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On Your Flight Today – Season 1, Episode 1
Recorded: Jan 2023 | Live Date: Feb 2023
Host: Corinne Streichert
[Corinne]: Welcome to the first episode of ‘On Your Flight Today’. My name is Corinne Streichert and I'm the host of the show. I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for joining the very first episode.
I'm going to take a few minutes to tell you a bit more about myself, what I do for a living, where I'm from, why this podcast, what inspired it, what I'm hoping to achieve, who's it for and what you can expect in the coming months.
So, a little bit about me. Born and raised in Sydney, Australia, now living in Las Vegas, Nevada, and immigrated to the United States about 14 years ago. My career has spanned a couple of decades, predominantly in aviation and a little bit in technology and telecommunications. I started off in aviation back in the early 2000s working for Qantas Airways in Australia and I did a stint there for three years. Then after immigrating to the US, I was fortunate enough to get a job with United Airlines based in Chicago. For the last couple of years I've been consulting, working for myself. My company is IFECtiv LLC, based in Las Vegas, Nevada. IFECtiv as an inflight entertainment and connectivity consulting company. We cover all areas of inflight entertainment and connectivity (IFEC). I feel really lucky through IFECtiv to be able to work with various airlines and suppliers in terms of strategy, process improvement, RFPs/SLAs, quality assurance, and the list goes on pretty much covering the whole end-to-end of the IFEC product development cycle. It has been an interesting couple of years. I've been able to really get different perspectives. Working for an airline or I've worked for two airlines, you obviously learn to do things and see things their way and you know, you deliver your products and you do your job. When you have the opportunity to get to know several others and work with them and partner with them to meet their objectives, it really gives a very, very interesting perspective. Then on the supplier side, when you understand their business, their goals, what they're trying to achieve and how all comes together, I have to say it's been really fascinating. The book is coming, of course. Don't hold me to a timeline, I’ve got a lot going on, but it's quite, it gives you quite an interesting insight and to see how diverse the industry is. I've spent the last 12 years working in the aircraft interiors onboard product space, huge focus on inflight entertainment and connectivity. But over the last couple of years have been kind of branching out within that space, working on a few other projects and learning more about the broader aircraft interiors cabin environment. In addition to that, I'm also on the judging panel for the Crystal Cabin Award Association, which every year hosts the Crystal Cabin Awards that recognizes innovation in the cabin interiors space. Something I really enjoy doing and really love innovation. The industry needs it. I'm all for it. So, if you've got it, bring it on. And most recently I've been elected to the Board for Women in Aviation International Las Vegas chapter. So, it's been quite a journey in this space, in this industry. I love aviation, I love travel. I think one thing that I've learnt is that we all love it for different reasons and we love different parts of it. I've had the privilege of meeting many, many fascinating people over the last couple of decades, all over the world. Some of the stories, some I will never share, to be honest, and some I will. But it has been an incredible journey.
(Double chime sound)
The podcast is really going to go behind the scenes, the people, the processes, the product of the aircraft interiors, inflight entertainment and connectivity and overall passenger experience. The goal of this podcast is to give you behind the scenes of what really happens, what really goes on, how decisions are made. We've got some fantastic guests on the show. There's a kind of fun part to the episode, which I've found really fun is getting to know my guests on a different level in terms of what they like to do when they travel. What kind of aircraft do they like? Because I think we're all in the industry and we all kind of have one or anyone that travels has one. What we like to do in flight, what we do with the IFE, obviously, because it is very close to my heart. Do they connect to Wi-Fi? What's their experience like? And those kinds of questions and also being a local to their area, I've often found with all the places that I've travelled to and visited, that it wasn't until I connected with the locals that I really found the best places to visit, the best things to eat and the best things to do and where it was more cost effective and all those tips and tricks. So given that my guests come from all over the world are from major cities or tiny towns, I've asked them all the question of if we're visiting their city or their town, what should we see and what we should eat. And it's been quite interesting and what the culture is like. So some really, really interesting conversations. I think that as a traveler, which we're all in this business, again, as I said, because we love it and we love to travel, it's a great way to learn about another country, another place, another city, another town, and to hear it from a local, because I think that's where you get the best travel tips. So, I'm really looking forward to sharing that.
