Plane Conversations

Next Generation Air Traffic Management represents a major evolution in ground based air traffic control to satellite based air traffic management; it also represents an opportunity for private aviation to deliver far more value to the communities that they serve.

In order to accomplish this, Social Flights is developing a unifying business method that accurately and reliably matches supply and demand for private transportation assets across several thousand airports in the United States. NextGen, combined with the Internet and social media, gives the private aviation industry a set of tools that were unimaginable 20 or 30 years ago when the private aviation market last shifted.

How will private travel evolve?

NextGen will use aviation-specific applications for existing, widely-used technologies such as GPS, Weather Forecasting, data networking, and digital communication. Not surprisingly, these applications will lead to new procedures and airport infrastructure.

Some of these changes may be quite predictable

To get an idea as to how these new technologies will impact aviation, it may be a simple matter to compare how these EXACT same technologies have changed social cooperation in general.  This prediction is valid because we all cooperate for our little piece of the sky.

Society has learned to cooperate in amazing ways as mobile devices, VOIP, GPS, Weather Reports, Traffic Reports, and non-corporate social organization become evermore commonplace.  New business models constantly form around the technology.   The result has been a profound shift in power and influence to those (for better or for worse) who can access and curate relevant information AND then share that information with people in their networks (and beyond).

Social Flights is taking the lead and calling on all private operators to join with us to build a common platform for private aircraft inventory and ground operations across the United States:   

• Where are your jets stationed?
• What inventory do you have available?
• Where are your empty legs going?
• Are you willing to share facilities or “code-share” with other operators?
• Are you willing to cooperate with the major airlines?
• If entrepreneurs in your community had access to the whole system, would this help you?
• If corporations and event planners had access to the whole system, would this help you?
• Are local hospitality and support services sharing information with you?

The New Technology Advantage

Since the late 1800’s America has replaced every single telephone pole with a new one every 50 years or so.  Today, every less developed country can simply build relatively few cellular towers and avoid that mess. For this reason, we can assume that airlines no longer have the advantage of vast hub infrastructure when together, we can just as easily sort people and planes with access to the right data shared across the right network.

Air Travel in and out of New York City Area is among the most complex in the world.  4100 flights per day squeak out of 3 major airports while all three rank near the bottom of 29 hubs for on-time performance.  Many people say that the Next Generation satellite air traffic control will alleviate the problem by allowing aircraft to fly closer together in crowded areas.  Others say that multiple modes of transportation such as high-speed rail would ease congestion.

Social Flights says, “Why fly someplace that you are not going?”

I grew up in Connecticut and have come to know New York as a magnificent city with huge importance in business, government, art, and culture. The cost of traveling into New York can often exceed the price of airfare outbound and almost always takes longer than the flight itself.  Commuting into the city from Connecticut can cost 100 dollars including parking, commuter train, and meals – and it can take 3 hours each way.  Commuters often spend more time traveling than working.  The cost of living in the city is exorbitant.

Look at the numbers

At around 200-250 persons per aircraft, 4100 flights represents between 750,000 and 1 million people per day.  The population of Manhattan is only 1.5 Million.  A significant percentage of people are actually traveling to, or from, Connecticut, or New Jersey, or Pennsylvania, and beyond.

In fact, there are 23 airports in the New York Metropolitan Area that can accept turbine aircraft.  At market capacity for each of these airports, the Social Flights Community Air Services Program could relieve the majors by 25-30% of their traffic while opening up air transportation to the millions of people who live outside of major cities and would otherwise not travel.

• Central Jersey Regional Airport (JVI)
• Essex County Airport (CDW)
• Greenwood Lake Airport (4N1)
• Hackettstown Airport (N05)
• Igor I. Sikorsky Memorial Airport (BDR)
• Lincoln Park Airport (N07)
• Linden Airport (LDJ)
• Little Ferry Seaplane Base (2N7)
• Long Island MacArthur Airport (ISP)
• Morristown Municipal Airport (MMU)
• Newton Airport (New Jersey) (3N5)
• Old Bridge Airport (3N6)
• Princeton Airport (39N)
• Republic Airport (FRG)
• Solberg-Hunterdon Airport (N51)
• Somerset Airport (SMQ)
• Stewart International Airport (SWF)
• Teterboro Airport (TEB)
• Trenton-Mercer Airport (TTN)
• Trenton-Robbinsville Airport (N87)
• Tweed New Haven Regional Airport (HVN)
• Twin Pine Airport (N75)
• Westchester County Airport (HPN)

