Story ID: 590VessixMyFlightSolutionsNBAA16
MyFlightSolutions and Vessix Tie the Knot
By: Curt Epstein
Caption: The two aviation software providers have joined forces to provide an end-to-end management solution for industry businesses.
Word Count: 468
To position themselves as an industry leading aviation operations software provider, MyFlightSolutions (Booth 4686) and Vessix (Booth 4786) have agreed to merge their respective solutions platforms into one package.

MyFlightSolutions began five years ago offering a software platform for flight training providers. It added a maintenance module two years ago, and at last year’s NBAA show it unveiled products for charter and FBO operators. “It’s pretty seamless because there was very little overlap in the products,” said MyFlightSolutions CEO Jack Garzella. “Vessix had all the payment technology, all of the FBO fuel provider contract technology, and we had all of the operations technology. This strategic merger is a game-changer for our industry, providing us with an incredibly advanced and integrated software product offering for aviation businesses that have been underserved in today’s market.”

The merger, which will take effect at the end of the year, will mean the end for Vessix. The new company will retain the MyFlightSolutions name, and Vessix co-founder and COO Tom Perkins will take on the role of president of the combined company. He predicts the system will improve productivity by up to 30 percent for its users by reducing the amount of manual entries required currently.

The Vessix system currently features secure point-of-sale credit card processing, transaction tracking, fuel-inventory management, tax reporting, facility scheduling and client database. It is in use at 32 Shell-branded FBOs.

With the announcement of the merger, a version of the combined, subscription-fee platform, known as Atlas, will be available to all 500 Shell-branded providers. It was installed last week at Tidewater Air, the lone FBO at North Carolina’s Coastal Carolina Regional Airport.

A similar deal with Avfuel was also announced this week at NBAA 2016, with the MyFlightFBO module. “This addition of MyFlightFBO means more choices for our branded network,” said William Light, the Ann Arbor, Mich.-based company’s vice president of administration.

Here at the NBAA show, MyFlightSolutions unveiled a new all-in-one payment application in conjunction with WEX Virtual Payments. Known as My Copilot, the app will present new technology to pilots, FBOs, trip-planning companies and fuel distributors. “Enabling operators to quickly and automatically reconcile a pilot’s trip expenses is groundbreaking,” said Jim Pratt, senior vice president and general manager of WEX.

The app will automate the receipt tracking process so users will not longer need to keep track of receipts for approved expenses. It will also generate a single-use Mastercard payment solution for all fuel and FBO purchases, as well as transportation, commercial airfare and hotel expenses anywhere Mastercard is accepted. “The fuel, the hotel, the ramp fee, the hangar all gets pulled into one transaction, settled at one time and all that data is real time,” Perkins told AIN.