YourJet Blog

D-Jet # 43

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:50:00 GMT

We are still here and "surviving", while waiting on D-Jet #43!

YourJet was founded three years ago and we are looking forward to a great future.

Holding pattern

Thu, 02 Apr 2009 03:16:00 GMT

Holding pattern? Well...you know that if you are a pilot, when you're in a holding pattern, you are still flying, but, waiting. Still moving forward with a mission, but waiting.

Here are a few things that have been going on with YourJet:

Making progress on our FAA, part 135 certificate.
Waiting on delivery of first VLJ (Spring 2010)
Ordered a Phenom 100 VLJ
Added a stellar COO - George Perry (check out his bio under the "team" tab)
Added an ex-NetJet executive as President - Steve Brechter
Retained the University of Louisville Entrepruenuerial MBA team to revise business plan and financial model
Met with ImagineAir and agreed to collaberate when the time is right

All of this in a bad economy! We know that the concept of air taxi is going to be huge and we continue to work towards that vision. I have a quote on my desk that I read everyday:

"The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary." Vince Lombardi

Best,

Suzanne

Yearning to increase earnings? YourJet satisfies!

Sat, 02 Feb 2008 00:00:00 GMT

YourJet Team and Supporters,

Mark Fava, the author of the blog post linked below, is YourJet attorney and advisor for all things FAA, of which most important, is the Part 135 Operating Certificate. Mark is one of the most prominent aviation attorneys in the country and has been hard at work with our local FAA FSDO (pronounced “fiz-doe”) to facilitate our 135 application and our cause.

Mark’s post includes an NPR story about Ed Iacobucci (pronounced, “ee-ack–oh-buchee”–you didn’t know air taxi speak would be so confounding, did you?), founder of DayJet in Florida. But most importantly, Mark describes EXACTLY our value proposition–YourJet saves time for the “yearning and productive” by getting them off the roads and into the air!

For trips more than 100 miles but less than 600 miles or those requiring multiple meetings in multiple cities in one day, YourJet air taxi offers safe, fast and hassle-free air travel that is the affordable answer to the quagmire hub and spoke nightmare that defines commercial airline travel today.

Read his post and see why business people already do fly air taxi–even a single engine propeller-driven four seat fixed landing gear Cirrus SR-22! Steve Hanvey, founder of SATSAir, Paul Fischer, founder of ImagineAir and Bill Herp, founder of LinearAir, have all proved it with several years of successful operations under their collective belts, all the while honing their business models, increasing revenue and growing their networks and customer base.

IT WORKS! That is why YourJet will start flying this summer with twin-engine, Mercedes-inspired turbo-diesel, propeller airplanes–the Diamond DA-42 Twin Star. Then, as the Diamond D-Jet begins production and delivery, we will add it to our fleet that is expected to number 33 aircraft by 2012.

Diamond Aircraft is the only general aviation manufacturer with a world-wide manufacturing presence–Europe–Asia–America–demonstrating their long term commitment to the market. But, most importantly, Diamond airplanes have the best safety record in general aviation. In short, Diamond Aircraft are durable, easy to fly, and safe. The company is visionary and its designs and materials are as practical and economical as they are groundbreaking and inspired. And they are some of the best-selling aircraft in the world.

YourJet is leading our emerging industry with its innovative model, perfect geographic location and strategic and informed choice of the Diamond Twin Star and D-Jet which are the most technologically advanced and economical general aviation aircraft available.

My thanks to Mark Fava for this enlightening post:

http://www.airtaxilaw.com/2008/01/npr-and-my-first-air-taxi-experience.html

Thanks and let’s keep pushing…
Todd

Briefly, me…

Fri, 11 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

By request, the following is posted for your information:

Todd House, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of YourJet, LLC, is a partner in Dupont Anesthesia, PSC, and manages an anesthesia consulting company that provides services to underserved rural areas in six states.

Todd took his first flying lesson at age 13 at the Homestead Airport in Homestead, Florida unbeknownst to his mom. He holds single and multi-engine pilot certificates with instrument rating and owns a Beech Baron, which he uses for leisure, business, and Angel Flight Charity Airlift.

During his 13 years of military service (a family tradition dating back to the US Civil War) in the U.S. Navy and U.S Air Force, he earned his designation as a Naval Flight Surgeon and Air Force Flight Surgeon. His flying experience includes Bell Jet Ranger and CH-46 helicopters, the F-18D “Hornet” all weather night attack fighter, KC-10, and C-130.

