Cabs in the sky

[question everything]

Cabs in the sky

Air taxis hope to hail business travelers with speed and convenience; will they find a niche?

By Alexei Barrionuevo
NEW YORK TIMES NEWS SERVICE

August 2, 2006

CHICAGO – Jam-packed planes. Endless delays. Long security lines. Sprints through an airport to make a connecting flight. It is enough to make someone, particularly a business traveler, yearn for another option.

Enter the air taxi, an idea whose time has come. At least that is the hope of the entrepreneurs placing big bets on a new niche they want to create in aviation. Their idea is to offer faster, more convenient air travel at a price that falls somewhere between private jets and commercial airlines.

For years, questions about the size of an air taxi market have been largely theoretical. But that will change this year, as Eclipse Aviation of Albuquerque begins building the Eclipse 500, a six-seat plane. The plane received provisional certification last week from the Federal Aviation Administration. With the Eclipse, two startup airlines, Linear Air and DayJet, say they can ferry business travelers to hard-to-reach outposts with fewer frustrations – and get them home in time for dinner with their families.

(snip)

Air taxi operators say they can offer customers seats ranging from $1 to $3 a mile, compared with $9 to $13 a mile on charter jets, or up to $15 a mile on slightly larger private jets. But will air taxis be cheap enough? Regional commercial airlines like SkyWest average less than 16 cents a mile flying 50-seat planes, and as much as five times that on less-traveled routes where air taxis plan to compete, industry executives say.


(snip)

Among the first to put the Eclipse into service will be Linear Air, founded in 2004 by Herp, an entrepreneur. His airline started as a charter service, flying wealthy travelers to Martha's Vineyard from Boston and New York in Cessna turboprop planes. The company now also markets its services to small teams from consulting firms and other businesses who need to travel together to see clients or visit remote offices or factories. Because of the Eclipse's faster speed, Herp said it made sense for him to expand his airline to Washington, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

(snip)


Find this article at:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20060802/news_1b2jets.html

[On the Road]

1. That Sounds Like it Could Work Financially

My question is about scheduling and whether the air control system can manage enough takeoffs and landings of those six-seaters for this to be more than a small niche market.