With the surge in demand for private aviation, a new technology-based company—CrewBlast—was launched to streamline crew staffing. The company aims to connect operators with qualified pilots and flight attendants via the CrewBlast app, which is available in iOS and Android versions and works globally.
Pilots and flight attendants register with the app and when an operator needs staffing, a “Blast notification” is pushed to all the crewmembers. This enables available qualified crew to respond immediately to these needs.
The company noted the record industry growth fueled by the pandemic but said business aviation often faces labor shortages. Staffing has always been challenging given regulatory requirements such as mandatory crew rest and other constraints. This can make staffing difficult to keep pace with the needs of private aviation customers, the company said.
“The old way of staffing just wasn’t working well for the aviation industry,” said CrewBlast president Timothy Griffin. “We knew there was a better way to do it by harnessing technology. Everyone carries a phone today, so that means we have a direct line to our entire database of personnel at the push of a button.”
Griffin added that the nascent company last week crewed a flight in need of last-minute pilots in less than 10 minutes. “That is what we are striving for.”