Lieutenant Colonel House served with the Marines at the Marine Corps Air Station in Beaufort, SC as squadron flight surgeon for VMFA (AW)-224 “Bengals” during which time they were deployed for Operation Deny Flight at the Aviano Air Base in Aviano, Italy. He also was assigned to the VMFA-122 Thunderbolts onboard the USS America aircraft carrier during COMTUEX.

After his active duty tour, he served with several US Navy Reserve Units before “cross-decking” to the US Air Force, Kentucky Air National Guard, to serve as Chief of Aerospace Medicine. In late 2003, Todd left active reserve duty but continues on in service attached to the Individual Ready Reserve where he still holds the Rank of Lieutenant Colonel and steadfastly refuses to resign his commission, valuing service to his country above most all else.

Dr. House graduated from St. Xavier High School in Louisville (another family tradition) and earned a bachelor of arts in Biology and a Doctorate in Medicine from the University of Louisville. He completed his residency in anesthesiology at the University of Colorado in Denver and is a diplomate of the American Board of Anesthesiology.

As an anesthesiologist Dr. House “passes gas” mostly to children and parents most of whom can’t say “anesthesiologist” let alone spell it, ergo, the “gas passer” moniker that engenders both laughter and dread of the (anesthesia) “gas.” Five days a week at Dupont Surgery Center in Louisville, KY, the “real” Dr. House does his best to emulate all of the good things about the ersatz Dr. House on TV.

And, since August 2006, at the urging of friend, Bob Webb, Todd keeps pushing relentlessly to launch YourJet Air Taxi.

Todd is 48 years old, married and father to five children and two dogs. He is slightly larger than he used to be which chagrins him, but apparently not enough to stop blogging and start swimming–again–despite the well-intentioned urging of his absolutely wonderful wife of four years, Suzanne who is a completely fit personal trainer, mother to five, COO of the household, marketing expert and wildly loved friend to many.

“Essential Air Service”–YourJet

Wed, 09 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

YourJet Team,

For this entry I thought that I would link an article that I recently read in USA Today on 12/30/2007. On the surface the issue it raises, in this case federal government subsidies to incentivize airlines to continue to provide service to rural communities, has been around since airline deregulation in the late 1970’s.

The subsidy program enacted by congress is administered by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) as the Essential Air Service program. But, as Andrew Steinberg, the DOT’s assistant secretary of aviation and international affairs, stated in the article, the subsidies were supposed to be temporary until “sustainable solutions” were realized.

Incredibly, 30 years later the program not only still exists but is expanding as the legacy airlines retreat to lucrative coast to coast and international routes and, in so doing, sever the critical air connectivity link on which rural communities depend for economic viability. And, capacity, fuel and carbon are squandered at an ever-increasing cost to American taxpayers.

The good news is that YourJet per-seat and on-demand air taxi is the private enterprise solution that can solve the problem and eliminate the need for these horribly expensive and grossly wasteful subsidies.

You can read the USA Today article can be found by clicking this link:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-12-30-cheap-flights_N.htm

My response, a letter to the USA Today editor, follows.

Editor USA Today:

As the founder of a on-demand air taxi startup in Louisville, Kentucky, I was interested to read Thomas Frank’s article, “Subsidies keep small-airport flights in the air”, USA Today 12/30/2007, regarding the increasing cost and futility of the DOT’s Essential Air Service Program which neither adequately serves rural communities or matches supply to demand.

Air taxi service is an emerging new paradigm in regional air travel that will serve smaller communities currently lacking reliable or regularly scheduled air service. This business will efficiently serve the air travel needs of rural America using 3-4 passenger Very Light Jets (VLJs). Since it is pay-by-the-seat, it costs 23% what private charter does. And, like car taxis, small efficient jets operate only when and where a passenger wants.

This is possible for the first time because of the convergence of three key technologies: VLJ’s, advanced cockpits with GPS-guided navigation and sophisticated computer optimization and logistics solutions. These, coupled with the current state of commercial air travel in the US, make safe, affordable and easy to use per-seat and on-demand jet air taxi a viable business model.

The DOT can return the subsidies to the taxpayers since private enterprise, such as mine, can now provide “sustainable solutions” to market demand as Andrew Steinberg cogently asserts it should. But, most importantly, smaller communities can join the regional, indeed, global economy, while lifting their hopes of revitalization and prosperity.

Best regards,

Todd House
Chief Executive Officer
YourJet, LLC
Chime in with your opinion; I’ll look forward to it.

