http://adamwebster.com Painfully honest help for Jet Owners, Charter and FBO Firms Fri, 08 Aug 2008 18:59:39 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Nothing makes one as smug as seeing news that you were right. One of the benefits of aging is gaining that increased confidence of being able to smell trouble, point it out and know you're right. When you make the right decisions, you get to avoid all the pain, headache ... http://adamwebster.com/2008/08/04/stayin-alive/ The world of private aviation marketing savants may not be accustomed to reaching into the well of 1980's cult television, but . . . . sometimes we must. Not only that, smart people who study strategy and management have shown that Faceman, Hannibal, B.A. and Murdock have something larger ... http://adamwebster.com/2008/07/08/what-i-learned-while-watching-the-a-team/ It always amuses me when I approach new clients and am told, "Our marketing strategy is great, we don't need you". I always have to bite my tongue and come up short of saying, "Yeah, well prove it". It is a tired cliche, but still a truism: The proof is ... http://adamwebster.com/2008/06/26/hoping-or-hunting/ Sifting through my inbox lately leads to a lot of despair. Fuel & Jet-A malaise, the economy, the climate, the dwindling US Dollar, the tragedies never stop. News and media folks (myself included I suppose) are more drawn to dark stuff. Frankly, it sells better. Because ... http://adamwebster.com/2008/06/13/why-dont-we-get-more-of-these-stories/ Being a German workaholic, my father came to America in the late 60's with a few hundred bucks (most of which disappeared into the pockets of his fellow immigrant taxi driver upon arrival in New York).  Nevertheless, he retired a successful business man with a multi-million dollar company.  As I ... http://adamwebster.com/2008/06/09/the-good-ole-days/ The biggest farce floating around the industry, be it airline, air charter or air taxi, is the moaning and wailing regarding Jet-A. Yes, it is expensive. Yes, it has gone up.... ok, it has gone up A LOT. I hate to say it, but the Jet-A price increase isn't ... http://adamwebster.com/2008/05/22/the-fuel-is-tired/ I don't know why Andy Rooney bugs me so much, but a recent airline bashing piece finally brought my Rooney focus into better and more obvious light. Andy is upset about the airlines - so are we, we get that. The problem of running an efficient, profitable, and ... http://adamwebster.com/2008/05/21/andy-rooney-missed-his-flight/ The problem with hype is that it can really get away from you. Salespeople often require lots of fantastic premises and a careful architecture of quasi logic and emotional zingers to keep the potential customers slack jawed and credulous. Dayjet (of all air taxi schemes) was actually the one ... http://adamwebster.com/2008/05/21/dayjet-why-falling-down-is-part-of-learning/ Realistically, there are few similarities between these institutions. Eclipse Aviation is a privately funded aircraft manufacturer. The British Empire is... well, we assume you all know who "they" are. The common thread, that binds them, however, is our good friend Mahatma Ghandi who famously offered: http://adamwebster.com/2008/04/28/british-empire-eclipse-aviation/ Recently, I was reading up on some amphibious / float aircraft I was interested in operating on the river near Montreal. (I suffer from SAFWL - Seasonally Affective Floatplane Wanderlust.) Naturally this is all fantasy talk, since f*&$%ing Google has not yet acquired our company. Until that time, I'll ... http://adamwebster.com/2008/04/16/how-nuts-are-we/