Traveling on Business in Panama or Costa Rica?
Charter aircraft may be cheaper and more effective
As Panamanian businesses grow and increasingly compete on the world stage, moving people around Panama in the shortest amount of time is an vital productivity factor to consider when looking at boosting the bottom line. Managing corporate executive time has never been more important than now given the their salary or sales levels.
Looking at the true cost of travel in terms of effectiveness, and not just efficiency, is paramount to making more money. Traveling to and from airports, waiting times before boarding, unproductive time on aircraft or in cars, and dealing with crowds all take their toll on efficiency and more important, effectiveness.
The intangible costs hidden within business travel add up far faster than even corporate accountants realize. When a business hires people, they expect a return on their investment higher than the cost of the employee. Factoring in this cost accounts for the true nature of business travel cost.
The benefits of charter aircraft are often challenging to quantify beyond the tangible and measurable such as per hour and waiting time costs. Business travel involves more than just the time waiting to board an aircraft or driving to the airport. Baggage check in, flight delays, security checks and the hassle of dealing with the flying public at-large cause costs to rise in terms of lost productivity alone.
Today's top management teams routinely look at alternatives to save more time, and boost their bottom lines too, by accounting for the intangibles of charter aircraft.
The National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) lists some of the following intangible benefits of flying charter:
"Safety, security and productivity are key reasons why individuals and companies increasingly are choosing on-demand air travel for personal and business travel. Air charter flights operate on the passenger’s schedule, allowing considerable flexibility."
Indeed, safety and security are issues well worth considering. Private corporate information being discussed along with the security of the employee are two important issues, which may in themselves dictate the need for a charter aircraft.
Time management also plays an increasingly important role when traveling. Choosing the flight schedule instead of bending to the airline's schedule, or even changing destinations in-flight, boost time savings and productivity.
Personal and group productivity shoot upward when using charter aircraft. The ability to quickly board and deplane upon arrival plus working enroute are several obvious benefits. Waiting for luggage is another worry to dismiss.
Another intangible benefit is the ability to travel far more comfortably than with the airlines. VIP services and lounges are the norm and not the exception. This reduces stress for business travelers and boosts their ability to arrive mentally sharp, ready for business.
Multiple destinations over many days further add to the problem. "The Divorce Factor" as it is known, creates problems at home for married couples when one spouse is traveling for long periods of time. One might think this happens on a regional basis, but depending on the destinations chosen, it happens within Panama too. Some airline flights are only every other day requiring a hotel stay and per diem expenses. Pedasí is one example of a destination with limited service by the local airlines forcing overnight stays and their attendant hotel and per diem costs.
Quantifying the benefits of many of these intangibles is possible. Contact us for your special needs.
In this day of of Blackberrys, emails, cell phones and other non-personal ways of communicating, losing that personal touch can cost your business plenty. Charters flights enable businesses to visit their customers with more cost-effectiveness and efficiency. We think the following United Airlines commercial had it right -- :
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