I've walked into enough charter operations to know what I'm going to find before I even sit down. Five different systems that don't talk to each other. A dispatch coordinator who's basically become a human API, manually copying data between platforms. Someone's personal Gmail forwarding critical booking requests because "the email server was acting up three months ago."
The reality is: most Part 135 and CARs operators are hemorrhaging money on technology they don't understand, managed by vendors who don't understand aviation.
The Eight-Hour Tax
Here's what actually happened at an operator I assessed last year. Every employee was spending 8+ hours per week on manual data entry. Not because they were slow. Because their flight scheduling software, their CRM, their maintenance tracking, and their accounting system all existed in separate universes.
That's a full workday per person, per week, just moving data from one screen to another.
I did the math with them. For a 15-person operation, that's 120 hours weekly of manual data shuffling. At even modest labor costs, they were burning 50K+ annually on what should be automated.
The Vendor Circus
Full disclosure: I used to think the answer was "just hire good IT people." Then I started counting. The average charter operator I work with has 5+ IT vendors. Each one handles a piece of the puzzle. None of them talk to each other. And here's the part that makes me twitch: none of them understand Part 135 compliance.
I've seen generic MSPs recommend "solutions" that would have grounded an entire fleet because they didn't understand MEL requirements. I've watched cloud providers suggest architectures that violate data sovereignty rules for Canadian operators. These aren't bad vendors. They just don't know what they don't know.
Aviation IT isn't regular IT. When your dispatch system goes down at 2 AM, you don't get to tell passengers "we'll look at it Monday."
What I Can Actually Do
I run a fractional CTO practice. That means I'm your technology executive 20-40% of the time instead of 100%. For most operators with 5-50 aircraft, that's the right amount. You don't need me full-time. You need me when it matters.
What does that look like? I build technology roadmaps that actually account for regulatory reality. I consolidate your vendor circus into something manageable. I find the 30-40% of your IT budget that's currently being wasted on overlapping systems and put it somewhere useful.
What I can't do: magic. If your operation has accumulated 15 years of technical debt, we're not fixing it in 90 days. Real transformation takes time, budget, and organizational commitment. Anyone who tells you otherwise is selling something you don't want to buy.
The AI Question
Yes, I work with AI tools. We got an AI-generated MEL through Transport Canada approval. That's real, it happened, and it cut development time significantly.
But I'm not going to pretend AI is a magic wand. Most operators aren't ready for AI because their foundational data is a mess. You can't train a model on garbage data and expect it to produce gold. We do the boring work first: clean data, integrated systems, reliable infrastructure. Then AI becomes actually useful instead of just impressive-sounding.
Who This Is For
I'm picky about who I work with. Not because I'm trying to sound exclusive, but because these engagements only work when both sides are committed.
If you think technology is just "the stuff IT handles," we're probably not a fit. If you're looking for someone to reset passwords and keep the lights on, there are plenty of good MSPs for that.
But if you're running a charter operation and you're tired of feeling like your technology is actively working against you? If you want someone who's been in aviation long enough to know why your specific problems exist? If you're willing to invest in actually fixing things rather than just patching symptoms?
That's the conversation I want to have.
I take on 2-3 new operator clients per quarter. Not because I'm trying to create artificial scarcity, but because transformation work is intensive. I'd rather do fewer engagements well than spread myself thin.
Real Work, Not Brochureware
I've done B2B platform architecture for Great North Airlines. Digital transformation for WM Aviation. Regulatory compliance systems that actually passed scrutiny.
None of those projects were glamorous. They involved a lot of spreadsheet archaeology, vendor negotiations, and explaining to stakeholders why "quick wins" sometimes aren't wins at all.
If that sounds like what you need, reach out. If you're looking for someone to promise you the moon in 30 days, I'm not your guy.
Ben Thomas is the founder of ForIT and spends most of his time helping aviation operators stop fighting their own technology.