Let’s keep pushing…

Todd House

Christmas “time”

Tue, 11 Dec 2007 00:00:00 GMT

YourJet Team,

It is hard to believe that Christmas is upon us once again. Like those of you who grace the decade of the 40’s as I do, I cannot reconcile the ever increasing passing of time. When I was a kid, Christmas was a reluctant visitor, taking forever to arrive. Now it seems we have it every other month! Someday, I want to discover why the perspective of time changes with age. Until then, I will poll anyone interested for their philosophy on why life speeds up the longer we participate in it. Feel free to comment below. I’ll be interested to hear your take on it.

Speaking of time…YourJet will save it. People who study such things have written that, in our culture, time is an ever vanishing but dear commodity. There is never enough of it in our days of activity that far outlast the hours. What then to do save abandoning our frenetic pace for the forests and mountains and a secluded cabin and solitary existence?

Well, there are answers not so extreme as a wilderness sojourn. For instance: stop flying the airlines for regional trips less than 600 miles. The Department of Transportation and NASA have studied it and say that for such a trip involving hub and spoke regional airline travel, you will spend more time on the ground going through the process than you will flying. So, you might as well drive and save the rental car expense and the cost of that last minute business class airline ticket.

But, wait, a YourJet air taxi will soon be going your way since it doesn’t go unless it is your way. That is what “on-demand” means–whenever and wherever you want. And, the price is always the same whether you book 4 weeks or 4 hours in advance–by the seat and by the mile. Our pricing is incredibly transparent–dollars per mile and mileage is published aviation distance (read, as the crow flies–straight) between smaller community airports likely closer to both your departure point and destination anyway.

Plus, if you want, we will make it all seamless. Just let us know in your preferences whether you want us to arrange, taxi’s, limo’s, rental cars, whatever, and with one internet stop your entire trip will be as easy as it should be. After all, you have work to do.

We want to return your time to you since you are the rightful owner of it anyway. Not a very profound concept but somehow lost in what has become airline travel. You may not have as much time as you would like, but control over how you spend this most precious of all gifts makes a remarkable difference in our harried lives….

Let’s keep pushing,
Todd House

Pushing Forward

Sun, 02 Dec 2007 00:00:00 GMT

YourJet Team,

This is now the fourth installment of the CEO’s blog. Though I have intended to “blog” every week at least once, I have been remiss.

In spite of that, I welcome your attention. And, I want to update you on some very pivotal events that have taken place in the last two weeks.

First and foremost, YourJet has signed an agreement with Jeff Owen at Premier Aircraft Sales for 5 DA-42 Twin Star aircraft. This is a four seat twin turbo-diesel engine all composite airplane with state of the art Garmin G-1000 glass cockpit. It is an extremely easy and safe aircraft to fly and for the passengers, quiet and smooth. It will prove to be a very able and economical aircraft on which we can perfect our model and grow our business.

We take delivery of our first Twin Star in April 2008 and hope to be flying all five by the end of the summer.

Jeff and Premier Aircraft have been team players with us in this endeavor and have enabled YourJet to not only maintain but add to its hard won momentum. We look forward to a bright future in partnership with Premier as we bring the reality of affordable and easy to use air taxi to more and more people and communities.

Strenuous effort continues on the fundraising front as the word about YourJet gets out and its economics, affordability and ease of use benefits reach more and more potential investors’ ears.

Let’s keep pushing…

Todd

Business First

Fri, 09 Nov 2007 00:00:00 GMT

by Kollan House

YourJet was featured in a two page article this week in Business First.

You can check out part of the story here:

Business First

YourJet means connection

Thu, 08 Nov 2007 00:00:00 GMT

by Todd House

The Kentucky gubernatorial election is over. Our esteemed Governor, Ernie Fletcher, was defeated by Steve Beshear by a significant margin. While we have a special affection for Governor Fletcher since he is an engineer, doctor and pilot and has been visionary and proactive for aviation in Kentucky, we heartily welcome Governor-elect Beshear and look forward to helping him continue the very positive accomplishments of the incumbent administration.

To be sure, aviation benefits all Kentuckians. As long as access to a local,well-maintained airport exists, the community it serves and its people and businesses will enjoy an air transportation link to the regional and, indeed, global economies. This key air infrastructure connectivity is necessary to keep the the local economic engine fueled up and humming along. Of course, other infrastructure is necessary like access to reliable power, water, broadband internet and telecom connections to enable entrepreneurship and economic growth. But most of these have been present a long time in most communities; yet, they remain isolated and economically depressed.

The enabling technology–regular, reliable and safe air service–has been absent. In fact, according to the US Department of Transportation, only 14% of communities with airports in the U.S. enjoy scheduled commercial air service; and, those that do face a very real threat of having it withdrawn and the cash-strapped legacy airlines contract and focus on more lucrative coast to coast and international markets. Nearly 20% of existing commercial service is being terminated per year. Hope for retaining or gaining essential air transportation connectivity is bleak for most communities. But with the advent of YourJet air taxi early next summer, more and more communities will be served and connected.

