KinectAir, the digital platform that’s opening the skies and delivering the convenience of on-demand private air travel at lower costs, today announced the benefits its business customers are achieving using its easy point-to-point aviation service, fleet network and mobile-first app.
With flights to local airports anywhere in the Pacific Northwest possible, businesses including LSW Architects and RIFF Creative Studio are saving time and money with KinectAir. Additionally, these businesses have eliminated scheduling hassles common with major airlines and typical charters, increased team productivity and unity, and expanded fast into new markets.
As an architecture firm growing its client base throughout the Pacific Northwest, LSW needs its teams onsite in various locations in central Oregon and Montana to strategize, evaluate, create and execute work with clients and each other. Flying the airlines and driving long distances have resulted in significant lost time, siloed teams and frustrated business schedules.
KinectAir has enabled LSW to fly direct to and from local airports very close to business meeting sites at prices comparable to major airline business class fares—but with far more flexibility and value.
The flights, which themselves create a productive and energized team environment, almost impossible with airline travel, can cover multiple destinations in a single day and often eliminate hotel expenses.
“We’re growing into central Oregon, necessitating frequent movement between Bend and Portland in the Pacific Northwest, as well as expanding into Montana, with no time or money to waste,” said Casey Wyckoff, CEO of LSW Architects.
“Our teams and I were so accustomed to the disjointed and time-wasting experiences in typical big airports and with airlines that eat up a day. KinectAir-enabled flying feels mind-bendingly different and better in every way, starting with easy parking near a calm and pleasant general aviation lobby where we’re greeted by highly professional and personable pilots. In less than an hour, we’ve landed very close to our day’s destination. The team is inspired, connected and engaged on the flight, in a comfortable, trusted space, actively preparing with each other for our work ahead. We disembark energized, not exhausted, by the experience. KinectAir has given us the opposite of the typical hassled airport experience at a net cost savings,” said Wyckoff.
A recent study suggests that better connectivity via nonstop flights enables an increase in innovation outcomes for firms in the United States and globally.
Specifically, for businesses, findings show a 10% increase in nonstop flights between two locations leads to a 3.4% increase in citations and a 1.4% increase in the production of collaborative patents between those locations. That impact is even stronger for firms located in innovation hubs—like the Pacific Northwest.
Businesses can gain even greater advantage with direct on-demand flights through a more efficient networking of private air fleets that taps into much of the existing infrastructure of over 5,000 underutilized airfields in the U.S. Wyckoff explained, “We can consider new locations to conduct business that would have previously been impossible and we can be present for more key client events, turning ‘lost’ travel time into productive meeting time.”
“On-demand point-to-point flying means that companies can direct their cost and time savings into the expansion of new business development initiatives that, in turn, boost regional economies,” said KinectAir CEO and Cofounder Jonathan Evans.
Evans stated further, “Human mobility and connectivity have long been fundamentally tied to innovation, and now the software-defined enablement of widespread, affordable private air travel not only maximizes the quantity of saved time, but also optimizes the quality of time in transit and further democratizes opportunities for innovation. We’re thrilled to work with forward-thinking businesses like LSW and RIFF, and propel the creative and community-building work they’re doing.”
LSW has found that team conversation during the KinectAir experience is strikingly positive and productive, in stark contrast to a disjointed typical airline and airport experience.
“The flights are so intrinsically conducive to creativity that they have served as pregame warm-ups before the team arrives at our work destination. Enthusiasm has been infectious and has spurred communication and innovative thinking. Reproducing this level of synergy is a pattern we will repeat often for the business results it provides,” added Wyckoff.
Wyckoff also leads RIFF Creative Studio with Cofounder Ralph Willson and a different team, but with equal interest in a community-building mission and expansion of creative projects into new markets. The duo believe that more productivity and even more fruitful idea generation comes out of teams when they’re together in person, present and connected.
“When the expertise and creativity of teams is the value you are providing to projects and partners, you don’t want to stifle, silo or drag down those teams in any way. You want to elevate their connectivity and inspiration in a manner that balances budget with the value delivered,” said Shara Wokal, CFO of RIFF. “KinectAir concretely proves its business value to RIFF. Important conversations do not happen as frequently or richly over video tools as they do in person. We need the most cost-effective way to reach clients, and that’s proving to be point-to-point flights secured with KinectAir.”
Business and leisure passengers can open the KinectAir app and instantly book a flight with transparent pricing and without the need for concierge or brokers, although they are available as desired. No membership is required.
Flying smarter with KinectAir unlocks new possibilities for businesses in the Pacific Northwest and beyond. Buying blocks of time for corporate travel makes it even more affordable. KinectAir is able to connect powerful aircraft and fleets and their professional pilots with business and leisure demand at a time when congested hub-to-hub and hub-to-spoke air travel is more challenging and expensive than ever.
KinectAir is building the software and network today that will enable Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) services in the decades ahead, as the eSTOL and eVTOL market matures. AAM services will rely on AI-driven software to ensure high-margin utilization rates, dynamic routing, mobile-first booking and much more.
