Katherine Gershon

Director of Sales, Marketing and International Development – Silverjet

Katherine a true business woman, immaculately dressed – with a real air of confidence about her.  As I talk to Katherine I can see her determination and sense her beliefs as she talks about the company she works for.  Her ambition to drive this new airline forward is commendable.

She talks passionately about her role at Silverjet which has just celebrated its first birthday. Her task is to firmly move the growth of the company forward. Having spent the last ten years of her career in the thick of the travel industry, she has a wealth of knowledge to do such a job. 

She previously worked for Thomas Cook where she was Director of Multimedia Sales, with responsibility for operations and sales generated through Thomas Cook's TV, dotcom and call centre businesses.  During her time at Thomas Cook she launched Thomas Cook TV and turned around thomascook.com to become a leading online travel agency.  Prior to this appointment she had 8 years’ management consultancy experience advising airlines, travel companies, cruise lines and hotel groups in Europe and the US on strategy and innovation. 

Katherine has a family but I get the feeling that she likes to keep her work life and home life very separate - today I'm definitely meeting Katherine the business woman.

So who are Silverjet and what do theyhave to offer that's differnet from all the other airlines - I talked to Katherine about this and her role in it:

Q – I can see that the airline industry is changing – but why a business class airline?

Katherine – “Our Chief Executive, Lawrence Hunt, saw a gap in the market with the number of travellers flying to New York who couldn’t justify the huge cost of business class but felt wrecked if they chose economy.  With that Silverjet was born initially flying twice a day to New York to meet this growing demand of users.  Since that they have just added a daily flight to Dubai”

Q – Who is Silverjet aimed at?

Katherine  – “We are trying to capture two types of market the business users and the up market leisure traveller. This gives us two opportunities as we didn’t want to just rely on the business user so hence we aim to appeal to the traveller who like to travel in style without all the fuss and palaver of Heathrow and Gatwick.  It is becoming more and more popular to want a hassle free experience when we fly. Most of us only relax when we get on board the plane and it’s ready for take off.  I think most people who fly today must say to themselves – “there must be a better way to travel”.  Who wants to fight with the crowds, stand in long queues be at the airport hours before check-in.  This is where Silverjet comes into its own unlike most other airlines we have our own departure terminal at London Luton and this allows you to check-in 30 minutes before departure with hand luggage only or only 45 minutes with baggage, the first British exclusively business class low fare long haul airline to do so”.  

Q – How do I book a flight?

Katherine – You can book online or by phone. In fact we get approx 80% all their passengers booking directly with us this way.

Q – How affordable is it?

Katherine – “Put it like this our fares are just over the £1,000 return, but if you compare us to other leading large carriers – you could expect to pay double or triple this amount.”

Q  – What sort of seats and service will I receive?

Katherine – “We aim to give a service second to none – from the moment our customers arrive at check in it’s and experience they won’t forget. For example for most of our customers Sleep is a real priority on our overnight flights. So, we allow our customers to sleep in our 6'3" flat beds with no announcements, overhead lights or cabin noise to spoil your rest. We wake them up just 30 minutes before landing to ensure you have the longest possible lie in and we can even give them an express breakfast to take away.  That’s not all we offer great food and great wine, Our on-board menu is designed exclusively by Le Caprice, the legendary London restaurant, which ensures you will have great food unlike any airline you've flown before. All meals are complemented by outstanding wines selected by one of the youngest Masters of Wine in the world”.

Q  - How many women travel with you?

Katherine – “Women account for approx 35% of our sales” she smiles as she tells me "we also have a separate toilet just for our ladies”.  

Q – And the Future?

Katherine – “We will be launching a new route later in the year”.

Q  – Where will this fly to?

Katherine  – “We haven’t decided yet we’re still doing our research, so watch this space”.

WOW - don't you just want to book a seat - it looks to good an experience to miss!

If you would like to read more – why not go to www.flysilverjet.com/