(Double chime sound)
I like to think of myself as a conversationalist. I think anybody that knows me knows that I like to talk. And, you know, I've had the privilege of talking to so many people over the many, many years, but particularly in the last two years. That's kind of what led me to the idea of the podcast. So, I've been consulting over the last couple of years, and it has been a journey that I could never have planned out or mapped. It has been an incredible experience. Aside from let's just put the industry aside, the whole entrepreneurial side of things, I think no matter how many books you read or blog posts or videos, you can never really be prepared for that and you can never really be prepared for the experiences and the learnings and everything you read about, I think is true and more. And it's full of ups and downs. It really tests your patience, your endurance. I think it tests your sanity. I think it can really bring out the best in you or it can kill you. Yeah, it's really do or die. And that has been a fantastic experience for me in particular doing that in America as opposed to back home in Australia where I kind of know the lay of the land and how everything works. Even though I've lived here for so long, there's still so many learnings because I had never worked for myself in the US in this capacity. The biggest benefit I really feel that I've had the last two years to just sit back and watch the industry from a different perspective. How it interacts, how things happen and move and change and how things get impacted. Seeing people change roles, key leadership roles at companies and how they start to shape the strategies. In my previous role, there was a market research and competitive analysis component. Now, aside from that, I had a massive fleet, had tons of products, very diverse hardware, multiple operating systems, tons of software. It was just really, really full on, and a team to manage all of that. When it comes to competitive analysis, you know, you're busy. There’re so many things going on. You do dedicate some time to it, but you don't have the time to immerse yourself in it because you've either got a new aircraft delivery coming, you've got a retrofit program, or you've got both. And they're happening concurrently across five or six different programs. So to sit back and just watch the industry, watch the players, see products evolve, new technologies come in, new players come in, new awards, new businesses being won. It has been a huge learning experience and I feel it has given me that advantage. Just the other day I was handed a requirements document for an RFP and from an airline, and just reading the document was many, many pages. I was reading the document. By the time I'd finished reading the document, I felt I already knew who they should go with, what the product is, and how that would meet their requirements. The only thing, let's negotiate the price.
(Double chime sound)
The idea for the podcast, it wasn't an overnight thing. I had been thinking about it since possibly the end of 2021. I just started consulting, getting a few clients across the industry. I knew that I wanted to do a podcast. I felt that there are conversations that I'm having that would also benefit the industry. Really, it's about making a difference in the industry. It really is for the passenger, for the traveler, whether it's a minority group or just anybody else out there to have access, to travel, to have a great experience to learn more about it. If you're a student learning in this field, I'm hoping that you'll get a lot of takeaways from the episodes, ideas and it'll motivate you, get more involved in product, pursue your career in passenger experience, onboard products, aircraft interiors, and hopefully pass on to the next generation. That's really what the motivation is. I think we've all had so many different experiences, whether we've worked at airlines, whether we've worked at vendors. One of my guests has worked at multiple airlines. I've worked at two. Another guest had multiple businesses in the industry. Our learnings are unique, but if we share them all together, we can grow and develop and further strengthen the industry. And that is my goal with this podcast to have open, honest conversations. Obviously, there are some things that will remain confidential. There will be some editing, there will be some things that I can't say, nor can I air. And also respect for my guests on the show. In this industry, what is really critical is relationships, teamwork. Even though we may be on opposite sides of the airline or opposite sides of as a supplier, we may be competitors, but at the end of the day, there are common goals.
