Following the successful introduction of the hullo Aircrew brand at EBACE last year, the technology start-up has officially launched its industry-first software platform designed to connect operators with aircrew for freelance and contract flights.

Run by former Hangar8 and Gama Aviation executives Keiron Blay and Steve Payne from their base at London Oxford Airport, hullo Aircrew aims to reduce the labour-intensive task of vetting aircrew to just a few clicks and to eliminate expensive agency fees for both operators and freelancers.

The platform works in two ways: Aircrew can apply for jobs or operators can request work from them directly after browsing their personal profiles equipped with all relevant training documents and a calendar of availability.

When a job is booked and validated by both operator and crewmember, the invoicing is dealt with automatically post flight and payment is sent directly to the crewmember's bank account, having already been paid into escrow by the operator. The service is free to use, with hullo Aircrew taking a small percentage from jobs secured through the platform.

After working in the business aviation industry for 15 years, the hullo Aircrew team wanted to create a crew-sourcing solution which didn't involve staff spending hours emailing and calling candidates to obtain their relevant information in time for a client's big trip, and risk losing business if their potential crew weren't responsive. Using hullo's new platform, the chance of having to cancel flights is minimised, allowing operators more space and time to focus on the all-important customer experience.

Alex Durand, CEO of Saxonair, used the hullo Aircrew platform during its beta testing phase. He commented, "hullo Aircrew is now our go-to platform when we have additional crew requirements. It is quick and simple to use, and it's free. Why wouldn't we use it?"

"The response to the platform has been overwhelming - we've already achieved seven times the sign-ups we predicted at our soft launch in December 2017," said Keiron Blay, CEO of hullo Aircrew. "We're all aware of an increasing pilot shortage as those in business aviation move to fill the gaps in the commercial airline industry, but we're hoping that by making it as easy as possible for operators to source aircrew that their businesses will feel little to no impact from any challenges in supply."

Contributed by hullo Aircrew