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!

 

No it does not hurt the industry.

 

Wow. Even in the government we are using virtual meetings to save money. It won't make corporate air travel go away, but I'm sure there's an impact. The technology and fidelity will only get better, eventually with 3d tech, goggles, etc. There will always be a need to travel, just not as big or often.

 

Incorrect.


The same thing was said in the eighties about fax machines and conference calling.

Ever bought a car in a virtual meeting? No, you went to the dealer, touched the car, and shook the hand of a sales rep and a manager. The personal side of business will never go away (at least not in our lifetimes).

 

Incorrect. I researched the car I wanted, had my CU negotiate the price with several dealers. I never shook a dealer's hand and all the paperwork was handled remotely.

No one is saying the personal part will go away, just that it will be impacted (see OP wording).

 

Good for you... You bought a car differently than 99% of the rest of us (and missed the point).

It won't impact anything. At all.

 

The "deciders" on corporate jets want one and will have one, period. At their level, business is conducted personally. I know companies that do weekly trips to Europe and Asia, that won't stop. Yes, lots of video meetings in business; we do them all the time and still travel to meetings.

GF

 

This is good to know. We do teleconferences everyday in AF, but wasnt sure in civilian world. I just dont know when this technology enhances and becomes more prevalent, if it would impact flight department pilot jobs. I would like to hear from more flight department pilots.

 

Video conferencing/technology improvements stand more to hurt the airlines then they do corporate aviation. It's a replacement for sending low and middle level managers (those that make less than 100-200K/year).

The direct impact of having a face to face meeting between a customer/supplier with a Vice President, President, or CEO cannot be replaced by a video monitor or even a hologram. Or alternatively, the "wow" factor of sending a corporate jet to wine/dine/transport VIP customers. One of the things that makes people feel valued is not only the human contact, but also the level of difficulty or sacrifice that said contact took.

Put another way, JamesNoBrakes chose to deal online mainly because it was convenient for him and he did NOT want to interact with a salesman. But when it comes to the types of deals and work that are generally done with business aviation aircraft the end customer (or passenger) WANTS face to face time because it benefits them in the end.

 

The techno-freaks have been saying that their bits & bytes will remove the need for travel to meetings for years now. Experience in the real world has shown that negotiators/salespeople/executives much prefer the face-to-face situation.

It ain't going to happen short of a major energy crisis.