This month marks six years since I joined Simple Flying back in 2018. I still remember being the 16th person to like our Facebook page, which has now grown to over 154,000 followers! At the time, I had no idea if the project would take off, but I decided to jump in and give it a shot.
Fast forward to 2024, and Simple Flying has transformed into the largest aviation news website in the world. We now welcome over 5 million monthly users and have a combined reach of more than 30 million across our website, app, and social media channels.
Rise To Leadership
As Simple Flying has grown, so has my role within the company. About five years ago, I transitioned into a Content Manager position, where I helped shape the overall content strategy and launched new verticals like Loyalty, Military, and Private Aviation. Most recently, I stepped into the role of Managing Editor for Commercial Aviation, overseeing the success of our largest content vertical.
No two days at Simple Flying are ever the same. One day, I might be analyzing last week’s article performance to identify readership trends, while the next could involve discussions with stakeholders about launching a new initiative on the website. I might even find myself on a video call with an airline CEO, crafting exclusive stories for our audience.
Fueling Growth Through Shared Knowledge and Collaboration
Since Valnet acquired Simple Flying in 2021, the entire Valnet team has been incredibly supportive in helping us maintain our leadership in the aviation industry. For instance, we’ve been given a generous travel budget that has grown over the years, allowing us to represent the brand at major aviation events around the globe.
The support from Valnet goes beyond just financial assistance. Being part of a leading online publishing company means we have access to a wealth of collective knowledge and expertise to enhance our efforts.
Recently, the Simple Flying team has been spending time with Valnet’s Auto portfolio, which manages HotCars, TopSpeed, and CarBuzz. This time allows us to share knowledge and learn how to leverage content trends to elevate our coverage. This includes sharing best practices for getting stories onto Google Discover by tracking trends, securing the top spots in Google Search by analyzing our competitors, and implementing responsible SEO strategies for every aspect of our articles.
Working with the Valnet team is always a rewarding experience. They provide us with the tools and insights we need to expand Simple Flying’s audience and enhance our coverage.
One particular highlight for me is a tool called Pub Insights. Working with our in-house CMS system and external data sources, this tool enables us to analyze content performance at various levels—from the overall brand down to individual articles. We can then take this data to produce more of the content they want to engage with.
While data is crucial to our success, Valnet also understands that we are the experts in aviation and leave the day-to-day management of the website’s content production, video development, and other considerations to our team.
Beyond the Office Desk
There are also plenty of opportunities for my team and I to travel worldwide. Since joining Simple Flying, I’ve been fortunate enough to fly to numerous countries on a variety of airlines.
Some highlights to date include:
- Being on the 1st Etihad Airbus A380 service post-COVID
- Several aircraft deliveries at Airbus in Toulouse
- Exploring Kazakhstan with Air Astana
- Several first flights, including British Airways’ Airbus A350 and Lufthansa’s Allegris product
- A trip to Lagos, Nigeria, to celebrate Royal Air Maroc joining the oneworld alliance
- Leading Simple Flying’s coverage at the biggest airshows in aviation
And countless more…
Soaring Higher Through Challenges
Sometimes, things don’t go as planned. Early in the Simple Flying journey, before joining Valnet, we had several ideas that never quite “took off.” Longtime Simple Flying fans might recall our attempts at foreign language aviation news, where we launched separate sites in French, German, Portuguese, and Spanish. Unfortunately, these websites didn’t gain the traction we hoped for, leading us to ultimately close them down.
However, the shared knowledge we now have access to at Valnet has made our subsequent launches—such as our successful forays into the Military, Loyalty, and Private aviation verticals earlier this year—much more effective!
From Virtual to In-Person: Enhancing Team Dynamics
We also have great in-office opportunities for quarterly business reviews and team meet-ups. Recently, I traveled to Montreal, Canada, with fellow members of the Simple Flying management team.
This trip gave us the chance to collaborate with the Valnet team at all levels, which was an invaluable experience. Of course, it wasn’t all work! We had the chance to visit Bombardier’s cabin completion center and Air Canada’s headquarters, plus we made sure to stop by Tim Hortons—an essential part of any trip to Canada.
Overall, our visit to HQ was a fantastic opportunity to connect with faces we usually only see on screen.
The Future of Simple Flying
Over the years, Simple Flying has had some inspiring milestones, such as when former Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker said that buying the Airbus A380 was his biggest mistake during an interview with Simple Flying. Another milestone is our weekly Simple Flying podcast, which recently celebrated its 230th episode and our one millionth podcast listener earlier this year!
Plenty is going on behind the scenes at Simple Flying and Valnet. The coming months and years look to be exciting for both the brand and company. We recently launched a new video section for our website and switched to an in-house commenting system called Threads. This has allowed us to launch even more interesting discussions across the website. I can’t wait to see what else Valnet has in store!
