The Small Aircraft Tranportation System (SATS) government/private sector five year project came to an end with SATS 2005, a demonstration/exhibit/conference event at the Danville Regional Airport in Danville, VA from June 5th to June 7th. The success of the project, led by NASA's Dr. Bruce Holmes, was evident in the technologies displayed, which were developed by company members of six regional SATSlabs organized by NCAM (National Consortium for Aviation Mobility). The highlight demo was the High Volume Operation landing of several small aircraft in about the same time it would take to land one under current procedures. Aircraft on exhibit were from Adam Aircraft (A500), Cessna (CJ1), Cirrus Design (several SR22s), Diamond Aircraft, and The Lancair Company.

In addition to the new aircraft and cockpit navigational devices on exhibit, there were impressive business software displays, such as RTI International's MCATS (Monte Carlo Air Taxi Simulator) for analyzing feasibility of an air taxi service, refining an existing operation, or creating an air taxi network. Another is Virginia Tech's Transportation Systems Analysis Model (TSAM) to predict future numbers of small aircraft travelers in the U.S. It uses county level socio-economic data to forecast numbers of intercity trips by car, airlines, and small planes.

With the five year project end is also its government funding. It will now be largely up to the private sector to continue the technological development, and work with the government (FAA, etc.) to bring more automated small aircraft traffic into the existing national air system. As noted in luncheon remarks by James Fallows, author of Free Flight, and National Correspondent of Atlantic Monthly magazine, this joint project was unusual in that it was not tied to the nation's defense.

An example of a private group already forming to pick up where the Southeast SATSlab leaves off is CASA (Consortium for Aviation System Advancement). It will interface with private companies, government, and others to pursue technology funding opportunities. Also, since it is Florida based, it will encourage air taxi and charter operators to use Florida as their test-bed and initial operating area.

At the high level, SATS 2005 is all about connections -- moving people and things, quickly and affordably, from and to places now bypassed by current air transportation providers. As the new air taxi services grow, you and your business will not need to be near major roads, cities, and transportation hubs to be connected. Your small town with nearby airport will be a center unto itself, connected to the thousands of other similar places.

Air taxi operator representatives spoke about their proposed future services, and, in the case of SATSair, their existing service. SATSair co-owner, Steve Hanvey, told of its operation in the Southeast with five Cirrus aircraft (single engine propellor) and plans to acquire 25 more in the next six months. He says the Cirrus BRS whole-plane parachute has had a big impact on favorable customers' decision to fly. Walt Lamon, CEO of Wyvern Consulting, in his presentation on air taxi/charter company safety audits, commented also on the parachute importance, as it will determine whether a ticket is bought, or not.

POGO's Mike Bower, VP of Planning, explained how their service will use the new very light jets (VLJ) for trips within 500 miles of New York City using 700 airports. Their target customers are the mass affluent, who work hard, play hard, are brand conscious, and place a high monetary value on time. Their model envisions high aircraft utilization, 2000-2500 miles per-year per-plane. Fare pricing will be per-mile per-plane with no repositioning fees.

Ed Iacobucci (say YAK-ah-boochee), DayJet CEO, spoke about its use of VLJs beginning in the Southeast. DayJet will be no-frills affordable transportation between secondary markets catering to business travelers, such as salespersons and maintenance technicians. Fares will be per-seat between full fare airline coach and the low-end charter alternative. At their booth exhibit, Vicky Harris, Director of Marketing, demonstrated the reservation software to me, and pointed out how flight price can vary depending on the length of the customer's departure time window. Have to leave within a half-hour window? Your price is higher than if you have a couple of hours, for instance. (Mr. Iacobucci is profiled in Newsweek magazine's June 13, 2005 issue as one of "10 Big Thinkers For Big Business".)

A POGO and DayJet commonality is that they both will fly with two pilots, even though the SATS project has a focus on single pilot navigation aids. Cited reasons are public safety perception and regulation matters.

In the something-you-don't-hear-much-about department, a surprise treat for attendees (at least, speaking for myself) was a presentation by Honda project leader, Michimasa Fujino, on the HondaJet. Slides of their VLJ features and first flight video from December 2003 lend a sense of high attention to the details. Touted aspects of their development style are lean engineering, direct-efficient communication (low wall cubicles), and minimum meetings.

Also on hand for a VLJ panel discussion was Seth Rolands (Adam Aircraft), Mark Palucci (Cessna Citation/Mustang), and Dan Taylor (Eclipse Aviation). A question was asked about their reaction to regional jet maker Embraer's planned entry into the VLJ marketplace. Their collective response was one of "welcome" -- it validates the concept. While all agree that VLJs will be a benefit to cities growth, there are some obstacles: insurance requirements, training (pilots not used to them), getting maintenance out into the field, financing, and thinking -- how people are going to react.

This leads to the issue surfacing several times at the event -- fear of flying in small aircraft. Phil Boyer, President of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA), was the most vocal in his luncheon remarks about the general public's negative feelings about small planes. He cited the difficulties pilots often have of convincing friends and relatives to fly in them. Later in the panel sessions with the POGO, DayJet, and VLJ reps, this was raised again, and their responses indicated awareness of matter, however, their research suggests there are enough people out there who will fly, driven by the time and/or monetary advantages of doing so. As Mark Palucci of Cessna aptly observed, changing the general public attitude toward small planes in any big way quickly is like trying to "boil the ocean". James Fallows added that greater acceptance will happen only "when people think small planes will be good for them".

Mr. Boyer also commented that there has been a decline in pilot population as well as number of public use airports.

Talk in this field often includes mention of the thousands of underutilized small airports in the U.S., which are to be used when air taxi activity expands. There was one airport with a booth exhibit at SATS 2005. Hats off to Mike Ancona of the Airport Authority Board of the Mt. Vernon Outland Airport in Mt. Vernon, Illinois, and his staff for demonstrating their support of the SATS vision with their display. And, accolades are in order for the Danville Regional Airport, host of the event, and September Moon Production Network, headed by Rosalind Cooperman, which promoted and produced the event.

Busloads of youth from the local area came to the show, and hope that interest had taken hold in these future travelers was bolstered by a brief exchange between one of them and Guy Kemmerly, Deputy Manager of the SATS Project. He was asked, "Do these small planes come in different colors?" Of course. They're hooked.

6/19/05

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