What does it take to start an Air Taxi service?

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What does it take to start an Air Taxi service?

The recent advent of Very Light Jets (e.g. Eclipse) got some groups excited about starting an Air Taxi or Air Shuttle service, like Day Jet (Florida).
The concept seemed perfect: Instead of flying on a commercial airline and being forced to fly through Hubs, one is picked up by a "jet shuttle", at a convenient small airport and delivered to another small airport near your final destination. Maximum of one stop in transit (pick-up or drop-off another passenger), and prices are negotiable depending upon the flexibility of your schedule. You only pay for the seat you are using.
Day Jet did not succeed due to two (I believe) reasons: Eclipse jets took longer to develop and deliver and the economy tanked in late 2008 and 2009.
However, there seems to be some resurgence of this air taxi shuttle service in Europe (1000 nm maximum origin to destination).
I believe that if the tickets could be priced at full-fare commericial business class or less, then companies and the government might flock to this for many flights that require switching airplanes at a Hub. For example, if one wants to fly from Boston, MA to Dayton, OH, one needs to spend 6 to 8 hours and fly through Chicago or Baltimore, etc. Yet, it should be a 2.5 hour flight by a VLJ. How about $400 to $500 one way? Could someone make a business out of this? Note: Day Jet was using two pilots per flight (one to fly and one to do the paperwork, and the pilots were guaranteed to spend the night at their homes.

Boeing, Bigelow to build space station by 2015

"Boeing, Bigelow to build space station by 2015"

Boeing andBigelow Aerospace are teaming up to build a commercial space station system, with a 2015 target for a fully operational station in low Earth orbit (LEO), the companies announced on the first day of the show.

The aggressive schedule - with assembly in 2014 and testing to include an uncrewed trip to the station - is contingent upon the US Congress coming through with funding for NASA's proposed Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) Space Act Agreement programme this fall.

"We need the funding. The money that NASA has proposed closes the business case. Without that, we would have a difficult time," says Brewster Shaw, former astronaut and vice-president and general manager of Boeing's space exploration division.

The plan, crafted largely by Robert Bigelow, the US hotelier turned aerospace company owner, is to build a modular 690m³ (24,000ft³) space station in LEO, starting a second, larger station within years for the first. The first will consist of four modules, four habitats and one propulsion and docking unit.

Bigelow says he is already expanding his factory outside Las Vegas by 17,000m²(185,000ft²) to mass-produce the modules.

The programme would also include ground, mission and recovery operations systems as well as launch vehicles and a capsule based on the commercial crew transportation system already in development by Bigelow and Boeing as an offshoot of the CCDev programme. The capsule will be compatible with Atlas V, Delta IV and Falcon 9 launch systems, Shaw says.

Renting time on the first station would cost sovereign and commercial customers about $95m for a year, plus a per-astronaut cost of $24.9m, Bigelow says - a relative bargain compared with NASA's cost of $56m to send each astronauts to the International Space Station.

Bigelow also says he has already secured permission from the US State Department to run the project without any International Traffic in Arms Regulations concerns. "It's not a transfer of technology," Bigelow says, likening commercial space travel to commercial air travel.

"We believe space commerce will be a reality," Shaw says.

The Obama Administration, in a departure from previous US space policy, has proposed more emphasis on commercial space, with companies taking on major research and development and creating new launch capabilities, leaving NASA to focus on planetary exploration. Funding, however, has yet to materialise, with many in Congress concerned that the commercialisation of space is too dangerous an undertaking to support at this time.

• All the latest news, video and images from the 2010 Farnborough air show - New this year, live streaming video of each day's flying display

FARNBOROUGH: Engine battles-23/07/2010-London

FARNBOROUGH: Engine battles-23/07/2010

Key engine battles continue to play out as the Farnborough airshow got underway, led by CFM International and IAE as they continue to fight it out to maintain their positions on the Airbus A320 family.

After a wave of announcements during the opening days of the show, engine selections had emerged for just over 160 aircraft within the A320 family, with the CFM56 on 70% against V2500 on 30%. But with just over 140 orders placed for the A320 family without an engine selection, there is still all to play for.

The largest business came from leasing giant GECAS with 60 A320 orders equipped with the CFM56, followed by another major piece of business from Chile’s LAN as it confirmed that it would equip 57 A320s and 13 A319s with the engine. IAE also picked up 36 A321s from Vietnam from the country’s flag-carrier and its main lessor. However, engines have yet to be confirmed on the 52 A320 types ordered by RBS Aviation Capital.

These latest announcements are more or less in line with the current shares held by CFMI and IAE going into the show. At the end of June, before Farnborough opened its gates, the CFM56 was on 58% of the world’s active A320 family fleet against IAE’s 42%. That share has been stable for the past three years, as demonstrated by analysis from Flightglobal’s ACAS fleet database. However, that pre-Farnborough analysis also shows that IAE held a higher volume of the pre-Farnborough backlog, with 42% of the 2,240 A320s then on order against 35% for CFMI, but with another 24% still to confirm selection.

Elsewhere at Farnborough, the Engine Alliance extended its lead on the A380 as Emirates confirmed that its additional 32 orders would indeed be powered by the GP7200. Going into the show, the Engine Alliance held 53% of A380 orders, with Rolls-Royce on 38% and 9% still to be declared.

General Electric’s lead in the race to power the Boeing 787 was also extended at Farnborough as Etihad announced a 35-aircraft order to be equipped with the GEnx engine. Prior to Farnborough, the GEnx held 43% of the 860 orders with Rolls-Royce on 29% and 28% still to be declared.

For more information on the ACAS fleet analysis tool visit flightglobal.com/acas.

D-Jet certification not likely until 2012

D-Jet certification not likely until 2012: "D-Jet certification not likely until 2012"

Diamond Aircraft is completing final modifications to its D-Jet as it finally prepares to start the certification phase of the long-delayed programme.

The D-Jet was initially due to enter service in 2006, but has encountered numerous delays as a result of funding challenges as well as changes in the powerplant and de-icing system. Diamond has declined to provide an update on the personal jet programme since last year, when the manufacturer announced a further slip in certification to 2011. But Diamond sources say approval is now likely in 2012 as the certification phase of the programme is expected to take nearly two years.

Sources say the two flight-test aircraft, which to date have clocked about 700 flight hours, have not flown much in recent months. But they say the programme is about to be kicked into a higher gear. "It's a little slow, but will proceed quickly," says one source.

© Diamond Aircraft

This summer is the last window for final modifications to the D-Jet as the programme ends the development phase and begins the certification phase. The biggest modification is the installation of inflatable de-ice boots, replacing the initial TKS "weeping wings" ice-protection system.

The change to the de-ice system, announced by Diamond last year, was required by the US Federal Aviation Administration. It follows a decision in 2008 to uprate the D-Jet's initial Williams FJ33-15 engine to the -5A version. Flight-testing of the de-ice boots will begin later this year on aircraft serial number three - the second of the two flight-test aircraft - as Diamond works to certificate the D-Jet for flight into known icing.

Despite recent technical and financial setbacks, Diamond remains confident it will still beat competitors Cirrus, Honda and Piper, all of which are developing new light jets, to market. "Although we've had delays we should be the first one out of the gate," one source says.