At pMD we describe our working style as fast, efficient, and fun - like a German engineered car. If we work that way, we should travel that way, too! We have an incredible resource available for getting our team members to all of the different nooks and crannies on the map: a private plane! Using private aviation cuts down on overall travel time, allows for our team members to have meetings on board the plane, and eliminates the pesky need to take your shoes off while going through airport security - or watch as the person in front of you in line thinks that the whole no water bottle, no belts, no shoes thing is for everyone else but him.

For many folks, private aviation is viewed as a luxury reserved for Real Housewives and rock stars. However, at pMD we’ve been introduced to private aviation as a great way to travel efficiently (we leave the champagne at home). It’s been fun for me to learn along with my teammates about how private aviation can help maximize our time on the road. My colleagues, Chris and Ryan, recently took a trip using a small, private plane to visit with customers and prospective customers. After reviewing their itinerary, it’s illuminating to compare what this trip would have looked like with commercial flights.

Here are all the stops:
• Cincinnati, OH
• Gallipolis, OH
• Charleston, WV
• Macon, GA
• St. Petersburg, FL
• Miami, FL
• Naples, FL
• Birmingham, AL

The trip started from our southern office in Birmingham, AL on Monday and wrapped up back there on Thursday. 8 cities in 4 days?! Thanks to private aviation, it’s totally possible. Reviewing the total travel time for the week, you get a comparison that looks a little something like this:


Travel time alone clocks in at over 33 hours on commercial travel compared to private aviation's breezy total time of just over 8 hours. Chris and Ryan benefited from several perks that come from flying privately that led to the overall huge time difference throughout the week. One big win is not having to navigate airport security; they saved hours of time with every flight. They also got to fly to destinations that aren’t served by commercial aviation. When it comes to the choice between flying directly to Macon, GA or flying to Atlanta, GA and then driving the rest of the way, the efficient choice is very clear.

Speed and efficiency is pretty clear from the graph above, but what about fun? With private aviation, Chris and Ryan could talk with each other about their work (yes, at pMD we’d call that fun). In contrast, on commercial aviation, work discussions and even work on laptops is limited by the proximity to other passengers. Fun also enters the equation when you think about the week as a whole: using private aviation, the guys spent very little time traveling compared to the same trip using commercial travel options. They had time left at the end of their days to grab a fun dinner in the different locations they visited - and hopefully got a little Graeter’s ice cream in Cincinnati!

With travel time numbers like these, it’s no wonder why we utilize private aviation to help with our sales and account management trips. Not using such a resource would be like using paper rather than an electronic charge capture program, or making lots of phone calls and emails rather than having a seamless and integrated care coordination product, or sending a carrier pigeon when you would send a pMD secure message. It just makes sense - and you get to roll like a rockstar.