Impact of virtual meeting technology

[Armarsh24]

What are the future implications of virtual meeting technology on corporate flight departments? Will corporate flight departments start phasing out their aircraft? What is the future outlook for aspiring pilots that want to be in corporate aviation due to the advancement of this technology? Please explain in your comments if this technology will have any impact on corporate departments and if so, to what extent.... please elaborate. Thank you!

 

[C150J]

Although it has certainly reduced some demand for in-person meetings, there are some issues that cannot be resolved via virtual options. If a business is about to enter into a multi-million dollar service contract with another company, most will want an on-site meeting to ensure that said company doesn't just have a nice conference room and is otherwise a well polished turd.

 

[mikecweb]

Can't nail a hooker in the islands over the phone.


There will always be a need for corporate jets.

 

[Beep]

I think future generations of business people will embrace virtual meetings more than the ones now do, but the technology has to move forward, think holo-deck. Trying to keep track of what a bunch of yahoos are doing via a TV screen can be a bit annoying, especially once order gets disrupted a bit.
Also, a lot of business is conducted not only outside the boardroom, but outside of the work environment itself. People want to feel comfortable with someone they are going to have dealings with, you can't always accomplish this in a meeting ( this is where the mikecweb joke isn't entirely a joke! )
I'll add one more thing, people want to get out of the office, business trips certainly accomplish that, and when traveling on corporate aircraft this is not exaclty taxing for passengers. Some companies may indeed sell their aircraft and use charter and the airlines instead, but not so much because of virtual meeting technology.

 

[killbilly]

There is a disconnect here. Virtual meeting technology does not impact corporate flight departments. It impacts TRAVEL. There is a difference.

 

[drunkenbeagle]

Doubt it will ever have much impact on business travel. Too many non-verbal cues are involved in business, you can't take people out to lunch via videoconferencing.

 

[killbilly]

Doubt it will ever have much impact on business travel. Too many non-verbal cues are involved in business, you can't take people out to lunch via videoconferencing.

While this is true, it's getting to be less important.

We (my company) heavily integrate with two of the Big 3 video conferencing companies, and both of those are experiencing some breakneck growth. Efficiency in the codec compression coupled with cheaper QoS-guaranteed bandwidth is driving a lot of it. Most of our customers cite eliminating travel expenses as one of the main reasons they get into a full UC solution with video conferencing capability - and it's a big part of the ROI calculations.

You're right that some business activities require a face to face. But most of them don't these days. I would argue that part of the reason Corporate Flight Departments EXIST (to the point of the OP) is FOR those mandatory face-to-face needs where commercial air travel is impractical.

 

[Tommay85]

My opinion is that if a company has a corporate flight department and thinks/needs to get rid of it, they didn't need it in the first place. Corporate airplanes are time machines and when used properly, SAVE money and improve productivity. If it's something that's needed to be cut when the economy farts, they probably shouldn't have had an airplane to begin with. It's not a novelty, it's a tool for doing business. I can't see virtual meeting technology replacing ALL corporate travel, some, yes, but not all.

I always use John Deere as an example as they are local to me. Most of their flying is customer service. They will literally throw tractor parts and a couple customer service guys on one of their Xs or Gulfstreams to service a customer's equipment. They SAVE over 6 million a year by having their own corporate flight department.