Engineering a New Standard in Private Air Travel
Diamond Air Taxis founder Stephen Boyd’s has had a passion for aviation for as long as he can remember. “I was one of those kids, you know, going to air shows and watching planes. I wanted to be an airline pilot or an Air Force pilot. I just wanted to fly,” he recalls.
As a teenager, Stephen balanced delivering pizzas with funding his flying lessons at Bankstown Airport. “Basically, I self-funded everything. I didn’t have anyone to pay for me or anything like that,” he says.
When he found out he couldn’t fly with the Air Force because he wore glasses, he decided to pursue an engineering path. His technical aptitude led him to join the Air Force as an engineering officer. “I didn’t work on aircraft directly, but I was an engineering officer in the Air Force.”
From would-be pilot to Air Force engineer
Stephen’s academic journey further solidified his technical expertise. “My degree was in computer systems engineering, and my PhD was in systems engineering,” he says. These qualifications led him to start an engineering business in the transportation sector with his wife Alia, which they grew to 150 employees before selling it.
“When I saw the way the charter system worked, I realised there was a much better way to do things, so I brought those skills to develop this new system.”
With the sale of his company, Stephen returned to his first love—flying. “I guess I resumed my passion for flying,” he says. He bought a small plane and immersed himself back into aviation, which inspired him to innovate within the charter aviation sector.
Stephen’s background in systems engineering provided a unique perspective on the inefficiencies in the charter system.
A rideshare for the air
The idea for Diamond Air Taxis struck Stephen while he was booking a rideshare. “I thought, there’s really nothing where you can just book an aircraft to go from Sydney to somewhere, like you book an Uber,” he recalls. The ease of booking a ride with just a few taps on his phone sparked his imagination.
Stephen envisioned a similar seamless experience for booking charter flights. “Wouldn’t it be way better if this was the way you book your flights? Similar to an airline, but it’s not an airline flight,” he said. The existing process for chartering a plane seemed archaic and cumbersome by comparison. “The problem is that the way charter flights work at the moment is that you’ve got to find a company, fill in a form with your details, and wait for them to get back to you, not knowing the price.”
“It sort of occurred to me when I was booking an Uber, how nice is the process? I just open the app, I just pay, and I turn up and go. There’s nothing more to do.”
Combining his technical expertise with his aviation passion, Stephen decided to create a streamlined booking system for charter flights. “I was really inspired by the way Uber works. I just liked that model and thought this is the way it should be.”
Streamlined and simplified
Thus, the idea for Diamond Air Taxis was born. The system simplifies travel planning, allowing users to effortlessly select their departure and arrival locations, specify the number of passengers and bags, and indicate if a return trip is needed. It checks the feasibility of your departure by analysing weather conditions at the chosen time and place, ensuring a safe take-off, calculates the flight duration and estimated arrival time, and assesses weather conditions at the destination to confirm a safe landing, taking into account factors like wind, visibility, and cloud cover.
Simultaneously, the system verifies aircraft availability, considering maintenance schedules and existing bookings, and checks pilot availability to ensure a qualified pilot is ready for the trip. Once all these elements align, the system calculates the necessary fuel, including reserves and contingencies, and presents available flight times.
The system streamlines the entire travel process, from checking weather conditions and aircraft availability to calculating flight times and fuel needs.
The customer sees a list of departure times and clicks on the one they want. For same day flights the system calculates the maximum time the aircraft can wait based on other bookings and pilot availability, and will offer a discounted return flight. You can get a deal if someone has booked a one-way flight, creating an empty-leg return flight which sells at a discounted rate.
The end result is a platform that streamlines the charter flight booking process, making private air travel as simple as booking a ride with Uber. This innovative approach not only makes it easier for customers to find and book charter flights but also helps operators optimise their fleet utilisation and reach a broader audience.