BY KEN LUCCI
Recently the National Limousine Association (NLA) commissioned a survey of corporate travel managers in the US and Canada to find out how corporations utilize chauffeured services. Not surprisingly, 67% reported that they use limousine companies exclusively to transport executives to and from airports, while 86% confirmed they use chauffeured sedans/SUVs to/from airports and other destinations. The survey also indicated that travel managers used limousine operators for shuttle van service (39%) and motorcoach services (31%) much less often, primarily due to group movements being less frequent than airport transfers. While the survey was not exhaustive in terms of respondents, the findings were particularly telling. It supports the data collected by Driving Transactions that emphasize how critical airport service is to the growth of this sector. This also emphasizes how, as an industry, we must do everything possible to increase and improve this segment of chauffeured service among corporations (and all of the traveling public) in order for our industry to continue to grow. Surrendering airport transfers to rideshare services would mean a decrease in our overall market share and lead to a large reduction in corporate use of chauffeured services.
While profits are higher for larger vehicle categories, the need for basic airport transfer is usually more frequent and commonly opens the door to upselling that larger vehicle service to corporate clients. When we financially review companies, we have noticed that almost every company that has turned away from offering competitive sedan and SUV service is not growing revenue in the traditional corporate sector. Airport transfers are the “bread and butter” that get the customer in the store so they can be exposed to everything else we provide. While there certainly are companies that focus only on shuttle services or motorcoaches, we have observed that the most profitable and consistently growing chauffeured businesses have diverse fleets, offer a wide variety of services and target diverse client groups.
Airline Passenger Growth Is Exceptional
Airline industry data indicate that the number of passengers is growing consistently each year, so there is no shortage of people that need a ride to and from the airport. According to a report by the Airports Council International, domestic airline passenger growth is forecast at almost 4% a year between now and 2042 and international passenger growth is projected at 5% compounded annual growth rate. In fact, by 2042, more than 45% of all airline passengers will be traveling to international destinations, providing even more opportunities to offer not only local rides but also global ground transportation services.
But Everyone Takes Uber to the Airport... WRONG!
While many airline travelers who land at airports close to their city destination use TNCs from the airport to downtown, several travel studies, including TNC industry data, indicate that when traveling from their home to the airport, people use on-demand services much less than you would think. In fact, the farther out in the suburbs they live, the less likely people are to trust TNCs to the airport. A recent A4A air travel survey conducted by IPSOS indicates that airline travelers use rideshare services 16% of the time and more than half of those travelers are picked up within fifteen miles of the airport. This data indicates that wealthy suburban professionals traveling for business or pleasure are still exceptional candidates for private chauffeured services.
In 2023, over 819 million passengers traveled to/from US airports:
| 491.5 million | By personal vehicles (park at or near airport) |
| 131 million | By rideshare services (.60% on their return) |
| 65.5 million | By limousine services |
| 49.1 million | By public transit |
| 32.7 million | By taxi services (mostly 5 largest cities |
| 24.5 million | By van services (shared services and hotel shuttles) |
| 24.5 million | By other means (friends/family) |
Graphic by Driving Transactions, survey results from Evins Public Relations/NLA Online Survey of US and Canada-based travel managers Published data from rideshare companies indicate that because suburban dwellers cannot guarantee a driver will be on the road near them early in the morning, TNCs often fail in this area. In addition, TNCs have struggled with “by reservation” options for the same reason. Inc.com reports that Uber Reserve is less than 5% of all rideshare revenue and no-show and cancellation rates are excessive compared to their standard local on-demand trip offerings. So clearly, advanced reservation transportation to/from airports is still the domain of savvy chauffeured services that can demonstrate superior service and value. How Savvy Chauffeured Services Are Capturing More Airport Transfers
Change in the marketplace is inevitable and only those that adapt their businesses will continue to grow. Companies that take a reactive approach, hoping their businesses will improve on their own, are likely not to succeed against TNCs and low-priced competitors in their market. We observe the most aggressive chauffeured services executing proactive strategies to capture more new business every day by stressing value. Here are a few suggestions to grow airport transfer service:
According to the Airports Council International (ACI): (graph above) Domestic passenger growth is forecast at 3.8% compounded annual growth rate between now and 2042. The majority of US airline passenger growth will be in Texas, Florida, Arizona, North Carolina, and South Carolina.
International passenger growth is forecast at 5% compounded annual growth rate between now and 2042. A large segment of international growth will be in the Mid-East and the Asia Pacific. 1. Dig Where the Gold Is: Determine the ZIP codes where you currently provide the most airport services and proactively promote in those areas using a variety of methods, including community Facebook groups, local networking, and even postcard mailers with special offers for new clients. Promote guaranteed on-time service, no surge pricing, fixed rates, and special pricing for round trips and global service. Market in the wealthiest areas and promote that many people just like them use your service and they should too. People buy from trusted companies.
2. Market to Inactive Clients: Run closed reservation reports from the same month over the past few years and contact inactive clients who have not traveled with you in a while. Reach out to them with an incentive or special offer to return. Better yet, have your reservation staff contact them and ask them if they have any upcoming trip and include an incentive to book round trips or service in other cities.
3. Market to Local People in High-Paying Professions: Use Google, social media, LinkedIn, and ChatGPT to create a list of people who live and work in your market that have traditionally high-paying occupations like doctors and lawyers. Send them a special offer to use your private transportation services. By the way, every hospital and health care system has a list of doctors that are affiliated with them.
4. Market to the Largest Private Employers: There are several important corporate stakeholders at every corporation who influence the purchase of transportation services, including executive assistants, procurement officers, CFOs, and human resource managers. In many cases, these employees have LinkedIn profiles for outreach purposes. We advise creating electronic brochures with specific cases and periodically emailing them to stakeholders.
5. Continually Market Other Services and Use Cases to Airport Clients: Develop a calendar of outbound communication to existing airport clients letting them know specific ways they can use your larger vehicles and give them special incentives because they are airport service customers. Showcase the services you offer and all the ways they can use you once they become an airport service client. Selling them more services increases the annual revenue value and profit margin of each customer. The key to capturing many new customers is executing a proactive plan that includes multiple paid marketing and low-cost “time only invested” strategies where you can measure return on investment and return on activity. Once you have them as a client, don’t stop there, continue to showcase additional use cases and the services you offer to increase revenue by selling them higher margin services. Selling more “bread and butter” services and then exposing new clients to everything else you can provide will help assure growth and profitability and an ever-growing customer list. [CD1025]
Ken Lucci is the principal business analyst and founder of DrivingTransactions.com. He can be reached at
