At 8:30 every morning, a meeting takes place in the flight center. During the meeting, dispatchers, schedulers, and executives study every flight from the previous day that did not arrive on schedule and determine the cause for the delay.
When a flight plan is filed, crew members receive general information on their pagers. Crew members respond via their pagers, and then receive the full flight plan details via phone or fax wherever they are, be it at home or in a hotel. This eliminates any paperwork or flight plans that might otherwise be viewed without authorization at a fixed-base operation by someone not involved with the flight.
After the tour, Mateo met with Russell, Vice President Michael Goode, and sev
eral NetJets employees for further discussions and to view a demonstration of IntelliJet, the company’s proprietary software that manages all owner information. The program stores data such as owners’ preferred caterers, onboard restrictions (no Pepsi products aboard Warren Buffett’s flights), and choice of ground transportation. Over coffee and sandwiches, they discussed topics such as share depreciation (Russell estimated a 5 percent to 6 percent annual rate), competing programs (Mateo praised Sentient’s policy of refunding unused hours), and safety (Mateo lauded NetJets’ commitment while raising concerns about Sentient).
Upon conclusion of his visit and his return home, Mateo called Quinn and informed him of what he had seen. "He felt more comfortable with what he saw and knowing what he’d be getting," Quinn recalls. "He saw what planes would show up and saw the service and training. He was highly impressed with that component. And not that any other program is unsafe by any means. They each have their own benchmark for safety. But the benchmark is certainly NetJets, without question. They were the first player in the business. He saw that and felt comfortable with that."
"While they are the most expensive, it is clear to me that they are the best, and they have an amazing safety record," says Mateo. "That is the thing that is most important to me. If I’m going to fly privately, I don’t mind paying a few extra dollars and making sure that every flight is going to be a safe flight. Having seen what goes on behind the scenes, I know what’s going on. I feel comfortable with that."
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