By Rod Douglas
It had been one of those days. Having sent off an email to my favourite provider of quality glass-equipped composites to remind them of my previous email four weeks earlier setting out my requirements for the last quarter of the year, I sat and waited for the inevitable lack of response.
To my surprise it wasn’t more than a couple of hours before I heard something. However, the response flabbergasted me. My first email pointed out how bad their previous service had been and how often my bookings simply didn’t make it on to the sheet. The second pointed out that I needed an urgent response to the question of whether my next flight (two weeks to run) would be happening in one of their aircraft. What was returned was anything but the polite confirmation that the aircraft would be available or no, terribly sorry, nothing we can do. It was a tirade. A suggestion that I shouldn’t bother them with difficult requests like ‘can I stick a couple of thousand bucks in your account for a couple of days usage of your aircraft?’
It went on for pages. Told me how I’d bought aircraft back the day after they were promised. The facts - two weather delays in five years of flying with them and over 90 flights. I couldn’t believe it. The chief pilot suggesting that a flight should be made no matter the weather so the aircraft could be back on time. Give me a break.
Or how about this one: ‘you have sometimes left the aircraft untidy’. Now I’m one of those sticklers. I never leave an aircraft without all the seat belts secured, control locks in, covers on, secure. I don’t mean sometimes. I’m almost paranoid about it. That said, it is true that on occasions after week long trips through the outback I have left a returned aircraft with a little grass on the carpets, even occasionally needing a wash.
Could there be a reason? Typically I’ve landed after dark and there has been no one in the office. I struggle to understand how exactly I’m supposed to vacuum the aircraft, wash it, polish the windows and refuel it ready for the next hirer when the office isn’t open and there are no tools available. But then again it’s easy to understand why an aircraft hire company who regularly gets paid thousands of dollars per hire can’t achieve what a car rental company who gets paid a few hundred dollars a hire can do, day in day out. Provide a clean, serviced, properly equipped vehicle filled with fuel and ready to go on time.
At the end of the email my only question was, “with a chief pilot like that who needs competitors?”
After a couple of ill-advised lobs followed by poorly attempted passing shots from the other side I retired for the day. After a boisterous wrestle with my three boys I fell into bed for what I knew would be a well deserved sleep…
It was a beautiful dawn as I drove towards the airport. The crisp cool air was perfect to fly upon. Still and strong, once the horses were released we would soar skyward, free. One of the great things about the government’s sale of the airports was the fantastic amount of investment that the new owners have put into facilities. When they first took over they decided that all this land could simply be raped and pillaged as a property development play. When finally the government changed the zoning to require airports to develop a square metre of aviation infrastructure for every square metre of non aviation development, the tide turned.
The all conquering desire for a dollar suddenly took on new meaning for the airport owners, who discovered what the word ‘airport’ in airport owners actually meant. With the new legislation in place they realised what all other infrastructure owners took as a given – you better stimulate demand if you want a return. Imagine a toll road operator that decided that they didn’t like cars or a water filtration plant that lobbied for severe water restrictions. A ludicrous thought but similar to the behaviours of many of the airport owners after the sale who saw general aviation as a nuisance that they couldn’t make money out of.
As I drove into the customer car park at FreeSpirit Aviation I thought back to the bad old days. Remember them? Crappy old pre-gap pieces of junk that you were ashamed to put non-pilots in for fear of scaring them and that was before you’d actually started the engine. Those days of wondering whether the aircraft would be serviceable were gone and interrupted as Johnny, one of the line boys waved me down and offered to park the car for me.
I walked into the spotless reception to be met by Julie, enormous smile pasted to her very attractive dial. “Welcome Rod. We have Juliet Liam Yankee refuelled to tabs and waiting on the ramp for you. We’ve taken your headsets and flight bag out of your locker and they are on the right seat waiting for you.” The days of rubbish general aviation customer service were relegated deep into the recesses of my mind by the genuine care and concern to ensure that my experience was marvellous. Julie handed me a bottle of water as I walked out the door and wished me a great day flying.
Sitting on the ramp was a beautifully turned out aircraft. The sun glistened off the polished clean windscreen, the gull wing doors soaring skyward allow the cockpit to be delightfully cool and, as I reached in to turn the masters on and drop the flaps for the preflight, Joe reappeared. “Rod, I hope you don’t mind but I reconfirmed that you have tabs, I topped the oil to six, and as you’d put your route into the online booking system I programmed the route into the G1000 for you.” Could it be that I’d died and gone to heaven?
I thought back to how different this corner of the airport had been only five years before. Old, tired and patchwork, the hangars hadn’t a lick of paint in years. The ramp, filled with old tired aircraft, would have struggled to excite even the most passionate addict of the air. Compared to the brand new purpose built facility that FreeSpirit Aviation now occupied it was depressing. As I looked out at where the 30 strong fleet of near new glass-equipped birds lived it was clear that plenty of flying was happening. All the basic trainers were out, plus many of the cross country machines and why wouldn’t they be.