(Double chime sound)
Really looking at trying to help make a difference for women in aviation. I recently got elected to the board of the Women in Aviation International Las Vegas chapter, so really looking to work with a team to implement some programs and explore opportunities for young girls to be able to get exposure, learnings, experience and give them the opportunities to pursue any passions in aviation they may have. Lower barriers to entry, access to education and opportunities. So really excited about that. In addition, advocating for people with disabilities, whether they want to work in the industry or they are just passengers or travel, it should be available to everybody. Everybody should have the right, the privilege to be able to travel and have access to everything that everybody else does. If this podcast just helps inspire one young girl to pursue a career in aviation and achieve her goals and deliver innovation, then it's been worth it. If this really helps to drive more accessibility, not just in inflight entertainment connectivity, which is what I've been focused on over the last few years, but the whole end-to-end passenger experience, if it helps to make one little change that makes it that bit better for people with disabilities that are travelling, it's been worth it. It really has.
(Double chime sound)
There's so much that can be learned, I think, from all of us by sharing our knowledge, our experience. There are a lot of industry events where they cover a lot of topics, but I've yet to really find one that really drills down on, you know, really takes an in depth look behind the scenes of the actual aircraft interiors, you know, that's sharing that knowledge, sharing those learnings. It is such a complex process that if we can all come together, we can deliver and drive change that can bring benefits to all and benefits to our passengers as well and us as travelers. You have that great experience. It's the whole process. Even though the podcast is focused on aircraft interiors, inflight entertainment and connectivity and that passenger experience, but we do know the whole process, it starts on the ground and the expectations that the passenger starts to develop as they go throughout the process, the expectations that they come into with through marketing and advertising, then the expectations that they start to further develop as they go through the process, they get to day of departure, they get on the aircraft and they arrive at their destination. For some, it's the first time. For others they do it all the time.
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Whether you're a passenger, whether you work in the industry. We love all things travel. That's why we do what we do. So, I do anticipate listeners from all over the world, from many industries. I've already had people from outside of the industry that are just interested in travel. How does inflight entertainment work? What happens in cabin interiors? How long does it take to get something done? How do you get the seats done? All these kinds of questions have been raised, and I know that there are people from various backgrounds, not just people in the industry, that are curious and like to learn more.
In terms of the format, if you listen to the trailer, looking at doing this bi-weekly, 30 to 60 minutes. The episodes are going to be pretty much in a guest interview format. There might be some bonus episodes as well. There might be some things I might hop on and share with you depending on questions that will come in. There's a few key topics that I do want to bring up. If we don't have these conversations, it's not going to happen. And other conversations about passenger experience, looking at seats, all those kinds of regulatory challenges and activity that is also occurring in this space. So really broad topics, but it all leads back to aircraft interiors and inflight entertainment and connectivity. And also, you know, we all love to travel. I don't know about you. I like to go left if I can, but I mean, who doesn’t? You know, and it's not like I'm a princess or anything. I mean, hey, it's lovely. If I could afford it, why not? But if I can't, ah, well, I'm going, right?
(Double chime sound)
So, I'm recording this after I've recorded season one. And, you know, I set out with a vision. I wanted to see how it went and it's been quite an experience. I really hope you enjoy season one. Got some fantastic guests, some of friends for many years and obviously people I've worked with in the industry, in the business, that have made significant contributions to the inflight passenger experience through their products, processes, experience and also aside from those that have worked in the industry, got some really special guests, some of those travel influencers you see on social media that have really added a lot of value, I feel, to this space in terms of sharing their experiences with the customers that we make products for and their customers themselves. They've never worked for an airline, so they don't know the behind the scenes, some of the complexities and you can read and study about it, but until you work in it that you're really understand how you kind of juggling 50 balls at the same time and you're constantly putting out fires. Yeah, those conversations were very, very interesting. There is one particular episode where we get into quite a bit of detail about pretty much almost every carrier, major carriers on the planet looking at their products, their processes and how that shapes the passengers experience, expectations before getting on the aircraft. So really interesting conversations there.
