Plane Conversations

Google Search for the term "Jet Charter"

Google Think Insights is an amazing resource for looking at who is searching on certain terms, and from where.  This post shows two search categories and related terms from which we can draw several general ideas about private air travel.  These data demonstrates that an increasing amount of people are searching on terms such as private jet, jet charter, VIP travel, etc.

Another curious trend is the term “Jet Charter Cost” is also increasing significantly as people seek to find the value threshold for private air travel vs commercial air travel.

Recession or transition?

These data all refer to a date range between the dates of january 2008 and December 2011 corresponding to the greatest economic downturn in the US since the Depression.  There are likely many forces acting on the market including the pullout of commercial aviation from minor market, few travel alternatives,  increased usage of internet search technology, increased business travel needs, and upper class growth rates.

The increase in terms related to cost may suggest that even the most wealthy are becoming cost conscious, more people want to fly private, more businesses need to fly private in order to access their market, and more VIP travel is required.

It is not surprising that the term “business aviation” has a similar location density to the term “Jet Charter”.  This reinforces the suggestion that corporations increasingly need to send their executives on travel outings.

Social Flights is in the business of social organization too:

It is likely that wherever executives go, so too will managers and lower level employees.  Social Flights has long suggested that there is an opportunity to increase private charter shuttle service between key locations.  Likewise, there are opportunities for companies to share private aircraft scheduled to fly between regions.

Next we looked at the term “VIP Travel” and identified the following locations where the terms were searched.  We found a similar increase in VIP Travel related terms as we did for terms related to jet charter costs, except related to supporting services such as reservation, booking, schedules, and services.

This suggests that the door-to-door experience is underserved and that an air transportation service that is able to connect the dots would hold a true value advantage over one that just drops the passenger off at a hub airport.

Search terms are important because they indicate the intentions of a market.

While little is ever conclusive, the rate at which something changes can say more than the thing being observed alone.  At Social Flights, the demands of a dynamic market are clear.

1. Companies must have business travel options.

2. A door-to-door value proposition is essential.

3. People are searching online more than ever

4. The commercial airline industry leaves a market underserved.

Economic recessions have been shown to be more about technological transition and adjustment rather than any single underlying factor.  We believe that this transition will be no different.

On a  recent Lineage 1000 demonstration flight tour in the United States, Embraer Executive Jets Regional Sales Manager Cameron Gowans invited me to experience this aircraft firsthand by riding along on a repositioning flight from Dallas to Chicago.  In spite of the fact that I grew up in business aviation, I have never before had the opportunity to ride on an aircraft of this caliber.  And, I can tell you that it took some time for me to get over the “Wow!” factor.  

Approaching the aircraft, you believe are about to board an airliner which, in fact, you are. Built on the E190 series airliner, but with additional fuel for long-range flights, the Lineage 1000 is Embraer’s top of the line executive jet. The size of the aircraft is really closer to an Airbus 318 than any corporate jet made and, in airline configuration, it carries 94-112 passengers. For the Lineage 1000, Embraer advertises over 25 different cabin modules that allow you to customize the aircraft to fit your mission requirements.  The aircraft I flew in is configured with a beautiful executive interior that seats up to 19 passengers.

On our short, two-hour flight, I got the full tour of the five distinct cabin zones, including the aft-most zone containing a bedroom with private bathroom and stand-up shower.  The 19 passenger configuration could easily accommodate all of those passengers with no one feeling at all crowded. There is also plenty of baggage space for a full load of passengers and the baggage area is accessible from the cabin.

The design of the cabin makes for a more pleasurable passenger experience by controlling both noise and pressurization.  In both take-off and cruise, the cabin was quiet enough to carry on a normal conversation with fellow travelers.  And, at a cruising altitude of 41,000 feet, the cabin altitude is 7000 feet which reduces travel fatigue over aircraft with lower pressurization differentials. 

As far as cabin size, this aircraft falls between the Boeing BBJ / Airbus 318 and the Gulfstream G550/ Global Express. While the Lineage 1000 is comparable to the G550 in purchase price, in terms of cubic volume in the cabin, the Lineage 1000 has more than twice that of the G550. However, with a non-stop range of 4200 nautical miles, the Lineage 1000 does not match the 6750 nautical mile range of the Gulfstream G550.  So, while you can go non-stop from Chicago to London, London to Dubai or Dubai to Beijing on the Lineage, a trip from Chicago to Tokyo would require a refueling stop.  The question then becomes: are you willing to trade cabin size and comfort for increased range?  Since the typical missions for many companies never need the full range of the aircraft, the question may not need to be asked.  And, given my experience in the cabin, even if you do have to make a fuel stop in the Lineage, you would not feel the need to depart the aircraft.  Sitting in the cabin feels much more like being in a high end condominium than in an aircraft.   

