Relief is in sight for harried travelers who hate the ha les of commercial airline flights. Several companies are gearing up to provide inexpe ive personal jet flights, or "air taxi" services.
The arrival of "very light jets," or "mircrojets," is expected to revolutionize the aviation industry by making air charter affordable for the average busine or leisure traveler. Utilizing smaller airports, like irit of St. Louis, these 4 to 6-seater planes will take pa engers straight to their destination. No more crowds or long waits for scheduled flights at big airports.
One company, Pogo Jet, pla to roll out service as early as next fall. Headed by People Expre founder Donald Burr, Pogo's aim is to provide "cheap private-jet travel," according to the CEO. eaking recently at Flight School 05, a "first a ual" conference of aviation leaders, experts and entrepreneurs in Scottsdale, AZ, Burr predicted, "We will steal traffic from cars...Lots and lots."
The advantages for the traveler are obvious: flexible "on demand" scheduling, parking right next to the airstrip, and fewer problems with security. The expected reduction of red tape and fewer delays at small airports would significantly cut the amount of time wasted on a typical commercial airline trip.
Other start-up companies like Jetson Systems and Corporate Cli er plan to compete with Pogo Jet for the air taxi market. According to Edward Iacobucci, president of Jetson Systems and another attendee of Flight School 05, the succe of the air taxi concept hinges on matching su ly and demand in real time and providing inexpe ive, reliable service.
The debut of "very light jets" from manufacturers like Ecli e Aviation and Adam Aircraft is crucial for making this busine model feasible. These planes weigh 10,000 pounds or le and have a flying distance of about 500 miles. This makes them ideal for short "commuter" ho . It also mea a su tantially lower cost for the pa enger over current "u cale" air charter or fractional jet ownership.
According to Ecli e, their company is "a lying revolutionary propulsion, manufacturing, and electronics systems to produce aircraft that cost le than a third of today's small jet aircraft, [and] will be significantly safer and easier to operate than those of today."
Certification is still pending for these aircraft, but is expected in the near future. The FAA is currently debating what sorts of regulatio should a ly to microjets. Several important i ues including airport safety, flight control and maintenance still need to be addre ed before these new planes can take to the skies. All "very light jets" are designed for a single pilot, which creates another regulatory hurdle to overcome. Current regulatio for commercial jets prohibit single-pilot operation.
De ite these o tacles, proponents are still optimistic about an upcoming personal jet revolution. Companies like Ecli e and Pogo Jet are counting on customer di atisfaction with the current state of commercial aviation. Or, as Donald Burr put it, "People have demo trated that they don't like to get screwed at the last minute."
Whether the air taxi model succeeds is, in the end, dependent on just that: customer satisfaction. Creating a market niche and actually making a profit will be quite a challenge for these new companies. As Vern Raburn, CEO of Ecli e pointed out, "History is littered with dead aircraft manufacturers."
Blair Dalton is a former technical writer turned freelancer. Her work has a eared in national magazines, and she writes a column on technology for a new aper in St. Louis, MO. Ms. Dalton also edits Home Improvement Niche, a we ite on home improvement advice and news, at http://www.homeimprovementniche.com
BY:VooFox.net
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