Liftbrief / Direct questions
28. How can procurement measure whether a charter supplier performs well?
Track outcomes against the purchased promise, using definitions that make suppliers and trips comparable. NBAA’s May 2024 podcast discussion examined the value of publishing standardised charter performance indicators; it did not establish a universal performance benchmark for every buyer. (nbaa.org)
Start with a buyer-owned scorecard:
| Measure | Define before collecting |
|---|---|
| Arrival performance | Arrival at the agreed airport or final destination; tolerance used |
| Substitution | Aircraft or carrier change; whether consent and requirements were satisfied |
| Recovery | Time from disruption notification to an accepted workable alternative |
| Price variance | Final invoice versus approved total, with authorised changes separated |
| Refund handling | Entitlement agreed, complete request received and money returned |
| Evidence quality | Required documents delivered by the agreed deadline |
| Communication | Escalation response and completeness of updates |
Report causes separately where evidence permits. Do not combine a passenger-requested delay with an unexplained supplier failure, or exclude every difficult trip from the denominator.
Use your own data to improve sourcing before attempting market rankings. With a small sample, show individual events and unresolved explanations rather than an apparently precise percentage.
Ask suppliers to explain their own published metrics: population, time period, exclusions and whether measurements cover the same product you are purchasing.