The aircraft is state of the art design with fly by wire controls and the latest in avionics technology. It is built on an airframe designed for the rigors, reliability and economic  requirements of airline service; so, maintenance reliability should be excellent and should continue to improve as the E190 series accumulate fleet time in airline service.

Entering the cabin, you get the feel of being in an aircraft that could easily be the transportation for a head of state or an executive for a large multi-national company.  For governments, companies and high net worth individuals with international travel requirements who are looking for mission capable executive transport, this aircraft will fit a niche in the market.

Hats off to Embraer for continuing to innovate and bring new solutions for executive transport to the market.

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After the justice department approved the merger of Continental Airlines and United Airlines last Friday, Congressman James Oberstar (D-Minn) voiced his displeasure again  with the merger and suggested that Congress might just need to reconsider the deregulation of airlines that happened in 1978.

The airlines have been stuck between a rock and a hard place for years. Combined profits of the industry are non-existent and customer satisfaction with airline service is somewhere down there in the range of our approval ratings of congress’s performance.

What we have received from deregulation are cheap air fares. Most people don’t remember what it cost to fly on the airlines prior to 1978 because they were either not old enough or did not fly on the airlines back then due to the costs. Real costs for flying via commercial airlines have come down over the past 30 years but the by-product of lower fares has been a reduction in what we consider to be service and the amenities of air travel. In some ways, airline travel has become just another form of mass transit much like rail service.

What we want we can’t have, and the government stepping in will not solve the problem.

We want our cheap $99 return fares, anywhere, anytime, and we want great service and convenient on-time departure schedules to go with the low price.

Deregulation brought on the competition with low cost carriers, which brought down the fares that we all enjoy.

Low fares combined with volatile fuel prices, worldwide competition with lower labor costs and airlines irrationally putting too much inventory of seats in the market took the profits out of the airline industry.

So now we have to adjust to some new fare structure and service level that the free market should work out. Mergers of air carriers are a part of this evolutionary process.

The airlines and their shareholders deserve to make a profit, or at least attempt to do so, while providing air transportation to the consumer. Unlike a utility where we have no choice, we don’t have to fly if we don’t like the combination of price, service and time efficiency of air travel.

As my Southwest flight pulled into the gate Sunday afternoon at Nashville, the flight attendant reminded us that we have many choices about who we fly with and he thanked us for choosing Southwest Airlines. In reality, we have choices beyond whom we fly with because we can drive and, in some cases, take the train. We can also choose not to go at all.  

Regulation of air travel from the federal government should be limited to matters of safety. Congress should not venture anymore than they already have into the regulation of customer service, pricing and competition. 

Government intervention has not brought much value to anything lately and I can’t imagine a scenario where reregulation of the airline industry will ultimately benefit the US economy and the consumer of air travel.

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I recently finished reading Falcon 7 – the new novel by best selling author James Huston. His last book, Marine One, made the NYT best seller list. I needed to try out my I-Pad book reader and Apple has this title in their bookstore so this was the book to try out the I-Pad reader.

James Huston takes aviation, international law, and the world of military special ops intrigue and weaves a story that will not let you put the book (I-Pad) down until you are finished.

The name for the book comes from the new long range business jet the Falcon 7X, manufactured by French company Dassault Falcon. The Falcon 7X is the culmination of state-of-the-art technology in business jet manufacturing and has a non-stop range of 5950 nautical miles at high cruise speeds. The aircraft incorporates fly-by-wire technology that has usually been reserved for airline class aircraft.

The Falcon 7X plays an important role in the book, a role revealed in the first few pages, and it continues to play a part in the plot as the story progresses.

For aviation lovers, the book includes great scenes involving helicopters, low level flying, FA-18 fighters and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles.

James Huston is an attorney with a practice in international and aviation law. He was also a Top Gun Naval aviator and flew the F14. He has used his knowledge of aviation and law to tell the story that will keep you spellbound and will convince you that this could really happen..  

The book starts with an FA-18 over the skies of Afghanistan on what was to be a routine mission. While on their flight back to ship, the crew is diverted to a target across the border in Pakistan. After making what was assumed to be a bomb drop on a terrorist meeting site, things start to go wrong, the aircraft is shot down and the crew ejects.

I won’t go farther in the story and give it away. If you like aviation and you like to read Grisham novels you will love this book.

Buy it in the airline terminal or at the Apple Book Store on your I-Pad and it will get you through a long stay in the terminal or a cramped and boring international flight.

You will wish you were in the back of the Falcon 7X instead of the coach seat in the back of the Boeing; but, you will not want to go where the Falcon 7X takes the characters in this story.