Now, Let’s reintroduce those great ideas

Next Generation satellite air traffic control will alleviate the problem by allowing aircraft to fly closer together in crowded areas, but it also brings improved ATC to smaller airports at relatively low cost.  Multimode transportation like high-speed trains has a distinct advantage of being able to stop along a route.  For example; high-speed rail from Washington DC to Boston could carry passengers between airports not unlike trams carry passengers between terminals.  New mobile and big data applications can sort people and planes as effectively as hub infrastructure.

Social Flight knows where you are coming from

If you live in Connecticut, New Jersey, or upstate New York, you should be able to fly from your local airport to anywhere in the country. The Social Flights Community Air Service Program brings public charter air service to your doorstep and the doorstep that you are traveling to.

“Systems Thinking” is important in aviation.  No single event acts alone from complex air traffic control to complex mechanical aircraft and complex weather systems. Economics is a complex system and markets are complex systems, human behavior is displayed in complex social systems.  This is the way that Social Flights approaches business – we are a ride sharing “system” for private jets

It is not surprising then that Google identifies 5 stages of the consumer travel system.

The following is from Trent via Statistics and Research Studies for Travel, Tourism & Lodging:

More than 87% of travelers expect to take the same or more number of personal or business trips in 2011 versus years past. This outlook is positive, and with the rise of mobile, social and video behaviors, we are now seeing seeing travelers move through five key stages of travel. Here are some insights within each stage:

Dreaming: 68% of business travelers watch travel-related online videos. Among them, 68% are thinking about a trip.

Planning: The average traveler visits ~22 travel related sites during 9.5 research sessions prior to booking.  85% of leisure travelers consider the internet their main source of travel planning.

Booking: 37% of leisure travelers report that the internet prompted them to book, up from 28% two years ago.  53% of travelers plan to increase comparison shopping this year.

Experiencing: 70% of business travelers check into their flights/hotel with their mobile device. Almost 1 in 4 hotel queries come from a mobile phone.  Over 50% of travelers use mobile phone or device for travel-related information.

Sharing: About 1 in 3 business travelers have posted reviews online of places they’ve been.

At Social Flights we have argued that there is a great need for travel related information to be made available for private aircraft and charter jet inventory.  As such, we are developing tools such as our “Instant Quote” feature, and inventory listings to supplement travel information on line. Here’s why:

62% of personal travelers use search engines as the number one source for travel information. 

51% of business travelers use mobile devices to get travel information, more than double the rate of two years ago. 

46% of personal travelers are watching travel-related videos, versus 36% two years ago. 

The quantity and the quality of information that a travel company can provide is directly proportional to the relevance in the 5 stages of consumer travel activity.  The effort is paying off.

Social Flights will soon announce several deals with municipalities that are tired of being stranded by airlines

Social Flights will annouce a deal with a major vacation spot that is tired of getting gouged by brokers

Social Flights Instant Quote feature continues to disrupt the “secret handshake” of the charter jet industry

Social Flights will soon announce major deals at world class events where we shuttle people to the doorstep of the action

Social Flights is opening travel circles across the US for people to share their experiences and plan their adventures

At Social Flights, we are aviators, we are system thinkers, we are fully aware and intentional about the system that we are building.  We thank all those who are helping, from our pilots to our partners to our investors and to our followers.  Together we are developing a Social Flying System

This is déjà vu all over again.  By now I would have thought our Congress would have come up with a long term funding authorization for a very critical part of our nation’s infrastructure.  All of us under the big umbrella of aviation (airlines and GA) don’t agree all of the time but for once we all agree to the necessity of funding the FAA and the development of airports and Next Gen air traffic control systems.  We have even accepted the idea that fuel taxes will go up to help fund these initiatives.

ATW online reports that our Congress just passed the 20^th short term extension for funding the FAA.  That’s right, 20 extensions.  If I ran my business finances like that I would have been fired a long time ago.  Somehow our nation’s lawmakers can’t agree to get anything done about this yet no one seems to hold them accountable.

