Method and apparatus for arranging flexible and cost-efficient private air travel
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method for providing private air travel to a customer, the method comprising:
- establishing a pool of aircraft service providers;
obtaining aircraft service requests from a plurality of customers, each aircraft service request containing a set of customer-specified parameters;
selecting from the pool of aircraft service providers one or more aircraft that conform to each set of customer-specified parameters; and
matching aircraft to the aircraft service requests in accordance with the customer-specified parameters in a manner that minimizes the occurrence of passenger-less flights.
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Abstract
A method and system for providing private air travel to a plurality of customers includes establishing a pool of aircraft service providers and obtaining an aircraft service request from each customer. One or more aircraft that conform to each set of customer-specified parameters is selected from the pool of aircraft service providers and matched to the aircraft service request in a manner that minimizes the occurrence of passenger-less flights.
85 Citations
83 Claims
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1. A method for providing private air travel to a customer, the method comprising:
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establishing a pool of aircraft service providers;
obtaining aircraft service requests from a plurality of customers, each aircraft service request containing a set of customer-specified parameters;
selecting from the pool of aircraft service providers one or more aircraft that conform to each set of customer-specified parameters; and
matching aircraft to the aircraft service requests in accordance with the customer-specified parameters in a manner that minimizes the occurrence of passenger-less flights. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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- 7. A travel card for providing private air travel to a customer, the travel card comprising a first face and a second face, the first face including thereon an identification number for identifying a customer authorized to use the travel card and a designation representing a pre-purchased allotment of private aircraft service.
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21. A graphical user interface for providing private air travel to a customer, the graphical user interface comprising:
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a request module, the request module providing a request interface containing fields for the customer to enter private aircraft travel request information;
a selection module, the selection module providing a selection interface for displaying to the customer information regarding availability of aircraft satisfying the customer'"'"'s travel requests information and permitting the customer to select an aircraft; and
a payment module, the payment module providing a payment interface containing fields for the customer to enter private aircraft travel payment information. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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33. A graphical user interface for providing private air travel to a plurality of customer, the graphical user interface comprising:
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a search module, the search module providing an interface whereby a user may locate, in substantially real time, an aircraft that satisfies travel requirements of each customer; and
a tracking module, the tracking module providing an interface whereby the user may track the flight progress of one or more aircraft that may satisfy travel requirements of each customer. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59)
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48. A system for providing private air travel to a customer, the system comprising:
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means for communicating with a plurality of aircraft service providers, the aircraft service providers supplying a plurality of aircraft types from a plurality of locations; and
means for communicating with a plurality of customers, each of the customers providing an itinerary for private air travel, such that at least one aircraft from the plurality of aircraft service providers is matched to the itinerary in a manner that minimizes the occurrence of passenger-less flights.
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60. A computer program product for providing a database for providing private air travel to a customer, the computer program product comprising a computer readable medium having computer code thereon, the computer code comprising:
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program code for receiving data regarding aircraft provided by at least one satellite dish and at least one computer network; and
program code for storing the data provided by the satellite dish and the computer network. - View Dependent Claims (61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70)
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71. A method for providing private air travel to a plurality of customers, the method comprising:
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receiving data relevant to a plurality of aircraft owned by a plurality of aircraft service providers, via a first communication link;
receiving data relevant to a plurality of customer service requests via a second communication link;
saving the data received from the first and second communication links to a storage medium;
analyzing the data saved to match at least one aircraft to each customer service request in a manner that minimizes the occurrence of passenger-less flights. - View Dependent Claims (72, 73, 74, 75)
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76. A method for providing travel services including private air travel to a plurality of customers, the method comprising:
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providing a pre-purchased allotment of private air travel to one or more of the customers;
receiving a travel service request from each customer, the travel service request including customer-specified flight parameters;
providing an aircraft that satisfies the customer-specified flight parameters for each customer'"'"'s travel service; and
debiting the value of the travel service from the pre-purchased allotment of private air travel for each customer that is provided with the pre-purchased allotment. - View Dependent Claims (77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83)
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Specification