It’s amazing the confidence that modern, clean and technologically advanced aircraft bring to new students. Just then a good mate of mine, Michael Edwards came around the corner. “G’day Mike, what are you up to?” Michael was a client of mine and years before I’d flown him on a three day all stops tour of every town between Coffs Harbour and Cairns while we were developing a retail expansion plan. A feat that could only occur in a GA aircraft. That trip changed his business and these days Michael wouldn’t even consider a retail site without having surveyed it from the air.
We stopped and chatted. Michael was doing last minute preparation for his private test. A talented and successful retailer who holds his team to the highest of standards, there is no way that he would have ever considered a pilot’s license in the old days of crappy service and even crappier aircraft. We spent a few minutes chatting on the pro’s and con’s of whether he should buy himself an aircraft or whether he should buy a share in the excellent syndication program that FreeSpirit runs. I could see the cogs turning, and while the financial benefits of shared ownership were clear I could see that Michael really liked the idea of owning his own aircraft.
It was time to start the preflight and the aircraft was, as expected, in delightful shape. Spotlessly clean, FreeSpirit sets a squawk free standard that means I never even give a thought to the possibility of a flight not going ahead because of aircraft failure. The one time I had been unhappy with the aircraft presented, the team simply found me another aircraft and I departed without anything more than a half hour delay. I contrasted that to the memorable day years before when I’d returned to land in an old Cessna Crusader due to low oil pressure reading on the left engine with a load of board members heading out west for a board meeting, only to be told by the grumpy old chief pilot that, “You should never use a GA aircraft for anything important. Always best to have an airline ticket in your back pocket just in case.” No wonder GA was stuffed before the entrepreneurs arrived.
Out on the ramp was the full gambit of the FreeSpirit fleet. From the trainers, all of which offered advanced glass cockpits and ballistic parachutes, through to the zippy composite singles and up to the personal and very light jets. When David Withers, who had run Boeing for a number of years, put together a vision for the perfect GA business, the old timers told him that, “if you want to make a small fortune out of aviation start with a large fortune”. He’d proved them wrong. With brand new facilities like this one in all the capital cities and six regional centres, a fleet of over 150 aircraft and culture of service that was second to none, David has built a profitable aviation powerhouse that makes personal transportation the choice of business owners throughout the country.
The success of FreeSpirit is based on a powerful capacity to attract people to try personal aviation, a fabulous career path for his instructors that takes them from ab initio instruction right through to the airlines and often sees them choose to stay rather than go. Why? Because the flying is more interesting and the people more fun at FreeSpirit, and with an absolute commitment to customer service they see every customers aspirations understood and nurtured. They make a difference rather than fly buses.
I’ll never forget my first visit. It took half a day and I didn’t go for a fly. My pilot mentor, a great young guy named Scotty, sat me in the office and gave me the most positive grilling I’d ever had about my flying experience. A Cathay 777 first officer who’d given it up for the far more fulfilling life of working with FreeSpirit, Scotty took me through pages of the needs analysis that they use to understand my experience level, the type of flying that I do and all my goals around flying. I call it a ‘positive grilling’ because while it was detailed I could clearly see that he cared and wanted to understand how he could best support me to be a happy, safe and fulfilled pilot.
He identified that my long term aspiration was to move into personal jets, that I’d love to upgrade my US aerobatic rating to Australian standards, that I felt I could use more formal training in understanding weather forecasts and that I’d love to participate in flying safaris with other passionate and intelligent pilots. He gently but firmly pushed me to commit to my flying budget for the year and then went through and worked out how I like to spend it.
By the time I walked out we’d together built a plan for how I could get the most fulfilled bang for my bucks and end the next year delighted with my flying and my progress. It was a great experience. Better still, when we met in the café at the end of the year and pulled out the plan I was able to see that I’d achieved all my flying goals for the year, stayed broadly within budget and had a hell of lot of fun. Once the learning and achievements were documented it was time to build next year’s plan.
I remembered the incredible struggle I’d had when I returned from the United States years before with a commercial multi engine instrument rating that I wanted to convert. I went to half a dozen different flying organisations to get help. I had plenty of cash and needed guidance. Yet no one could be bothered. Eventually I worked it out and, not surprisingly, the crew who helped me out got a fair bit of flying out of me. I look back and imagine how easy it would have been if a great organisation like FreeSpirit existed back then.
With my pre-flight completed (and my rambling mind back in the present), Julie appeared. “Rod, Premier McNamara has arrived. I’ve taken him through to the café and organised him a cappuccino.” Don’t you just love great service?
As I was walking in to see Andrew I thought back to the first time I flew with him. It was back in 2008. I was president of Greening Australia in Queensland back then and Andrew was the Minister for Sustainability, Climate Change and Innovation. He had agreed to open the Veg Future conference, Australia’s premier re-vegetation conference. We had about 500 people up in Toowoomba and the only way I could get Andrew to agree to jam it into his busy schedule was if I flew him up.
