Delivering happiness: one private jet at a time
Tony Hsieh, founder and CEO of Zappos, has triggered a customer experience revolution with his focus on passion as a way to create profits and differentiate a brand in crowded, highly competitive markets. The acquisition by Amazon in 2010 was due to differences within the board of directors about Zappos could further finance its growth and what some investors called “Tony’s social experiment”.
As it turns out Tony’s vision is much bigger and what started as a book named “Delivering Happiness” is slowly turning into a real-world movement. After disrupting the online shopping world with Zappos, one of his latest ventures aims to disrupt an industry that is huge but ripe for disruption.
Delivering Happiness on Very Light Jets
Peoples perceptions about private jets today is similar to the the perception about cars 100 years ago: expensive, not very reliant but certainly a status symbol. NetJets has already improved private jet charter economics through fractional ownership programs and membership programs that give access to its fleet of private jets. This is certainly an innovation, but at the core it is an incremental innovation that made it cheaper to get access to a private jet. Nevertheless it has not yet completely removed the barriers.
Very Light Jets (VLJs) might just be the technical innovation that is paving the way for a disruption in air travel and private jet charter. Very Light Jets are private jets that are single-pilot operated, weighs less than 10.000 lbs (~ 4500 kg) and cost less than 5 million USD. Philipp Greenspun created an excellent overview of current models and there is also a comparison of models and prices. The trade-offs that passengers have to accept with VLJs are that the you can only bring limited luggage on board, you might have to bring your own catering and there is only a very limited bathroom/toilet.
But these trade-offs bring a major cost benefit: direct operating costs are in the range of 300 – 800 USD per hour. The jet engine also allows higher flight levels and flight speeds which creates significant time savings. This makes a private jet that seats four passengers a very compelling mode of transportation.
VLJs have the potential to disrupt air travel and could enable an increase of air taxis – companies that offer privat jet charter with prices that match traditional airlines but with the flexilibity of a taxi.
JetSuite is one such company that is operating a fleets of VLJs and the company has recently been bought by David Neeleman, the founder and former CEO of JetBlue – also known as one of the companies delivering extraordinary customer experiences.
New Technology + Authentic Service = Remarkable Customer Experiences
Back to Tony Hsieh. He has recently invested 7 million USD in JetSuite and is now on the board of directors. Jetsuite has also repainted one of their Embraer Phenoms to match the branding of the “Delivering Happiness” movement. The real innovation and revolution are the prices: with advance booking, an Embraer Phenom 100 jet from San Francisco to Los Angeles can be booked for USD 1499 – not just a seat but the entire jet with four seats. And selected offers are already availabe for just USD 499 – once again the entire jet not just a seat.
Such a price combined with authentic customer service that creates a frictionless travel experience could be the trigger for the next innovation in air travel: low-cost, no-frills private jet charter. Sounds too far away? One could have believed that about low-cost, no-frills airlines some 20 years ago as well – and we all know how this turned out.
