Plane Conversations

In 2001, Atlantic Monthly national correspondent and best selling author James Fallows wrote a book called “Free Flight: From Airline Hell to a New Age of Travel”. I got a copy as a gift from a friend and, as an aviation insider, read it with great interest. Plus, I love the title which, after nine years, is still relevant.

When he wrote the book, he focused on three innovations that he predicted would revolutionize air travel by providing private air transportation to the frustrated airline traveler at rates more people could afford. Pulling the book out of my cabinet at the office and knocking the dust off, I revisited what James Fallows had to say then and compare it to where we are today.

What were the three innovations?:

1. Cirrus and the Klapmeier brothers who dreamed up the idea of a single engine aircraft with a parachute system for that extra measure of safety.
2. Eclipse Jet and Vern Rayburn who brought the term Very Light Jet into the conversation of business aviation.
3. NASA who encouraged innovation in aircraft design and the development of free flight which allows aircraft to go directly from Point A to Point B saving time, fuel and traffic congestion of highly traveled airways.  This was under the NASA’s Small Aircraft Transportation System (SATS) program. The idea was to make personal flying closer to the automobile experience – safer and easier to be within reach of more travelers allowing people to bypass the air mass-transit system in favor of going from small airport to small airport.

In the last nine years, how did James Fallows’ case studies fare?

To date, Cirrus has manufactured and sold more than 5000 aircraft and has been the number one, best selling aircraft in the past decade – not bad for a start-up company with a non-conventional design. Like other aviation companies, Cirrus has been severely impacted by the economy but will survive in some form. The aircraft has been too successful and the market will continue to demand new models with improved technology.

Eclipse ran the long race to certification and actually made a few Eclipse jets before passing out at the finish line. Eclipse didn’t make it; but, urged on by the innovation, Cessna and Embraer were able to come out with the Cessna Mustang and the Phenom 100, which are here to stay.

Cirrus proved the SATS concept by bringing a whole new user of private aviation into the fold and, today, more people are flying small aircraft. No one knows the exact number, but many Cirrus buyers were first-time aviators who were convinced that they could learn to fly and safely pilot the Cirrus aircraft wherever they needed to go for business or pleasure. Flying is still not as simple as driving, but, every year it gets easier and safer due to the technology of the modern cockpit. One day it may be the George Jetson story!

Somewhere in the story was the hope that airline delays and traffic congestion problems could be solved by technology. Today, the talk is of Next Generation Air Traffic Control Technology (NexGen) which would help; but, the problem of “ Airline Hell” has still not been solved. If anything, it has only gotten “hotter” (worse). Today, nine years later, there is more frustration than ever before with the airline system. The solutions are out there but have yet to be implemented. In 2001 Web2.0, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn had not been dreamed into existence. So, is the solution an aviation solution or does it come from technology?

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