A multi-engine, instrument rated pilot, James Wynbrandt has been an AIN and Business Jet Traveler contributor since 2003. His in-depth reporting and insightful features have won more than a dozen editorial honors, including two National Business Aviation Association Gold Wing Awards (2019; 2021), and his articles have also appeared in the New York Times, Barron’s, Fortune, Forbes, and Smithsonian Air &amp; Space. He has flown his Mooney M20K 252 on assignments throughout North and Central America and the Caribbean. Wynbrandt is also the author of Flying High (Wiley &amp; Sons), a biography of Jet Blue founder David Neeleman, as well as histories, references works, and books on a variety of other topics from major publishers. He lives in New York City.

Contributor - Business Aviation

James Wynbrandt

Though largely sparing business aviation, the pandemic has devasted the ultra-high-end travel and hospitality industries while sparking innovations now transforming the sectors, according to Malta-based VistaJet. The global air charter provider today released "The Future of Private Travel," a report that aims to document current changes and “start a conversation on what the new normal will look like beyond 2021,” VistaJet chief commercial officer Ian Moore told AIN.
Based on responses from among more than 650 of the hospitality sectors’ industry leaders queried worldwide, 78 percent reported year-over-year net revenue declines of at least 60 percent, with a significant portion (43 percent) seeing drops exceeding 90 percent. Meanwhile, adapting for the future, just under 95 percent have planned or implemented customer experience and/or service upgrades, and more than 60 percent have introduced new offerings, products, or services, according to the report, which was produced in partnership with high net-worth market consultancy Barton.&nbsp;
<img alt data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="62c96464-f3bd-474b-926d-bbcb2e5dd4fb" src="/sites/default/files/vistajet-increasing-the-role_web.jpg" width="2200" height="1100" loading="lazy">
The survey also revealed “a need to be collaborative,” with over 86 percent of the luxe purveyors developing turnkey offerings to overcome Covid-related restrictions and requirements. “Even previously competing brands” may work together in the normal to come, Moore said, while admitting VistaJet and the small core of top-end private lift providers won’t be among them.&nbsp;“I don’t see a huge amount of collaboration among the big boys—other than acquisitions,” he added.

VistaJet IDs Covid-19 Impact on Luxe Travel’s Future

VistaJet IDs COVID Impact on Luxe Travel’s Future

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