Quoting from the article “FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt, Airports Council International-North America and airport directors around the US have been saying for some time that uncertainty over FAA funding, particularly the Airport Improvement Program that helps finance expansion programs, is causing disruptions to airport construction projects (ATW’s Airports Today, Oct. 5, 2010). “For over three-and-a-half years we’ve been operating on extensions,” Babbitt noted during a recent speech. “It’s been very difficult to run an agency on extensions … We need to restore long-term stability to funding.”

In addition to the disruption of airport construction projects and the stall in developing Next Gen, the FAA has basically shut down the certification of new Airlines and Charter operators. So how do we create any new jobs in our industry if startups can’t start? Those of us already flying are also having trouble getting anything done with an agency that doesn’t know where their next dollar is coming from.

The Democratic controlled Senate and the Republican controlled House can’t seem to figure this out. But this goes back to before the Republicans got control of the house. So it seems that doing nothing about an important issue is the way it goes these days in Washington DC.

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09/17/10

The day after Tim’s first-ever concert Down Under, we were able to get in the air to see the sight around Brisbane.  After the introductions to the local staff, it was all business as we conducted the preflight and pre-mission briefing.  Our flight was planned to take-off from Runway 28Right with a right turn out heading east towards the Pacific.

We climbed up to 1000 feet as specified in the Australian Enroute Supplement and changed our transponder without direction from Air Traffic Control.  This is not customary in the United States, I learned from my flight with Tom, that it’s the custom here in Oz.  We headed south towards the Gold Coast region. The day was overcast but the air was smooth and visibility excellent.

Turning north, we dropped down to 500 feet above the ocean as we hugged the shoreline.  Approaching Moreton Island (the largest sand island in the world) we saw some unusual traffic off our wing – some Humpback whales were breeching not far away; so, we practiced turns about a whale.  What a sight!.  It was difficult to focus a camera with such a spectacle below us; but, we did manage to get off a few photos.

We also saw some toothier sea creatures –sharks galore up and down the coast.  I really don’t know how big they were, but if they impressed me at 1000 feet, they were probably big enough.

Traveling further north, we turned overland towards the Glass House Mountains, snapped some more photos and then headed back to the visual landmarks required for smooth flow operations into Archerfield.

Tim ran all the descent and before landing checklists and slowed the SR22 to traffic speed of about 100 KIAS and made a graceful landing back on our original departure runway.

What a way to spend your lunch hour!  Well, okay, maybe two hours…….

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Congress is still not getting the job done with the FAA Reauthorization bill.

In previous posts  on Plane Conversations I have discussed the issues surrounding all of the different provisions of the bill and why it still hasnt passed into law.

I still don’t know why Congress has to pile in all these controversial provisions that deal with Unionization of FedEx and landing slots at a couple airports into a major funding bill that has been in a stall for years.

The only reason I can think of is good old fashioned politics and game playing on the hill, and in the mean time issues with safety, upgrade of a severely outdated air traffic control infrastructure and long term funding to run the FAA gets postponed again.   

If those of us who run businesses and make payroll every week ran our business like these guys do business on “The Hill” we would have been out of business a long time ago.

Reporting from the Los Angeles Times by Julia Love, Tribune Washington Bureau in a July 30 article:

 Responding to the deaths of 50 people in the crash last year of a Continental Airlines flight near Buffalo, N.Y., Congress passed legislation Friday requiring increased training and experience for regional airline pilots.
The House passed the measure, which also extends Federal Aviation Administration funding, on a voice vote just before midnight Thursday, and the Senate approved identical legislation Friday morning. No member of either chamber objected.
The legislation requires all airline pilots to log at least 1,500 hours of flight time before flying passengers, up from the current 250-hour minimum for newly hired copilots. The bill also boosts training, mandates the creation of a national database of pilot records and aims to reduce pilot fatigue by directing the FAA to update rules on pilot duty hours.

So under political pressure from the families who suffered loss from the crash in Buffalo congress has passed a special bill dealing with pilot requirements and training for airlines.

 The target for the FAA long term funding reauthorization is now set for September 30.

