MySky, the spend-management platform developed specifically for private aviation, is entering the North and South American markets following a $5 million capital injection announced on Tuesday. The Switzerland-based company, which launched in 2016, has appointed Jean de Looz as its head of Americas and is looking to build on the more than 350 business aircraft currently using the system worldwide.
According to MySky, its system has the potential to significantly increase financial consistency and transparency over the key areas of cost, such as landing fees, fuel, and handling charges. The company says that its asset-management platform is built on comprehensive data collected from airports and vendors worldwide and based on the actual operational experience of the aircraft it already supports and listed prices.
MySky's artificial intelligence-based system uses this data to benchmark costs, to give operators a clearer idea of where savings could be achieved. AI allows MySky to check a vast “financial stream” of charges and costs, employing automation to identify discrepancies and errors that the company says would be far too difficult and time-consuming for employees to find through manual checks.
Christopher Marich, MySky’s cofounder and global strategy director, told AIN that up to 20 percent of the costs in private aviation could be avoided. “No one really knows what things in this industry should cost,” he claimed, adding that MySky can provide a much higher degree of transparency by accurately itemizing each item on an invoice and giving more accurate price quotes based on the true cost profile from previous trips.
MySky is mainly intended for individual aircraft owners, aircraft management companies (including those with Part 135 certificates), and Part 91 flight departments. De Looz said that the system helps to build and maintain loyalty among management clients because it gives them a clearer picture of the financial value delivered by the companies operating their aircraft. MySky is working to integrate its technology with popular operational and scheduling software.
“Think of this as an attitude indicator for the financial status [of an operation],” de Looz told AIN. “Today, the industry operates almost entirely on estimates, with very few key performance indicators and very little cost optimization. Owners and operators are now paying more attention to what they spend.”
The private equity group GMF Capital, supported by Global Trading Group, largely provided the new capital. In addition to a recently opened office in New York, MySky has offices in Geneva, London, and Moscow. It says that it achieved sales growth of 60 percent during the first quarter of 2020, with new customers including Avcon, Saxon Air, and Fly 7.
De Looz was formerly managing director for North America with private charter provider Victor. Earlier, he served as a sales manager for the eastern U.S. and Canada with Dassault Falcon Jet and as a client consultant with Meridian Air Charter.