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When most people think of UAVs, they think of the attack drones used in Afghanistan and Iraq, such as the Predator and Reaper. These are large aircraft with wingspans up to 65 feet and weighing over 10,000 pounds. However, there are only a few aircraft types of this size that are currently in production. The vast majorities of UAVs are much, much smaller and designed to perform a plethora of different missions. Some UAVs are so small that they can be launched by hand and are no larger than a bird. The implications for this new breed of air vehicles to the aviation industry are enormous.

Hopefully, we will never have the need for widespread use of Unmanned Combat Air Vehicles (UCAVs) in the United States civilian airspace. Instead, UAVs will allow aviation operations to expand into amazing new arenas that were once only seen in science fiction films. Perhaps one of the greatest advantages of a small UAV is the ability to fly undetected within close range of people and equipment on the ground. This has particular benefits for the law enforcement industry which is waiting eagerly to be able to use UAVs for surveillance in urban high-crime areas.

Looking past law enforcement applications for UAVs, there are virtually unlimited potential uses for unmanned flight and new roles are being discovered every day. Some of these applications might include pipeline surveys, air pollution sampling, endangered species monitoring, aerial searches for mineral deposits or oil, water body temperature surveys, and the list goes on and on. The aviation industry needs UAVs because they will provide vast new opportunities for new companies, new jobs, and new technological development. It would be shortsighted to think that UAVs are a fad and will pass in time. Unmanned civilian flight is coming and it is the role of the aviation industry to maximize the potential of this diverse new technology.

This may very well be one of those crucial turning points in technological history where one can either resist new technology only to be left behind or embrace the advances and lead the pack into unexplored territory. Who knew that the internet would change the entire world? We may someday look back and wonder how we ever lived without the marvels of unmanned flight. My point is: unmanned flight will likely affect your life in some way, whether you are a pilot, mechanic, aviation manager, or just someone interested in aviation. I encourage you to look for ways to help make unmanned aviation a positive influence on the aviation industry and not resist the inevitable with unfounded negativity. This does not mean that you have to “like” the idea of unmanned flight, but I would encourage that criticism at least be constructive.

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On December 3rd, Embraer announced the certification of the Phenom 300 by ANAC (Brazil’s version of our FAA). That means only days before our FAA certifies the aircraft as well, since the two agencies work together closely in the process of new aircraft certifications.

Embraer’s website has published the performance numbers for the aircraft and not only are they are impressive, but also have exceeded expectations in all areas.

Here are the basics:

• Maximum cruise speed: 453 knots (521 mph)
• Maximum range with 6 occupants: 1,971 nautical miles (2,265 statute miles)
• Takeoff distance at maximum weight on a standard (59° F) day at sea level: 3,138 feet
• Landing distance at maximum landing weight sea level: 2,621 feet
• Service ceiling: 45,000 feet - and it gets there in 26 minutes!

Over the past three decades as new aircraft have come into the market, those of us in the business have looked at the numbers and compared them against the aircraft we know.

Every aircraft seems to have some compromise in performance.  One aircraft will have good speed and range but needs a longer runway. Another aircraft may be able to takeoff and land on shorter runways but will be slower in speed or have less range. Some aircraft have limited range when you fill every seat. You can’t have it all in one package….or can you?

It appears that Embraer has built a no-compromises aircraft that gives great speed and range with the ability to fly out of almost any public airport in the United States, including those challenging high-altitude airports in the Rocky Mountains, like Telluride, Colorado. In fact, you can take off in a Phenom 300 from Telluride airport at 9,078 feet elevation and go non-stop to any other city in the United States.   

Our business (CFM) has operated the Lear 35 series aircraft for over 15 years, and they are the workhorses of our fleet. Prior to that, the Lear 24/25 series aircraft was the workhorse. When they were produced throughout the 1970s and into the early 1990s, these aircraft were the no-compromise aircraft of their day.  For the most part, you could fill up the tanks with fuel and the cabin with passengers and go. They did like a little more runway than the Cessna Citation series aircraft, but the Lears were faster.

For years, we have wondered when someone was going to make an aircraft that would eventually take the Learjet’s place. I believe Embraer has done it with the Phenom 300. This aircraft provides true jet speed and operating altitudes, excellent range for transcontinental trips, great fuel economy and low maintenance costs of new-generation design all in one package.  The aircraft has a 35,000 hour life limit, which is close to an eternity in the corporate and charter use environment where aircraft average 400-500 hours per year. You can tell the Phenom 300 was built by a company that builds durable and reliable regional airliners.

So, congratulations (or felicitações) to Embraer for bringing another great aircraft  into the market at a time when a lot of manufacturers are wondering how to survive this economy. I have a feeling we will see Phenom 100s and Phenom 300s in a lot of charter fleets over the next few years.

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