 Any bets on whether they get it done before election time in November?

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Reporting from Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil, Embraer Factory

I am visiting Embraer in Brazil for the acceptance and delivery of a Phenom 100, Embraer Executive Jet. 

Serial Number 146 is poised on the floor of Hangar 300 ready for delivery to an owner in the United Kingdom.  This EMB-500 will be managed by London Executive Aviation and will initially be based at Stansted Airport about 25 miles northeast of London City.  

Although JetQuik accepts and delivers aircraft for customers around the world, the acceptance of this Phenom was accomplished by Dan Pope, an engineer from LEA.

Joining me in the delivery process is Neil Onions, a thirty-year aviation veteran and Head of Training for LEA.  Neil cut his teeth as an air traffic control engineer initially working in the Shetland Islands, and subsequently all over the UK.  He now lives in the Essex countryside among the ancient oaks, but near enough to The Butcher’s Arms to enjoy an occasional pint of bitters.

Patrick Margetson-Rushmore and George Galanopoulos, principals of LEA operate over 20 aircraft in charter and the Phenom 100 will be the 8th type joining their fleet.   As President of JetQuik I have had the pleasure of joining Patrick for several meetings both in England and Spain, where we have advocated for Executive Jet travel and for improvements in the world-wide air charter community.   Although this is the first Phenom 100 to join the LEA fleet, I am confident that more will be forthcoming.

Also growing their fleet is Corporate Flight Management in Smyrna and Nashville, Tennessee, now managing two Embraer Phenom 100s with plans to continually expand the fleet of Embraer Executive Jets.  Allen Howell, Chairman of CFM notes that they are “marvelously efficient aircraft that fulfill the need for light jets in our (CFM’s) fleet”.   Allen Howell also noted that, “Corporate Flight Management  has completed factory approved training for Phenom mechanics who help to ensure the high dispatch reliability of the Phenom 100.”

Here in Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil, the hangar 300 delivery facility is buzzing with activity. As I look out into the hangar from my delivery office, I see EMB 190s destined for Tianjin Airlines, TACA and jetBlue.  Out on Runway 15, an Air France by Regional EMB 170 just departed for Paris. 

The airliners in Hangar 300  are joined by six Phenom 100s and two Phenom 300s slated for delivery this week.  Much of the credit for the popularity of the Embraer Executive Jet family is due to the airline heritage that they share.  Built to airliner standards, the Phenom jets are rugged and dependable, fun to fly, and great to look at.   The latest Phenom 300 here in the hangar is a stellar example of clean sheet design and a perfect mix of beauty and practicality.

Tomorrow we begin our trip to London.  I hope that you will follow our progress as we “adventure our way” up through the Americas and over to Europe.

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Update on the FAA Reauthorization Bill

In a post on rollcall.com , Representative Jerry Costello urges Congress to “finish the job” regarding the passage of the FAA Reauthorization bill that has been beating around Capitol Hill for more than three years. Representative Costello, Democrat from Illinois, is Chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Aviation.

I believe most everyone in General Aviation and the Airlines support the funding to develop the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen). The airlines are still squawking about who will pay the cost of new equipment required to upgrade their fleets to work with NextGen.  I can not imagine any situation where the airlines will ever really be content with how they are being treated by the government, so nothing new there.

NextGen will hopefully bring efficiency to a system of air traffic control that is at present marginalized and operating on 1960’s ground radar based technology.  Satellite guidance should allow more air traffic to flow in crowded corridors which will reduce delays and save fuel.  Maybe there will even be some reduction in the frustration passengers are experiencing today with airline travel!  Less delays on the ground and the air surely will make people happier.  Additionally, the airways will be safer with the new technology that will be more accurate in aircraft location and guidance.  

We have posted  several times about this Bill on Plane Conversations because it is important to our national air transportation infrastructure.

I don’t know the exact financial picture of this legislation.  I do know that an increase in the aviation fuel tax will fund some portion if not all of it.  In essence the users of the aviation system, including general aviation, will pay for the new technology that will benefit everyone.  Most people don’t mind paying for something if they see the value.

Hopefully the FAA will manage the program development wisely and give us our money’s worth.  Time will tell.  For now, Congress needs to do their job and get a Bill to the President to sign.

