The biggest barrier to growth for charter brokerages isn't demand. It's the systems behind the business.
From STACK's Director of Business Development, Cat Buchanan.
One of the things I enjoy most about working at STACK.aero is hearing how our customers' businesses evolve over time. Every conversation is different, but one theme comes up repeatedly: Business is growing, enquiries are coming in, but the team is working flat out– actually, the team cannot keep up.
It inevitably happens. Suddenly, the systems that helped build the business are no longer enough.
Recently, I caught up with George 'JoJo' Wozniak, CEO of Ryan Aviation Group, and his story perfectly illustrates a challenge facing many charter brokerages today.
"When our volume of charter requests and bookings increased, the system we were using, if we could really call it a true system, simply no longer worked," JoJo told me. "We were losing trips because we couldn't quote fast enough, and there was far too much room for human error."
Frankly, our team hears this all the time. Many brokerages start with Word documents, spreadsheets, PDFs, Post-It notes and a handful of different applications –sometimes dozens of applications.
Those tools often work well in the early days, but as the business grows, they become harder to manage. Information lives in multiple places, quoting takes longer, and knowledge sits with individuals rather than the business itself.
Eventually, the systems become the bottleneck. "There were days before STACK when I had to take deep breaths when someone requested a trip because sending a quote was so labour-intensive," JoJo admitted.
For a business built on responsiveness and service, that's a difficult position to be in. Growth needs the right foundation. When Ryan Aviation began looking for a new solution, they weren't simply buying software. They were looking for a better way to run the business.
One of the things JoJo told me was that they appreciated working with people who understood the realities of charter brokerage. "The STACK team had a really good vibe from the outset and I loved that many of them had brokerage backgrounds," he said. "They understood exactly what we were trying to achieve."
Identifying the solution and implementing it are two different things: replacing familiar processes requires new habits, and onboarding any new system takes commitment. "Change is tough," JoJo said. "You're replacing old habits and established ways of working. But the support was fantastic. The team was knowledgeable, responsive and explained everything in a relatable way."
What followed wasn't simply a software implementation. It fundamentally changed the way Ryan Aviation operated.
Once quoting, contracts, client information, trip management and financial processes were brought together in one place, the business could move faster, reduce manual work and spend more time focusing on clients.
But what interested me most wasn't the operational efficiency. It was the shift in mindset.
Removing the ceiling.
Before implementing STACK.aero, Ryan Aviation averaged between 10 and 20 trips per month. Once the operational bottlenecks disappeared, they started thinking of real growth. "We started asking ourselves: how cool would it be to do 50 trips in a month?"
Not long afterwards, they achieved exactly that. Ryan Aviation completed 54 trips in a single month while maintaining the high level of service that had built its reputation.
"The quoting portion became quick. Human error was minimised. More time could be allocated to the next quote and the next trip. Our operations team had information at their fingertips," JoJo told me.
Today, the company averages between 60 and 70 trips each month and is already looking ahead to its next milestone.
For me, that's what digital transformation is really about. It's not just about efficiency. It's about removing the operational limits that prevent businesses from growing with confidence.
Creating a single source of truth.
One of my favourite comments from JoJo had nothing to do with trip numbers.
"It really has been a massive game changer for us. Speed and quality of service. I no longer have to be the memory bank for everyone."
Every brokerage has someone who remembers everything – client preferences, previous trips, catering requests, birthdays and commercial agreements. But people shouldn't have to be databases.
A business operations platform should become the organisation's collective memory, giving every member of the team access to the same information. For Ryan Aviation, that means customer preferences, trip history, sales activity, contracts, invoices and reporting all live in one place.
The result is abetter customer experience.
"It allows us to focus less on remembering information and more on serving our clients," JoJo explained. "Birthday requests, anniversaries, catering preferences, allergy information – it's all there. Clients don't need to repeat themselves, and our brokers spend less time searching for information and more time building relationships.”
Technology should support relationships, not replace them.
There's sometimes a perception that digitalisation removes the personal touch from business aviation. I believe the opposite and JoJo seems to agree.
"Our clients value time and service," JoJo told me. "Digitisation gives time back. But we can't lose the service piece in the process. Human connection, relationship building and client retention remain incredibly important."
That perfectly captures how I think technology should be used. The goal isn't to replace brokers. It's to remove repetitive administration so brokers can focus on what clients actually value: expertise, responsiveness and trusted relationships.
When I asked JoJo what role STACK.aero had played in Ryan Aviation's growth, his answer summed everything up.
"It's difficult to quantify exactly what percentage of our growth came from STACK," he said. "But it has absolutely been a significant part of it. It removed limitations and constraints that existed in our previous processes."
For me, that's the biggest lesson. The right technology doesn't make a great charter brokerage. It gives great brokerages the foundation to keep growing – without compromising the service that got them there in the first place.
I'd love to hear from others in business aviation. Did your systems stop supporting your growth, and what prompted you to make a change, if you made one?
