Possibilities for new microjets grab entrepreneurs’ imagination

Thursday, Oct. 14, 2004 | 11:24 a.m.

In a few years, Las Vegas tourists will be able to summon an air taxi company to a commuter airport near their homes, fly to either the Henderson or North Las Vegas airport and get a lift to their resorts for about what it costs to fly commercially.

No lines at the airport. No hassles with the Transportation Security Administration. And you can leave whenever you want to go.

That's the vision of a group of entrepreneurs attending this week's National Business Aircraft Association annual meeting and convention at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

More than 30,000 people are attending the three-day event that concludes today. Organizers say attendance is only about 500 people shy of a record turnout. And the buzz for many of those in attendance is on the emergence of a new category of flying that goes by several different names -- microjet, very light jet or VLJs.

About a half-dozen companies plan to enter the microjet market and three of them had prominent displays at this year's NBAA show. Three executives from those companies also were among 10 aviation experts who participated in a panel discussion on the aircraft on Wednesday.

Other panelists included federal government aviation administrators and regulators and insurance underwriters and Donald Burr, president and chief executive of Stratford, Conn.-based Pogo, whose company plans to launch air taxi service as soon as next year.

Burr, the founder of People Express Airlines in the 1980s, is teaming with Robert Crandall, the former chief executive of American Airlines' parent company AMR Corp., to develop Pogo.

Microjets, essentially, are corporate jets that seat between four and six people. Their big advantage is that they cost about half of what an entry-level business jet costs today, about $2 million vs. $4 million.

Most models are undergoing test flights now and will be ready for Federal Aviation Administration certification next year. While test flights and certification efforts are under way, government officials are drafting regulations and establishing rules for operation.

Some experts say there will be 15,000 microjets flying nationwide by 2015.

Among the entrants in the microjet market is the Cessna Aircraft Co., Wichita, Kan.; Eclipse Aviation, Albuquerque; and Adam Aircraft, Englewood, Colo., Pogo's supplier.

The development of the microjet was the result of the convergence of technologies, said John Hamilton, vice president of marketing for Adam Aircraft.

"Over the last 15 years, technology improved dramatically for engines, airframe and avionics," Hamilton said.

The A-700 AdamJet is made of high-strength carbon fiber material, the same substance that today's high-performance Formula 1 racecars are made of.

"Their fuel efficiency, speed and low cost make these jets attractive to business executives," Hamilton said.

Jack Harrington, vice president of business affairs for Eclipse Aviation, said the new jet type has inspired a number of new transportation ideas.

"People are learning how to use the airplane in ways we never even thought of," Harrington said.

One of those ways: the air taxi concept.

While Eclipse and Cessna began development of their microjets years ago, the Sept. 11 tragedy produced new attitudes toward the aircraft.

Entrepreneurs marketed the advantage of avoiding security hassles at big airports in addition to selling the time savings executives get by flying point to point on demand. But some believe the government has to look more closely at additional security risks that will occur when microjets begin flying.

Those differences in opinion sparked some heated exchanges at Wednesday's panel discussion.

Vern Raburn, president and chief executive officer of Eclipse, and Burr made it clear they hope certification efforts don't get bogged down by overzealous regulators who fear microjets would be used as terrorist weapons. Raburn said it would be physically impossible for microjets to be loaded with enough explosive material to cause major damage to a building. He said he doesn't want memories of large commercial jets being crashed into the World Trade Center towers to influence how microjets are treated in the regulatory process.

Added Burr, "We ought to have our heads examined if we allow ourselves to be saddled with that" additional regulatory scrutiny.

Other issues remain before microjets fly. Panelists discussed whether the jets should be classified as an aircraft that needs more than one pilot aboard on flights and how they should be classified for insurance purposes. Others discussed noise issues associated with operations at small community airports and whether the microjet boom would result in a demand for a greater number of pilots.

But Rick Adam, chief executive of Adam Aircraft, showed his enthusiasm when he discussed his biggest concern.

"I think our biggest challenge," Adam said, "will be to build enough airplanes."