The Aspen Times (Colorado) wrote on June 22, 2007 that a conference titled "Flight School" attracted 80 pilots to the new Doerr-Hosier Center at the Aspen Meadows Resort to discuss all things aviation.  This validates the success of organizer Esther Dyson's ruse of using the flight school07 title to mask the real nature of the event.  Insiders know it's a mix of business people (yes, some are also pilots) getting together to learn about what each other is doing, making connections, and hoping to come away enriched in some way beneficial to their business and/or well-being.  No flight training.  

This commentary title's offbeat suggestion of an air taxi to Mars is actually the range of conference subject matter all the way from $500-$600 per hour SATSair air taxi flights to $25 million Soyuz trips to the International Space Station to "terraforming" Mars.  With such diversity it could be a challenge to find in-depth exploration of what any one individual might have been looking for in the short day-and-a-half.

One topic was consumer recreational flying, where you can buy a Light Sport Aircraft (LSA) for about $100,000 and fly around your area from Point A to Point A, just as you might use a water jet ski, or snowmobile.  Proponents claim a huge future market due to dramatic FAA rules changes in 2004 to enable this activity.  See ICON Aircraft and the Experimental Aircraft Association.

Then there were space travel firms (Virgin Galactic, XCOR Aerospace, Space Adventures), and other thrill providing vendors, like Incredible Adventures, which will arrange flights for you in MIG fighters in Russia, and Zero-G Corporation sending you on weightless flights in one of their two Boeing 727-200s (114 to 6/22/07).

Steven Brill, CEO of Verified Identity Pass, Inc. presented details of his Registered Traveler/Fly Clear program, the only private one operating at several US major airports.  The short of it is that, for a $99 annual subscription fee, you can be pre-approved, and pass through a separate faster security lane, and not have to take your shoes off.  Having good customer service was a recurring conference talking point and Mr. Brill's company policy of answering customer calls before the third ring by a live person is certainly representative of keen attention in this area, and no doubt a factor in their 94% subscription renewal rate.  

Rocket scientist Dr. Lowell Wood made the case for "terraforming" Mars -- how it can be made habitable, and that it's man's biological drive to make it happen anywhere possible in the universe.  Who's funding such projects? Unnamed super rich nearing life's end, who realize they can't take "it" with them.    

Now closer to earth and the on-demand air travel world -- air taxi and charter.  Two big startup announcements were made.  First was the Air Taxi Association (US and Europe) by President Joe Leader.  An impressive set of services is available to member service providers, airports, and for promotion of the air taxi model (no government lobbying).  The group opened with nine carrier members on board.

Set to make waves is the second startup, Virgin Charter.  Sir Richard Branson's virtual presence was in the room, as Scott Duffy, Virgin Charter's Founder and CEO, explained that his website will connect travel seekers with charter providers in an open and transparent manner.  Some describe it as an air charter eBay or PriceLine.   He says it more closely models LendingTree.  Carrier safety ratings will be posted by Wyvern Consulting LTD and ARGUS (Aviation Research Group/US).  Travelers can post comments and rate carriers.  It cuts the other way, too -- carriers can post about troublesome customers, so that others can avoid them.  (I often wonder about the validity of such posts.)  Virgin will not own or operate any aircraft.

Bruce Holmes, formerly head of NASA's Small Aircraft Transportation System program, and now Dayjet's Director of Aeronautics Research, stressed the importance of airport infrastructure, and Andrew Steinberg, Assistant Secretary for Aviation and International Affairs in the US Department of Transportation, illustrated how the current Air Traffic Control (ATC) system cannot scale up to handle the expected increase of planes in the sky.  To enable efficient air taxi operations, all airports should have precision minimums for each runway and ADS-B (Automatic Dependence Surveillance -Broadcast) ground stations.  With RNP (Required Navigational Procedures) and ADS-B equipment in the aircraft, also, less involvement will be needed with ATC.  Controllers could manage by exception only, and not every movement detail as now in the antiquated system.

Stephan Hanvey, President and CEO of SATSair added that airports don't understand the air taxi concept.  The challenge is for communities to understand how the local airport can be used to increase their area economy.

A common issue across the conference sessions was acquiring venture capital.  It's tough.  Ed Iacobucci, President and CEO of DayJet said that was the most difficult effort in the last year, while developing the business systems and gaining government approvals was the easiest.  As Brian Birk, Managing Partner of investment firm Sun Mountain Capital, noted, VCs (Venture Capitalists) are not innovators.  Typically, the business plans they see will not happen, and when there is a problem down the line, it's usually expensive, and a lot more money is needed.  They see risks in an unproven market and the management team, but don't understand the opportunity.  Here's what VCs would like to know about "air taxi".  What is the overall assessment of  consumer interest?  What are the details of operator pricing and costs?  How does everyday scheduling work?  His advice to anyone seeking capital is to de-risk wherever you can.  

A few final air taxi observations.  With no mass advertising, SATSair is still growing with their fleet of Cirrus propellor planes equipped with an airframe parachute.  No VLJ air taxis are in the air yet.  How might the above described Registered Traveler program be applicable to all the small airports factoring into the air taxi model?  Heard at the conference is that the current relative ease of boarding aircraft at the smaller airports touted by air taxi proponents may be living on borrowed time.  Want to be competitive?  As Michael Stuart, POGO's Executive VP of Operations, says -- "have an easy booking system".  And again from Mr. Hanvey, "The customer wants to go as soon as he can and at the right cost. This will drive what happens."

7/1/07

flight school07 dinner at Sardy Field near Aspen with Esther Dyson passing by, an Eclipse 500 getting a lookover, and Vern Raburn, President and CEO of  Eclipse Aviation seated (in white).

The new Doerr-Hosier Center at the Aspen Meadows Resort, Aspen, Colorado, where flight school07 was its
inaugural conference.

The resort's dining venue for conference attendees.
 

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