While flying activity is way down and resources are available, there are several opportunities worth taking advantage of in today’s unique environment. By maximizing your time, your company will ultimately benefit from it in the future.
- Use your aircraft as a mobile meeting space – We commonly refer to the aircraft as a “flying conference room”. Why not serve the same purpose on the ground? Fly to a destination and host a meeting on the aircraft. Eliminate variables such as ground transportation and larger populations in buildings.
- Liberate your aircraft usage policy for business continuity – The company aircraft can be a valuable tool for business continuity. Consider transporting essential personnel between locations to keep their exposure risk low. One example we’ve recently encountered: a company transitioned their corporate aircraft into a temporary shuttle to move team members between campuses.
- Update your Emergency Response Plan based on recent lessons learned – The uniqueness of these events have likely identified gaps in your ERP. What have you learned regarding remote response capability, technology needs, or communication protocols? Update your ERP and run a simulation.
- Accelerate planned maintenance – Use the downtime wisely today, remain in the air tomorrow.
- Free up capital and create cash flow – Today’s financial markets are very favorable. Can you refinance your existing debt? Is a transaction on the horizon? If so, approach your lender about rate locks.
- Conduct online training – Consider accelerating some of your required online training (OSHA, HazCom, International Procedures, Ethics, etc.) by 6 to 12 months. By conducting training now, your availability will be open later in the year.
- Reprioritize backburner projects – There is often not enough time to complete your organization’s wish list items such as creating metrics, exploring new technologies, updating manuals/procedures, reformatting training records, etc. Take advantage of this time to help your organization be even better for the future.
In the end, are you “spending” time or “investing” time? Invest wisely to give your company the highest return.