From Effort to System: Why Catering Technology Is a Strategic Decision for Operators at CJI Dubai 2026
On 7th and 8th October, business aviation leaders gather at The Ritz-Carlton, Dubai International Financial Centre for Corporate Jet Investor (CJI) Dubai 2026. Across the two days, the agenda moves from disruption and VVIP operations to the threat picture and the adoption of AI.
Private Flight will be attending. Beneath all of these discussions sits a question for every operator's leadership team: does the organisation run on systems and processes, or on individual effort? Catering, one of the most sensitive topics for your VIPs, is among the clearest places to see the difference, and one of the quickest to fix.
What operators will hear, and the question beneath it
Across the two days, four themes will come up repeatedly. Each one points back to the same strategic question about how the organisation is run.
When panellists discuss how operators managed disruptions, the question for leadership is whether the organisation adapted through its processes, or through a few people working the phones.
When the conversation turns to operating VVIP aircraft, the question is how the operator guarantees the same standard on every mission, at every location, regardless of who handles the request.
When the threat picture and operating in turbulence are on the table, the question is whether leadership can see where cost and risk sit across the operation, in real time rather than at month end.
When the discussion turns to whether business aviation has been slow to adopt AI, the question is whether the foundations are in place, because no technology delivers value on top of fragmented processes and scattered data.
Where systems are missing, cost and consistency suffer
In most operations, private aviation catering still runs on emails, phone calls, spreadsheets and individual relationships. Orders, approvals, deliveries, invoices and payments are handled differently by each team, at each base and with each supplier. It works, but it depends on people rather than process, and that has two consequences leadership rarely sees in full.
The first is cost. Without a structured system, invoice errors, handler mark-ups, menu inefficiency, wastage and FX costs go unchecked. Private Flight's operator ROI analysis shows a minimum 16%+ recoverable saving on total annual catering spend once those drivers are brought under control.
The second is consistency. When every trip is arranged differently, the service a principal or client receives depends on who placed the order and where. For VVIP operations, that variability is a reputational risk, not just an operational one.
"Operators at this level do not lack expertise. What they often lack is a system," says Shamir Samdjee, VP at Private Flight. "When the VIP catering experience depends on individual phone calls and emails, cost and service quality vary with every trip. Bringing it into one structured process is how leadership gets control of both."
Streamlining the organisation, not just the order
Catering is no longer a procurement task to be handled trip by trip. It is an operational service that touches crew, handlers, suppliers, finance and, for government operators, protocol teams. Managing it well is a question of organisational design, not individual effort.
This is the thinking behind Inflight Catering Services Orchestration, the operating system for inflight catering: one structured platform connecting every participant, workflow and payment.
For an operator's leadership team, this approach delivers three outcomes:
Control of cost: approved providers and consolidated invoicing replace ad hoc spend, so catering becomes a managed budget line rather than a variable one.
Visibility for decision-making: order status, approvals and spend sit in one place, with consolidated reporting across the fleet and a full record of every decision.
Service consistency: the same process and standard apply at every base and outstation, so quality no longer depends on who knows which supplier.
Private Flight's network spans more than 2,000 approved providers in over 175 countries, with global coverage and 24/7 operational support.
Meet us at Corporate Jet Investor (CJI) Dubai 2026
Private Flight will be at The Ritz-Carlton, Dubai International Financial Centre on 7th and 8th October. Meet Shamir Samdjee to discuss what structured systems and processes could mean for your operation.
Connect with Shamir to arrange a meeting at CJI Dubai
Talk to our experts to arrange a platform demo
The sessions in Dubai will explore what operators face. The more strategic question is whether the organisation behind each aircraft is built to handle it consistently, and at a cost leadership can control.
