Chapter TWO…Total Available Market or TAM.
TAM is an investor term used when trying to establish the “Total Available Market” in each sector of any business they may be interested in investing in. The specific reason to establish the market is to determine the viability of a given opportunity.
So, time to talk about the business of business aviation market, or as I call it the “BA’TAM”.
Sounds simple enough, every sector of the aviation economy is well known to the various researchers and professionals that track all revenue business aviation participation in their sectors. Or do they?
Typically, the BA’TAM information is published in various publications and periodicals or to business insider information. So, all the information they publish is always available, and is always current. But is it always, correct?
Now I am from the operational side of the business aviation environment and have been in aviation since 1962. Along the way I created and co-founded two well-known global operations, so I am remarkably familiar with exactly what the TAM or BA’TAM is for every sector in the business of business aviation. Including the one that everyone misses.
However, when I look at what the stats say about the BA’TAM for the revenue-based business aircraft sector I have little to zero information about what the actual TOTAL AVAILABLE MARKET is. That simply occurs because it is so convoluted that using published stats are completely unreliable, and unstable.
The BA’TAM is sadly unreliable, for a very logical reason. Business aviation has completely underestimated, or more appropriately, completely missed sectors of BA’TAM altogether. I have been preaching on LinkedIn and elsewhere for years that business aviation has been stuck in 1962 since I first came into the business. Like I said, it is sad, and here is the problem.
Revenue business aviation is currently determined by what the current piggyback charter companies report or what the current “time-sharing” (aka fractional operators) report as well as a variety of absurd concepts like cards, shares, empty leg flights etc. But none of them are based on the real BA’TAM because they do not know what the real BA’TAM is.
The reason they do not know what the real BA’TAM is, is because revenue aviation got started wrong in 1962. I know this because I was a no time student pilot washing airplanes and pumping fuel to get money to learn how to fly, and I just happened to be sitting at the table when individuals with the first corporate jets produced. They came up with the idea of flying their aircraft to make some money with them, with very set conditions. The problem (and my excuse) is that at that time I was just learning how to fly, therefore had zero knowledge about how aviation worked then, so I just listened. But that is exactly how and when revenue aviation got started, and how and why it got started so wrong and has never been corrected.
Setting it up wrong in the beginning started a chain that has never been broken since its inception. Most people in revenue aviation do not know the difference between V1 or Vne, and those who do, are never able to change the dynamics of how aviation works. So, because the Dunning Kruger type business owners who never listen to someone who actually knows something, they keep going-along-to-get-along. So, the revenue business aviation sector has never changed or become profitable, simply because it has never been changed or developed into something that works. “Works” and “Profitable” are the “Key” words here.
FYI, the market is vast. In fact, few even know how massive it is, or how much profits are available with the right system. And this makes no sense as the infrastructure is already in place and ready to go.
So how do you find out what the real BA’TAM is?
Well, you go to someone like me that has actually flown and operated aircraft, someone that has well over 21,000 documented PIC hours, someone that created Midwest Air Charter at the direct request of the Federal Reserve Bank in 1969 based solely on my flight performance records. All they wanted to know is if I could create something that would do that for them (as the airline that was moving their material at the time were only getting 44% on time completions while I was getting 99.75%, and they wanted that 99.75%). I could, and I did. and Midwest happened, which became Airborne and known today as DHL
Or you go to someone like me (sounds familiar) who knows operations AND flying as the chief pilot for Mercedes Benz-North America for 12 years and who knows how the maintenance system works, enabled me to create JSSI in 1988/89. And yes, regardless of what the great OZ of today’s JSSI wants everyone to think, that he is JSSI, the fact is I created it and I co-founded Jet Support Services inc., aka JSSI, with Rick Haskins back before they had to get bailed out, and I still have the original contract to prove it. Back in 1988/89, the Great OZ still had training wheels on his bike. I assume he can ride a bike.
So, in the business of business aviation today, it seems I am the odd ball…I am someone that has been an active pilot yet does not really care about or love flying. But unlike the majority in the business of business aviation I do know how to fly, what flying entails, and how to make money from it. Plus, I was different, flying is and has always been a gig for me, nothing more, and nothing less. But I am a natural pilot, and I was really good at it. So, while I flew very well, I never loved flying, but I do know how to make money from it. Therefore, by today’s business aviation standards, I am an oddball. I fully understand aviation from all aspects, and I just happened to be creative about what can and needs to be done that was never done before (for example JSSI or MidWest Air charter known today as DHL).
And if you happen to be creative (I started out wanting to be a jazz Paino player), and fully understand the business aviation industry, now you have a jazz man that flies’ jets, and that is going to propagate some unseen opportunities. It worked for me simply because I understood the business I was in (aviation). And just happened to be creative. I knew how to achieve results, and of course, I am not the standard Dunning Kruger specimen who can’t listen, can’t learn, or can’t understand what the very real opportunities are. 
However, assuming you can or want to learn, I am here to tell you the business of business aviation has a massive market that has never been touched. It’s a complete virgin market that is worth billions and billions in profits for all concerned. By all concerned, I mean aircraft owners, operators, suppliers, MROs, and investors able understand the full potential of the potential.
There are zero risks, zero liabilities and it operates with an extremely low overhead. As mentioned, the entire infrastructure is already in place and ready to be used immediately. Much like JSSI, this system requires zero FAA oversight and unlike JSSI this system can be patent secured.
Knowing the very real possibilities, I can state from experience that what currently passes in the business of business aviation for a marketplace, is in fact less than 5% of the real opportunity. Opportunities that have never been touched by business aviation simply because people in the business of business aviation are all too busy playing follow the leader. In fact, most of them do not remotely understand the market they are in.
Sears, JC Penny, and now Bed Bath and Beyond did not think that shopping online could or would ever replace them. Well, it can, and it did, and it did so in just a few years. And as brick and mortar disappeared…the business of business aviation is at the same juncture…Not trying to be arrogant here, but there is really a lot of stupid and mindless aviation businesses and concepts out there, models which can, and will be replaced. If you would like to learn how it could be you can benefit, it will take an NDA, and to get one just contact Dan Mack at mackassoci@aol.com or Rick Eriksen at rick.eriksen@cox.net.
To read Chapter one click here. https://airpwr.com/the-tam-the-sam-the-som-chapter-one/
