In defense of the corporate jet | Hacker News Reader

In defense of the corporate jet

nytimes.com

7 pointsjsomers9 comments

If I'm a shareholder, I don't want to see profits (ha!) invested in a corporate jet. Fly commercial or better yet cut out travel altogether.

I think that's why ownership is usually separated from management.

I don't think it's the best use of the CEO's time to wait a couple of hours for the connection every time there's no direct flight from point A to point B, or wait 1h for the checked-in baggage to arrive (more than once if it's an international flight to the US with a connection in the US). I also don't think it would be good for business if they miss meetings every time they miss a connection. I'm not talking about waiting in the check-in line or for the security, because I assume people flying first class don't do that--but there's no way first class can save you from missing connections.

You have a point, but then again, I don't think it's the best use of the CEO's time (or the company's money) to fly somewhere just to talk to people (some of whom have also flown there) when there are things like video conferences, emails and IM.

Indeed. Why fly, when one can instantly Halo? http://www.hp.com/halo/pdf/Halo_Collaboration_White_Paper_3_... [PDF]

Travel almost immediately declines, which is why many believe that the decline in travel costs alone constitutes Halo’s return on investment. [...]

While Halo has proven to reduce travel costs, it is also reported to bring new levels of group productivity. As informal social networks begin to meet in Halo rooms, they accelerate innovation, problem solving and project completion. [...] Face-to-face interactions that occurred quarterly or semi-annually now occur on a daily basis allowing informal social networks to flourish. Travel time and its physical effects on individual productivity are eliminated. Finally, loss of productivity from being away from the home office is avoided, while improved quality of life is realized, both of which contribute to productivity on the job.

> Indeed. Why fly, when one can instantly Halo?

Do you always take a vendor's claims as gospel?

Me - I have a strong bias toward whatever decision is made by someone who has significant skin in the game. Sure, they make mistakes, but they've got far more relevant experence and incentive to get it right than someone in the cheap seats.

If you think that Halo is usefully better, use it and drive the fossils who go face to face out of biz.

I have a strong bias toward whatever decision is made by someone who has significant skin in the game.

The people with skin in the game are using telepresence, instead of flying.

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=470063

High-definition (HD)-based video meeting services will replace 2.1 million airline seats annually over the next three years [...] Gartner was saying the technology would take away $3.5 billion from the airline industry - this year. And that's just airline tickets. The total figure of corporate savings would also include room, board and other travel-related expenses.

Customers usually want to meet the person they are going to do millions of dollars of business with face to face.

Customers usually want to meet the person they are going to do millions of dollars of business with face to face.

Is Halo failing at cracking that market?

Reply on news.ycombinator.com