(Double chime sound)
Just a few disclaimers that I wanted to kind of, you know, let's, let's be honest with each other here. First of all, I'm not a reporter. I'm not a journalist. I'm not a PR person. I'm not a comms person. I'm a product manager. That's what I've been doing for many, many years. And I build products and I've been consulting for the last couple of years in the aircraft interiors and inflight entertainment space. I'm not going to get it right. I'm going to say things that are probably going to upset a lot of people, but it's not intentional. You know, I think the conversations are really open and honest and factual, which I think is really, really important. The goal is not to offend or upset anybody, sometimes in our excitement or we don't know everyone in the world and all the sensitivities out there. And we are living in, in my opinion, a very sensitive world. I'm just finding as I'm getting older, it's really, really hard to keep up with everything that's going on. And some people like this, some people like that, and some people are offended by this and offended by that. And it's really, really hard. So if I slip up, I apologize in advance and I welcome education, educate me. If I get something wrong, educate me. You don’t have to be harsh. You don’t have to be mean. Just say, Hey Corinne, did you know this? And I'm happy to correct myself because I'm not perfect. I'm just human and I do try my best. And but one thing I can guarantee is there's always 110% effort behind everything that I choose to do. But I do welcome your feedback and your thoughts and suggestions. Feel free, let's have those debates. I think that's what's going to bring out some really great conversations. It's going to bring out great innovation and it's going to help advance the industry and really make a change. While I'm talking to the guests, there's going to be a ton of acronyms that are going to come out. Some of them you'll be familiar with. Some people have absolutely no idea. I will be including those definitions in the show notes for each episode. So for anyone that's kind of new to this space or listening in and you hear these crazy acronyms and quite a few of them, I will definitely be providing more information in the show notes to help you better understand. The website is going to be a great resource for detailed transcripts, show notes and also any links to any other third party places, destinations that that come up or anything that we talk about, I will add in the show notes and links to those as well.
(Double chime sound)
But anyway, I hope you enjoy this journey with me. I really hope you do get a lot of value out of the episodes, that they inspire you, they help educate you or they give you a different perspective on things. So really, this podcast is for anyone that wants to learn more, understand, have that insight behind the scenes of anything to do with their aircraft interiors, inflight entertainment and connectivity, and the overall passenger experience onboard. So it is my goal that these conversations help to enlighten and educate as much as possible. And also, aside from the fact I love to talk, I love to have a laugh, and sometimes in some of the episodes you'll hear it's been a bit of a challenge to, but I really like to see the humorous side of things and have a good laugh. So I think we're going to be having a few of those if you haven't heard them already in some of the previews. But anyway, thank you so much for tuning into this episode. I hope that it has given you a good introduction, us getting to know each other. You'll be hearing my voice, so sorry if you don't like it. And I do talk really fast. I get really excited, I get really passionate about stuff and I'll just blah blah blab, but one of my development items is to try and not get so excited and to speak more clearly so everybody can kind of understand me a bit better. And also a lot of my guests are from all parts of the world and really trying to improve communication so you can all get some really good learnings out of this. So, on that note, I hope you enjoy the season. Feel free, if you have any questions again, shoot them through the website. I'm happy to do episodes based on what you want to hear. I know there are a lot of uncertainties about products and confidence. Will it deliver? Will it be on time? What's the experience like? Am I buying something that exists or is it vaporware? Is it tried and tested? Is it flying? I've seen all these statistics, are they accurate? You know all those kinds of questions? What's happening with this one and this airline? Are they using it? Is it working? That ability to share information is really what this is all about. Yeah, the goal is not to negatively impact anybody its to help us learn. It's not like Amazon where you can get on there, buy your product and write a review and tell everybody, ‘Hey, here's my experience with this product’. You can't do that. And I feel that if we're more open and transparent, it will help improve products, it will help improve processes, and it will help improve passenger experience.
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The podcast will be available wherever you listen to podcasts. It will also be available on YouTube and the other social media channel that I will be engaging and looking to engage you all on for discussion as well will be LinkedIn. So please subscribe, like share, all those action words. Feel free to go to the website www.onyourflighttoday.com under the “Contact” section, fill out the form. Send me your comments. Alternatively, reach out to me on LinkedIn. Happy to shape this podcast to help bring benefit and let's bring about some positive change. So here we go.
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