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Darren Goode reports on Government Executive.com that House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Rep. James Oberstar, D-Minn., predicted last  Wednesday that a multiyear FAA authorization bill will be signed into law by July 4.

Quoting Rep. Oberstar “I think we’ve made enough progress and we ought to be able to get it done by then,” he said. “We are working toward that goal. We’ll get there, we’ll do it.”

For the complete article:

http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0510/052010cdam2.htm

In its present form all of the associations that represent the various general aviation constituencies, including NBAA and NATA are for the authorization bill.

There is a provision in the bill on the house side that makes it easier for FedEx workers to Unionize. Obviously FedEx management opposes this provision and has fought it all along the way. It was taken out of the Senate version thanks to the help of our Tennessee Senators.

I have said this before, and will say it again. I do not understand why the provision dealing with FedEx has to be in a bill that funds the FAA and should be dealing with the entire aviation system. It seems to me that lawmakers like loading up these bills with provisions that take care of their key constituencies, which in this case for House Dems would be the Unions. There doesn’t seem to be any rational correlation between funding the FAA and FedEx unionizing?  

OK, Back to the FAA Bill:

It will be good for the FAA to finally have a funding authorization that is more than 3 months or a year. They have been on the short string for three years now. Hopefully the FAA can take this and do something positive with the NextGen Air Traffic Control System.

On the GA side, we will pay more fuel taxes but most people think that is not a bad price to pay in return for no user fees. I tend to agree. Once a new type of tax sneaks in it never seems to go away and the old tax never goes away either. At least we in the FBO and charter business understand how to collect and pay the fuel tax. It is an efficient way of funding our aviation infrastructure system. User fees in other countries around the world have proven to be a nightmare for operators to handle from an administrative and accounting standpoint.

We should expect some inefficiency in how the money is spent, because after all it is big government and there is no disincentive for inefficient spending. Hopefully if the FAA throws enough money at it we will eventually get a NextGen system that can effectively increase the flow of traffic through our airways and make the system more time efficient and save fuel.

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I have been asked to serve on the Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) Aerospace (www.mtsu.edu/aerospace/)  Advisory Council. This is a newly formed group created for the purpose of assisting the Aerospace Department in developing and implementing long term goals and strategy, as well as helping with financial support.

Over the last 28 years our company has employed hundreds of MTSU aerospace students and graduates in all areas of our company including flight operations, maintenance, line service / FBO management and accounting. Today we have around 40 students and alumni of the program working with us including my business partner and several key members of our management team.. MTSU has been a great partner with our business in providing a resource of educated and skilled people to help us grow our business.

As I listened, in our first meeting, to the professors who are in charge of the various disciplines within the department I was impressed with all that is going on at the school. I guess over the years of being close to MTSU I did not realize how far the program had progressed.

MTSU offers bachelor’s degree programs in professional pilot, maintenance, dispatch. air traffic control, technology and administration and a master’s degree program in aerospace administration. The department has around 700 students as majors from 32 states and 16 foreign countries making it one of the largest aerospace programs in the country. The biggest concentration of majors is in the pro-pilot program but the other programs are growing every year.

More impressive than the numbers are the developments on the near horizon that will propel the aerospace program to new heights.

Coming in the next 12 months is a state of the art Air Traffic Control Simulator lab that will be the best in the country and the only one if its kind in the world. Not only will this lab be used to train future controllers but it will also be used to test new technologies developed as part of the FAA NextGen system being developed over the next ten years.

The simulator will include a 360 degree wrap around Control Tower, automated scenario systems, realistic DSR, ARTS, and STARS, and Dual enroute TRACON simulators.

MTSU has one of the most modern fleets of trainers utilizing the Diamond Star DA-40 all glass cockpit single engine aircraft as the primary trainer. Last year MTSU competed with the nations top programs and was awarded a $800,000 grant from the FAA to train FAA inspectors on Technologically Advanced Aircraft.

There is much more to brag about and I hope to have more for you in future posts on MTSU and the exciting things going on there.

I am proud to be a member of the advisory council and look forward to playing a small part in a big success story that will do a lot to keep the aviation industry in the US competitive on a global stage. It all starts with world class education institutions like MTSU.

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