It was back in the old days when bookings were unreliable and you never knew what aircraft you were going to get when you landed at the airport. I’d tried to book a Cirrus SR22. They couldn’t do that. I got an SR20. Okay, I can cope with that. The flight time to Toowoomba was marginal between the aircraft. When I got out there, for whatever reason, the aircraft I’d been told that I would be flying, and that I’d flight planned for, was not the one I was handed the keys to.
You can imagine my dismay when I walked out to discover that the aircraft I had been given didn’t have a front spat. Now while a front spat doesn’t affect the aircraft's capacity to fly, it certainly looks odd when it’s missing. Especially on a sleek and delightful Cirrus.
As I stood in front of the terminal at Archerfield waiting for my esteemed guest I wondered what I’d tell him if he asked. The truth was that I couldn’t think of a single intelligent thing to say about it so I decided to just ignore it. Fortunately Andrew never mentioned it. Worst still was the fact that by the time we were in the air there was both an SR22 and another 20 sitting pretty on the ramp.
It didn’t really matter, we had a fabulous flight both up and back and it was the start of lots of fun flying together.
I was taking Andrew on a flight to see some of the amazing work Greening Australia is doing in the Birdsville to the Bays climate adaptability biozone. This fantastic project is seeking to reconnect 1450 kms of native vegetation and is a collaboration between Greening Australia, the Queensland Government and dozens of other partners and landholders, and will be able to be seen from space when, decades into the future this amazing project is complete.
After a quick peppermint tea together, Andrew, his adviser and I headed for the aircraft. As we walked out the door I could see that Sue, the adviser, was nervous. Small aircraft have that effect on people. So I asked the question. “Andrew, would you rather take the personal jet?” I’d bought a share in a FreeSpirit syndicated jet a couple of years before. Andrew just laughed. “No Rod, if they can’t take flying in one of these fabulous new pistons, with their glass and parachutes, they are hardly going to make it my office.” I laughed with him. I remembered back to the first flight and Emma, his adviser then. Scared to start, thrilled by the end, she’d survived the flight and made a real difference in his office. I wondered if a flight in a lighty had become part of Andrew’s staff selection process.
As we taxied out of the FreeSpirit ramp area I looked to the right to check for traffic. What I saw reminded me that only the committed thrive. At the other end of the airport, aviation remained in a time warp. Old aircraft, no service, grotty facilities. It still amazes me that they survive. As we lined up on runway 28 I was mighty pleased that someone had decided that there was money to be made by doing the job right.
The throaty roar of the Continental and lively action on the panel had us leaping forward down the runway. Seventy knots and we gently rotated and started the zoom skyward.
“Dad, dad.” My eyes opened slowly. My little mate Liam loves to wake me before he climbs in for his morning cuddle. I struggle to see why he thinks it’s so important for me to be awake before he climbs in but that’s his way. As he crawled into the crook of my arm I heard the thunder of feet as the other four kids realised that Dad was awake and is therefore fair game.
As we talked and played I thought of two things. First, I still didn’t have an aircraft to fly the Queensland crew to the Greening Australia national board meeting next week, and second, I’d had a very pleasant dream.
If only I could remember the details.
So here’s the rub. Someone, out in the midst of the rubble that is our current economy, has probably realised, as I have, that there is actually room for a FreeSpirit Aviation to revolutionise general aviation in Australia. High tech, high touch with an absolute commitment to take all the friction out of unwieldy transaction that is flying in this country. With systems savvy, a commitment to a great, caring and safe culture, they will attract the many time poor, cash rich people who are sick and tired of being treated as cattle (been to the Melbourne Qantas lounge on any afternoon lately?) and who can and will justify spending the money if they receive the service that they deserve.
Better still, with a high tech approach and great systems, the opportunity to leverage off the current pilot shortage, which, no matter the current downturn, is structural and simply won’t go away until intelligent and attractive engagement in marketing flying to the general public occurs. While the capital cost to set up FreeSpirit Aviation might be high, the lower operating costs and training integration all the way to the airlines is sure to succeed.
Not surprisingly organisations like FreeSpirit exist in the not-so-presently-great US of A. In fact, it’s exactly the sort of service that Cirrus delivers every day. Not surprising it’s bringing an extraordinary number of new pilots to the market who have only ever flown the plane they own. If you think that you’re already running FreeSpirit Aviation, or if you want to create it… drop me a line. I’m sure it will make a good story. rod@aviatormag.com.au
Disclaimer: Clearly my dreams are my own and imagine a world in the future. Michael Edwards is an extraordinary retailer and you can discover that if you visit any Far Pavilions stores. David Withers, who did a superb job of running Boeing and who is more than competent to build the very systems and culture that would make it happen, does not run FreeSpirit Aviation (I wish he would). The Hon Andrew McNamarra is the current Minister for Sustainability, Climate Change & Innovation. We did fly together to Toowoomba in a Cirrus without a front spat to open the conference. He is doing an excellent job and I hope that if the Bligh Government is returned that he will keep doing what is an absolutely critical job in a challenging world. He has never expressed to me a desire to be premier but you never know. Scotty is a Cathay pilot and hates it. He would like to work for FreeSpirit Aviation. My frustrations with my aircraft provider arereal, and the emails mentioned did happen.
