Highway In The Sky
Thursday, April 24, 2008
By MICHAEL WATERSON, Eagle
Editor
Transportation is
one of the key issues for the future not only in Napa County but for
the region, the state and the nation. Everyday more people fume
while stuck in traffic. It used to be that the skies were friendly
and offered a rapid alternative means of transportation. But now the
time spent waiting in long security lines in the terminal after
spending hours getting to and from the airport plus parking can add
up to four times as long as the flight itself.
And with all the recent commercial flight cancellations in the news,
getting to where you're going could take days instead of hours.
Owning your own jet would be an option Š if you were John Travolta.
Yes, he pilots his own.
Or
how about owning part of one?
That was one of the options offered at the Business Aircraft & Jet
Preview show at the Napa County Airport last week that was sponsored
by Porsche. The show is touring the nation after beginning in
Scottsdale, Arizona last month, and will continue in Boston,
Chicago, New York and other major cities in the months to come.
Jet-Alliance, Inc. of Southern California, along with a Bay Area
firm Pacific Coast Jet of Concord, presented the latest entry in the
aviation market, very light jet (VLJ) co-ownership. The Eclipse 500
made by Eclipse Aviation of Albuquerque, New Mexico, is the newest
fractional ownership product from those companies.
As
the term suggests, fractional ownership allows businesses or
individuals to share the cost of a plane by purchasing one-eighth,
one-quarter or some other portion of the aircraft.
"Private jet ownership is no longer the exclusive domain of big
business or families of extreme wealth," said Jet-Alliance Chairman
Randall Sanada in a company press release.
The sleek looking Eclipse carries up to five passengers plus the
pilot and weighs 25 percent less than a Chevy Suburban according to
the Jet-Alliance website. The literature puts the total price of the
plane at about $1.6 million.
While even partial ownership of a small jet aircraft is certainly
beyond the financial resources of the average commuter, businesses
may find it more affordable as the cost of commercial travel and
associated delays continues to rise.
Co-ownership not only distributes costs, it also makes for more
efficient use of the aircraft. A privately owned executive jet is
unused 96 percent of the time the Jet-Alliance website says. Sharing
a plane not only distributes cost of ownership but it boosts
utilization of the aircraft.
NASA SATS Program
The idea of everyone having a personal aircraft to use the way we
currently use automobiles is at least as old as "The Jetsons"
television show. Naturally the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration is in favor of it.
According to NASA's website, "The nation needs a small aircraft
transportation system to relieve the safety and congestion problems
on our highways and in the air. The highway systems, especially in
urban areas, are frequently plagued with delays and accidents. The
nation's 30 major airports are overwhelmed with increased air
traffic, leading to frequent delays and flight cancellations."
The NASA site goes on to tout small aircraft as the solution.
"With over 5000 small airports already in place across the country,
in almost every locality, a small aircraft transportation system
that is both a safe and affordable alternative to current
transportation systems could provide an effective solution."
If
private ownership is booming, it doesn't show in the statistics at
Napa Airport where, there are no plans for expansion according to
airport spokeswoman Doreen Stockdale.
"I
don't see that (expansion) happening, certainly not in the near
future," said Stockdale.
Stockdale said that Napa Airport traffic in 2007 was up less than
one percent over the previous year. And with the cost of fuel rising
on average more than 56 cents per gallon in the first quarter of
this year according to the Air Transportation Association, it
doesn't look like the Joneses will try to keep up with the Jetsons
anytime soon.
"It has hurt our business," said Bridgeford Flying Services CEO Mark
Willey about the skyrocketing cost of fuel. "Fueling is down."
Bridgeford has been a tenant at the Napa Airport for more than 60
years as a fixed base operator (FBO) offering a wide variety of
aviation services, one of which is self-service fuel, which they
sell, Willey said, at close to cost to attract more customers.
Overall though, Willey said, business is still good.
"We have seen an increase in our charter business," he said.
Bridgeford is anticipating serving more private owners. The company
offers storage and maintenance services and recently built new
hanger space for lease.
There are quite a few companies in the fractional ownership market.
As a Cessna representative, Bridgeford also sells that company's
entry in VLJ arena, the Mustang.
Willey said that VLJ co-ownership represents a new business model
and the potential impact on the industry is still unknown.
"The industry estimates between 2,000 and 6,000 units (VLJs sold)
over the next few years," Willey said. "So you see, nobody knows for
sure how successful they will be."
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