What’s the Real Cost of NOT Being Connected When You Fly?

 

Julie Vasquez

There was a time when businesspeople boarded an airplane with a briefcase jammed with paper – printed spreadsheets, market research, trade magazines, financial reports and anything else to keep them occupied and productive during their journey.

The advent of the connected aircraft and in-flight Wi-Fi changed all that. Business leaders can take the office with them when they fly thanks to connected devices like smartphones, tablets and laptops that connect them seamlessly to the company network, their favorite business apps and the unlimited resources of the internet.

Company executives, entrepreneurs and other business jet passengers expect to get connected, stay connected and be as productive at 40,000 feet as they are at home or in the office. Constant internet access isn’t an option anymore – it’s mandatory if you’re going to compete, grow and thrive in the competitive global economy.

The idea of being offline voluntarily for an extended part of the workday is unthinkable for business executives, which impacts corporate flight departments, business jet owners and operators, and charter companies.

Consider that the average internet user spends about 6.5 hours a day online and CEOs spend almost one-fourth of their time on electronic communications, according to a recent Harvard Business Review study. That same study found that CEOs do most (53%) of their work someplace other than the office, which includes time spent travelling on a business jet.

Of course, sending and receiving emails is just one of the many ways business leaders can use the internet to stay productive when they fly. They can download reports and presentations, research customers and competitors, search for online information, conduct team meetings, participate in videoconferences or Zoom calls, and do anything else they do on the ground.

Flying on a business jet offers a wide range of benefits, and enabling passenger productivity is certainly one of the biggest. Especially when you consider the value of an executive’s time. Consider a team of five senior managers travelling together, earning an average of $200,000 per year, and taking a five-hour trip. If they can’t use the Wi-Fi, for whatever reason, they’ll cost their employer around $2,500 in idle time alone. The stakes only go up from there, if you ponder a typical annual salary for a large-company CEO, which can amount to millions.

Salaries are only part of the equation. Think about the lost opportunity to call on customers, touch base with investors or attend the big sales meeting.   

Any way you crunch the numbers, the idea of flying on a business aircraft without fast, reliable Wi-Fi simply doesn’t add up. You need to provide your passengers with an onboard connectivity solution that works from the moment they buckle in to the moment they arrive at the FBO at the end of their journey.

Fortunately, with today’s best-available onboard satellite communications technology, fast and reliable Ka-band satellite networks, and flexible and affordable airtime service offerings, business jet owners and operators can give their passengers a great end-to-end experience every flight.

With the Honeywell Forgecabin connectivity and flight services platform, you’re giving your passengers the best Wi-Fi experience flying. Honeywell Forge is getting ready to introduce new Cabin Connectivity Experience Packages that make it easier than ever to provide a just-right experience tailored to your passengers’ needs.

We have you covered with experience plans that do everything your ground-bound network does, giving passengers a true “office in the sky” and enabling live-streaming video so they can videoconference with important clients or, when the workday is over, Facetime with family, catch the latest headlines or watch the big game.

To learn more about how Honeywell can help you deliver the in-flight connectivity experience your passengers crave, visit us online or contact your Honeywell representative.