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The efficiency argument actually has very little to do with the story. I doubt anyone (including the airport) disputes the benefit of increased ride sharing. T
by jljljl 13y ago
The efficiency argument actually has very little to do with the story. I doubt anyone (including the airport) disputes the benefit of increased ride sharing.
The point is that FlightCar is offering the same or competing services as an Airport rental car agency without paying the same use fees as a rental car agency. This has less to do with efficiency and more to do with them exploiting loopholes to avoid paying the same costs as more established rental companies. They benefit from the increased rental demand, cab stands, and private roads produced by the airport, but don't pay for it.
If their entire business model is dependent on not paying the airport fees, it's probably not as disruptive as they claim.
- lovemenot 13y agoI am not familiar with this story in detail. Yet on the face of it, these services are not directly equivalent. Without knowing details of their implementation, it is clear that in principle, FlightCar has the potential to be disruptive, by the usual definition of the term. This is because it utilises assets more efficiently: land, labour and vehicles. The airport's existing financial arrangement is not really relevant since FlightCar could, presumably with some operational difficulty, operate outside of the boundaries of the airport. What you see as a loophole, I view as an indicator of a business model which became broken by technology and a trend toward more responsible use of scarce resources. You may not like it, and public opinion may even be with you, but I don't see how this is not classic disruption.
- jljljl 13y agoI actually agree with you. They could operate completely outside the boundaries of the airport, in which case they would not have to pay the use fees to the airport. The problem is that part of their value prop to customers is that they offer airport pickup (they send a black car to bring you from the airport to the rental agency). This puts them in a position where the airport has a right to demand use fees, since they are using the same roads and infrastructure as any other rental car service. Reducing costs by not using the infrastructure, and therefore completely circumventing the need to pay the use fees, would be disruptive. Using the infrastructure but refusing to pay is not disruption. They are not doing anything more efficiently, they are just refusing to pay. This issue should be understood as completely distinct from their core car-sharing business model, which is disruptive to the rental car industry.