How Can Your Aviation Business Improve Communications With Those Who Matter Most?
We’ve all heard the saying ‘communication is key’ — and even though it’s most frequently associated with relationships, it’s hugely important for the overall success of your aviation business as well.
Communication hinges on shared understanding, or in other words, the idea that both sender (in this case, the aviation operation) and receiver (a given stakeholder in that business) are crystal-clear on what’s being said and what’s happening.
Who exactly are the stakeholders, and what should you be communicating to them?
Your business’s stakeholders include both non-employees and employees. The most obvious?
Pilots. Your pilots are the ones taking on the biggest risks, which means they need to know that their safety is a priority and that help’s always available should they require it (both in an emergency situation and in less urgent day-to-day scenarios). Pilots also need to be apprised of relevant information such as route changes in a timely, efficient manner.
Next up? The families and friends of your pilots. Don’t underestimate the negative power of anxiety here and the effects it can have on these stakeholders’ confidence in you; they want to know the pilot they’re connected to is safe and that a rescue plan is in place and ready to go if something goes awry. If they don’t have this knowledge and security, they may start to view your service as sub-par and to develop a negative perception of your business that can ultimately affect your reputation — not a risk you want to take!
Your customers, of course, are critical. Depending on the nature of your business (transport of people, delivery of goods, disaster relief, etc.), the exact information you need to communicate to your customers will be different — but the key is to implement a system that you’ve tested, that you’ve ensured is consistent and reliable, and that you know works for the unique needs of your business. Are automated emails best for you? Texts? Voice messages? Alerts through a custom or third-party app? Ask yourself these questions to form a better picture of the type of system you need.
Other stakeholders in your aviation business include authorities and regulatory bodies — who need to know you’re operating safely, properly, and within the bounds of any relevant rules — and any media and sponsors who invest resources in your operation.
What’s the best way to communicate with these stakeholders?
If the key to your business’s success is the confidence and trust of the stakeholders we’ve outlined above, then the road to that success begins with reliable and consistent communication. Radio and mobile aren’t always available, so you can’t rely solely on them to send messages.
Build a communications strategy that accommodates for all the different levels of output you may need. For example: perhaps you send less time-sensitive or urgent information (updates on upcoming flights or deliveries, etc.) via a more traditional method such as email or text, but you use a real-time tracking and communications system like Spidertracks for of-the-essence missives such as in-flight updates or emergency alerts.
Let’s talk a little more about how Spidertracks in particular can help you communicate effectively and efficiently with your stakeholders.
All about simplicity: Spidertracks as your reliable communication tool
In addition to helping you better manage your aircraft by providing you with real-time flight tracking, Spidertracks allows you to deploy quick, clear, and reliable communications by offering automated features that make it a breeze to keep your stakeholders well-informed.
Our platform and customer service are available to you 24/7, and innovations such as manual SOS reporting (instant alerts at the push of a button) and Spidertxt 2.0 (which allows you to message aircraft-to-aircraft, aircraft-to-ground, and ground-to-ground from anywhere in the world and regardless of whether or not you have cell reception) eliminate much of the work and time you and your employees might otherwise spend manually drafting messages.
Spidertracks also allows you to track flight paths and pilot route decisions as they’re happening, enabling you to keep your pilots’ families and friends in the loop and to provide your customers with accurate ETAs on deliveries, whether they be of goods or people.
Take Alaska-based Harris Air, for example, who used Spidertracks’s communications features to improve their customer service, offer better customer experiences, and improve pilot communications around incidents.
Need more help deciding which type of communication technology is best for your business? Download our Reliable Communications eBook here.
