For an industry that promises speed and convenience, booking a charter flight is still painfully slow. Customers pay a premium for flexibility and time, but the booking experience feels stuck in another era.
Manual steps, disconnected systems, PDFs bouncing around, and payment delays that leave too much uncertainty after a decision’s already been made.
Demand isn’t the issue; the process is.
And the tricky part is that the problem doesn’t live in one place. It shows up between quoting and booking. Between booking and payment...
For an industry that promises speed and convenience, booking a charter flight is still painfully slow. Customers pay a premium for flexibility and time, but the booking experience feels stuck in another era.
Manual steps, disconnected systems, PDFs bouncing around, and payment delays that leave too much uncertainty after a decision’s already been made.
Demand isn’t the issue; the process is.
And the tricky part is that the problem doesn’t live in one place. It shows up between quoting and booking. Between booking and payment. Between sales and dispatch.
Everyone’s doing their part, but they’re doing it on tools that don’t really talk to each other. As volumes grow, those gaps don’t just slow things down. They create blind spots, add risk, and make scaling harder than it needs to be.
On paper, the workflow looks fine. In practice, handoffs pile up, confirmation gets fuzzy, and convenience starts to break down.
What breaks when charter sales and payments are treated as separate problems, and what does it look like when a platform is built around both?
In this episode, I sit down with Greg Johnson, President of Tuvoli.
We talk about why the charter industry is lagging behind customer demand, where things start to slip after a deal is supposed to be done, and how Tuvoli is bringing clarity to that moment instead of adding more steps.
You’ll also learn;
- Why charter booking still feels slow in a premium, time-sensitive market
- Where the process starts to break down between the quote, booking, and payment
- How disconnected systems create blind spots for brokers and operators
- Why payments became the anchor point for trust and visibility
- What happens when confirmation isn’t clear or timely
- Why fixing one step in isolation doesn’t solve the bigger issue
- How charter-specific tools differ from generic sales platforms
- Where automation is already reducing friction
- How AI is starting to influence quoting and pricing decisions
- What operators risk by sticking with legacy workflows
About the Guest
Greg Johnson is the President of Tuvoli, an end-to-end platform built to simplify quoting, booking, and trip management in charter aviation. Greg is an entrepreneurial leader with deep experience at the intersection of aviation, operations, and technology. He’s known for identifying where processes break down and using technology to drive real, measurable improvements. Colleagues often describe him as “a business guy who actually understands the technology.” His background spans contract services for major passenger airlines, a business process improvement role at Federal Express, the founding of a technology-driven private jet charter brokerage, leadership of the IT team at the world’s largest air charter brokerage, and the creation of an online community serving the charter aviation space. Greg has worked across Fortune 100 companies, private equity-backed organizations, and early-stage startups. His experience covers Part 121 airlines, cargo operations, general aviation, and private jets, with leadership roles spanning operations, executive management, technology, and business development. To learn more, visit https://www.tuvoli.com/ and connect with Greg on LinkedIn.
About Your Host
Craig Picken is an Executive Recruiter, writer, speaker, and ICF Trained Executive Coach. He is focused on recruiting senior-level leadership, sales, and operations executives in the aviation and aerospace industry. His clients include premier OEMs, aircraft operators, leasing/financial organizations, and Maintenance/Repair/Overhaul (MRO) providers, and since 2008, he has personally concluded more than 400 executive-level searches in a variety of disciplines. Craig is the ONLY industry executive recruiter who has professionally flown airplanes, sold airplanes, and successfully run a P&L in the aviation industry. His professional career started with a passion for airplanes. After eight years’ experience as a decorated Naval Flight Officer – with more than 100 combat missions, 2,000 hours of flight time, and 325 aircraft carrier landings – Craig sought challenges in business aviation, where he spent more than 7 years in sales with both Gulfstream Aircraft and Bombardier Business Aircraft. Craig is also a sought-after industry speaker who has presented at Corporate Jet Investor, International Aviation Women’s Association, and SOCAL Aviation Association.
For more aerospace industry news & commentary: https://craigpicken.com/insights/.
To learn more about Craig Picken, visit https://craigpicken.com/.
