be used to make sure you are in front of your customers more often and to get ahead of your competition. By defining the culture of use for your aircraft, you are ensuring that you and your clients are utilising this valuable asset to its full potential.

Q: How should I choose an outsourced management company?

A: To begin, you should look for companies in the client’s locale that operate similar aircraft. You need to be sure there are certain skill sets already in place so the learning curve is focused on learning about the client, rather than the equipment.

Next, always visit the facility you are considering. You need to understand the culture of their operation. Remember, just because it is outsourced does not mean it is out of sight!

Then, you should do background checks to determine if there are any accident or safety violations. You need to understand the record of this company to provide safe, reliable travel based on historical performance and talk to the underwriter that insures the company so that you can determine the history of rates and frequency of increases.

You need to establish benchmarks for comparable operators rates. Ask questions like: Is the company regularly undergoing safety audits? Are they Wyvern or AR/GUS rated? What type of professional endorsements do they enjoy? Is the company using or contemplating IS-BAO benchmarking? Also, examine the training protocol for all personnel, not just the flight crew. Does the company invest in their personnel at every level?

A key part of choosing an outsourced provider is the method and style of their financial reporting. Of course, every client company has its own style, but the more closely aligned a management company can be to your individual or corporate style, the easier the integration becomes.

When checking the references of a company you are contemplating for a client, the reporting and accounting questions are of utmost importance. Is it timely and accurate? I have seen more than a few people start out with an innocent forensic audit that quickly turned into a fraud audit.

In the end, you are looking for fits, not misfits. You are looking for a company that gives every reason to believe that the client will have a successful experience in the place that their important and expensive asset calls home.


- Jay Mesinger