Founded in 2018 in Florida, US, private jet chartering company Bitlux has covered over 1,000,000 miles with flights so far. The company, which is an ARGU/US registered broker, is one of the first private jet charter companies to accept payments for flights with cryptocurrencies.
Bitlux CEO Kyle Patel speaks to Airport Technology about how the company is disrupting the private jet chartering sector through cryptocurrency and AI.
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“As far as I know we are the only people in the brokerage position that have regular structures, industry-specific training on logistic handling, and networking,” explains Patel.
“Our guys are specifically trained on international logistics, but our sweet spot is on heavy cabin international trips, which is one of the big things that separates us from other companies.”
Introducing crypto to private jet chartering
According to Bitlux, the use of cryptocurrency for private jet charters ensures top-tier safety and security, with secure, anonymous, and convenient payment.
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“From my position, I don’t think that the use of cryptocurrency in the private jet industry is unique or philosophical,” says Patel.
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By GlobalDataPatel highlights this with the story of a customer who needed to fly from the Caribbean islands to Europe but was unable to complete a bank transfer. The customer did not have a credit card that could withstand the cost and being able to make meetings was vital to his operations but he did not have a solution.
However, the customer had the digital cryptocurrency Bitcoin, which inspired the idea that cryptocurrency could be the solution to many people’s dilemmas.
I don’t think that the use of cryptocurrency in the private jet industry is unique or philosophical.
“I think that the core values of cryptocurrency align almost perfectly with private aviation, such as freedom, privacy, efficiency, detail and expedience,” Patel adds.
“I believe that the introduction of crypto in aviation is what aviation is about – being able to provide a level of freedom, security and control over where you are, and when you are there. The concepts of crypto aren’t foreign or unique.”
The possibilities of AI
Bitlux also highlights its online quoting tool as a unique proposition, which allows clients to send their requested flight details to its charter department to check availability and quotations.
Many expect that there will be an increased presence of AI in the aviation industry, and Patel suggests that one area where AI will be introduced is scheduling.
“That’s going to be communication between consumer and aircraft. It’ll be able to understand schedules, not take the place of scheduling but understand schedules,” Patel says.
Companies in the private jet sector would be able to query their own internal systems, without having to do problem-solving. They could take a number of requests that could automatically get approved through scheduling and then go through an ‘AI supervisor’ for approval.
“I see this happening in the next five years. Hopefully, some of our vendors and counterparts will take a step forward in the scheduling aspect,” adds Patel
Improving communication with customers
Bitlux is also working on a consumer-facing language model AI. Patel is curious about whether people will prefer working with AI or human beings on charter requests and information on upcoming flights.
“I’ve been doing a tonne of research on how these language models interpret data that isn’t direct conversational language and then being able to translate that data to put it into a readable, eloquent presentation of information,” Patel says.
But when it comes to implementing any new AI-based technology, Patel outlines that safety concerns are vital – especially in the aviation sector.
“I think there’s a long way to go, mostly because of regulations. I will certainly say that the last place you want to have any kind of issue or mistake is in aviation. That is not a good place for a testing ground,” Patel says.
“Closer integration with AI will come in the form of mostly language models, consistent data, analytics models, and projection models for things like air traffic control, maintenance, and crew scheduling.”
A computer can digest, understand, and regurgitate information a million times faster than humans can imagine.
Although there may be some who are hesitant to accept the likelihood of AI’s influence on the aviation industry in the future, others argue that the benefits are clear.
However, Patel notes that it is important for regulatory agencies to be in the right place to come up with control structures to ensure the accuracy of information.
“The thing with aviation is that everybody, from ground crew to air traffic controllers, needs to have the most accurate and up-to-date information possible,” he says, reinforcing that AI allows for this speedy information processing and delivery.
“For people that have reservations about utilising AI: a computer can digest, understand, and regurgitate information a million times faster than humans can imagine,” Patel explains.
“That is something that we can harness or it can go the other way. Someone will develop this, whether we are on board or not.”
