Direct2 Grows Business While Maintaining Safety and Flexibility
We explore Direct2’s journey to growth as a small-scale operator with a vision to provide their customers with convenience and quality. Toby Woods, founder and CEO, shares the story of how they maintained safety and flexibility within their operation.
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Who is Direct2 Airways
Direct2 Air Taxi and Charter Flights is a pioneering aviation service provider offering convenient and personalized air travel solutions. Whether you need a quick point-to-point flight or a luxurious charter experience, Direct2 is your trusted partner in making air travel more accessible and enjoyable. This introduction gives you a glimpse into the world of Direct2 Air Taxi and Charter Flights, where convenience and quality come together to redefine how you travel by air.
Direct2 specializes in air taxi services, providing a cost-effective and time-efficient alternative to traditional airline travel. Imagine skipping the long lines and security checks at major airports and enjoying the freedom to fly directly to your desired destination. With a fleet of modern and well-maintained aircraft, Direct2 ensures safety and comfort while delivering a personalized and flexible flying experience. Additionally, for those seeking luxury and privacy, the charter flights offered by Direct2 provide an exclusive way to travel tailored to your unique needs. Direct2 Air Taxi and Charter Flights is your gateway to hassle-free and customized air travel experiences, from business trips to leisure getaways.
The Situation: Streamline the operation and bring a single source of truth to the operation
Toby Woods, founder and CEO of Direct2, had the idea of providing shorter-hop regional air travel via Diamond DA62 aircraft. Since their founding in August 2021, Toby has worked to find aircraft to manage for owners, enhance their service offering, and expand their fleet of available aircraft. “The idea is to shrink the map and give people more time and allow them to do more things in their business and personal lives that they otherwise wouldn’t be able to do at a price point that’s not available in the charter market,” is Toby’s fundamental idea. As part of a small team, Toby refers to himself as a “jack-of-all-trades” as a pilot, founder, CEO, and business developer. With these various tasks to focus on, Toby quickly recognized the need to utilize external tools to help him manage his fleet and business.
Direct2 initially signed up for Schedaero as Toby felt that the platform solved many of their problems quickly and allowed them to grow as they integrated Avinode and Paynode to help them address additional challenges they have met.
The Solution: Maximize efficiency and grow the business
As Toby works with a lean team, he was able to accomplish his goals with the following steps:
Streamline quotes and customer communication.
Using Avinode as part of their workflow, Direct2 can streamline quoting charter flights and interacting with brokers or direct-to-consumer clients. They can also quickly get quotes out the door, so they don’t spend a lot of time on flights that they may not end up booking.
By joining the Avinode Network, Direct2 saw an increase of 308% in 2023 compared to 2022 and appeared in over 500% more searches. This allowed them to maximize their exposure on a trusted network without traveling to meet potential new clients or spend extra money to advertise their services.
Join the Avinode network
Maintain trip accuracy.
Schedaero allows Direct2 to ensure that flight logistics are on point and communicate accurate details to their pilots in real time. With eight remote pilots, Direct2 needs to ensure its team is kept in the loop around the clock regarding upcoming trips.
The Schedaero Crew App is a user-friendly mobile application designed for efficient crew management in the aviation industry. It allows crew members to easily access and manage their schedules, flight details, and relevant documents on their mobile devices. The app streamlines communication and coordination with its intuitive interface and real-time updates, enhancing crew productivity and ensuring smooth operations.
Maintain safety standards.
Maintaining safety standards and compliance is a breeze for Direct2, thanks to Schedaero. Not only can the system notify/alert team members of upcoming certification requirements, but it can also notify dispatch of potential overages regarding pilot flight hours.
Schedaero’s Missions functionality is a highly customizable feature that allows operators to assign mission categories, types, etc. It also allows users to add any particular qualifications/training items required to ensure crew members are properly trained for a specific type of flight.
Learn more about maintaining compliance
Payment workflow simplified.
As a smaller operator, Direct2 must ensure that all payments are cleared before the planes even leave the ground. Thanks to Avinode Group’s payment solution, they maintain a transparent birdseye view of all payments.
Additionally, by utilizing Paynode, Direct2 can provide its customers with secure payment options, whether by wire transfer or credit card.
Get started with a simpler payment workflow
Unlock new efficiency with online booking.
The latest development from the team at Avinode Group, is online booking, which allows users to Select, Book, and Pay in one place. With online booking, you can modernly showcase your offer to clients, request payments from clients directly, simplify contracting with all details securely stored, and manage bookings from anywhere.
Existing members should reach out their CSM to learn more. New customers can get in contact with us today!
Avinode Group a partner in success for quoting and booking.
“We didn’t have any preconceived notions or ideas about what software platforms we would use, what we would do for operations or sales and payment solutions. Originally, I came across the Schedaero product for flight operations, which was the most obvious thing that we needed help with and we just gave it a go. We don’t know anything else, and we were able to utilize Schedaero and then add in Avinode and Paynode as a very small operator, small scale, and it’s been able to grow with us and continue to provide a runway for growth for us as we continue to grow.”
Toby Woods,
Founder, Direct2
Ready to start improving efficiency with us?
At Avinode Group, we focus on enhancing business aviation for you and your customers. By using Avinode, Schedaero, and Paynode for your charter operations, our team ensures smooth communication between different departments, from quoting to scheduling and payment collection. Contact us today to discover how Avinode Group’s solutions can elevate your business operations.