Private jets: part of the problem?

While business travelers with enough extra money will welcome the new air taxi services being offered by two new private jet companies in America, others in the aviation industry are concerned that the launch of new jet services will only worsen the very problem they are being introduced to solve.
Linear Air and DayJet Corp. both launched private jet service this month between small airports in the United States, targeting business travelers who would rather pay a little extra rather than face crowded airports, long security lines and delayed flights.

Their plan is to operate from small, little used airports, offering expedited security, fast processing times and small lines. The companies both use “very light jets” produced by Eclipse Aviation Corp.

DayJet, a company based in Boca Raton, Fla., offers scheduled flights between five cities in the state. Linear, on the other hand, charters planes by the hour for flights to area airports in the vicinity of Boston, New York and Washington. The company hopes to expand its services to the West Coast later this year with services to San Fransisco and Los Angeles.

Experts in the aviation field are divided on exactly what the situation in the skies will look like in the future. With new services like DayJet and Linear opening and with the increase of airlines and flights many predict that thousands of jets will be flying in the next 20 years. A report from the Government Accountability Office released on August 24th says that congestion in the skies won’t be a problem. However, others are not so sure.

“Many experts believed that very light jets will travel to small airports that have excess runway capacity,” the GAO report said. But others said the planes will travel to larger airports “with significant airline traffic, which could … (cause) airline delays.”

While groups like the Air Transport Association are very clear that light jet traffic, like the services offered by Dayjet and Linear, will definitely worsen the problem of travel delays, one thing is for sure: those with enough money to pay won’t be the ones suffering.

www.linearair.com