YourJet air taxi service is dedicated to partnering with other laudable efforts to reignite economic growth throughout Kentucky and surrounding states. Through collaborative effort, smaller communities that have been relatively isolated can soon hope to join the economic mainstream as services such as YourJet air taxi offer a physical link to people, places and markets.

We are working with federal, state and local officials and businesses to bring YourJet service to an airport near you at a price point that invites many more people than ever before to experience safe, accessible and easy to use air service. We invite you to read the YourJet Vision Statement on these pages. This is who we are and what we hope to accomplish. We mean it; and, we can’t wait for the chance to show you.

Let’s keep pushing….

Todd

YourJet Team

Wed, 07 Nov 2007 00:00:00 GMT

by Todd House

I want to personally thank all of you for your continued interest and support. Each, in your own way, help us advance the cause of easy, safe and affordable regional air travel on YourJet. Much is going on further nudging the big stone flywheel and building its momentum inexorably towards our new goal of launch on 1 June 2008. In the last two weeks, we have modified our business plan and model to allow us to launch YourJet on 1 June 2008 a full year and a half earlier than a November 2009 launch with D-Jets would allow. After much research, thought, consultation with friends, competitors and neutral parties, and discussions with our legal and business partners, we have reconsidered an earlier decision to wait for the D-Jet and begin flying with Diamond DA-42 Twin Stars. Early this year we considered starting the service with DA-42—twin-engine turbo diesel propeller airplanes seating four passengers and cruising at 188 miles per hour. We thought we should wait for the D-Jet to forego the logistics of having two airframes to deal with but there has been a growing chorus of voices around us urging that we adopt the method others are using to launch their services utilizing currently available airplanes.

The reasons include:

1. Our venture capital consultants have noted the absence of revenue-generation in our model for two years waiting on the D-Jet to get FAA certification, icing certification, and into consistent production at rates that can supply adequate numbers. Two years burning capital without capital isn’t an option for us.
2. Several other companies are already flying using propeller airplanes and, in so doing, have established and expanded their network and customer base, continuously test and refine their business models and, frankly, have proven that air taxi works and that there is indeed a market.
3. SATSAir, in Greenville, S.C. is noteworthy for being the first air taxi to fly beginning about three and a half years ago and growing to include 30 airplanes and covering much of the Southeast. They even beat DayJet to market when they expanded into Florida last January. (DayJet, who did wait for their Eclipse 500’s, only began flying passengers about three weeks ago.) Steve Hanvey is the CEO at SATSAir; he started the service with his own Cirrus SR-22 and now flies about 30. Cirrus Aircraft Corporation, the makers of the extremely successful SR-22 bought SATSAir in November 2005.
4. Linear Air, in Boston at Hansom Field, has been flying for about two and a half years with a hybrid taxi/charter model operates three Cessna Caravans with four times a week service to Martha’s Vineyard and Cape Cod. Though they too improve their model all the time, they have yet to break even. The Caravan is a great airplane and certified for flight into known ice; but, it is big (8-10 pax) and heavy and slow. And costs a lot more to operate than an SR-22 or a DA-42. Linear anticipates that their first Eclipse 500 will be delivered this year but then it will be winter and there is the problem of ice. The Eclipse 500 was supposed to be delivered fully capable with all of its sub-certifications (like “known ice”, autothrottles, night IFR and so on) but production and certification difficulties have significantly crippled this amazing airplane. Oh, yes, they will be worked out with time but “when” can fail a company operating during short, cold, wet winter days in the Northeast.
5. ImagineAir, in Atlanta at the Lawrenceville Airport, was founded by Paul Fischer, a family practice physician who “outed” Joe Camel during the “big tobacco” lawsuits of the last decade. He turned that into money and likes airplanes and air taxi so he founded ImagineAir. Dr. Fischer tapped some of the young ambitious graduates of Georgia Tech to take the leadership of the company while he finances, mentors and, well, finances some more. ImagineAir started flying in April 2007 and has been growing and expanding for six months now using Cirrus SR-22’s (like Steve Hanvey at SATSAir). They have secured 30 million in venture financing recently and hungrily await THEIR Eclipse 500’s. What is interesting about their model beside the fact that it, too, was founded by a physician (who is not a pilot, though), is that they use a per-mile charge method to price their service. But when you read between the lines, they are charging for the entire airplane just like traditional charter.

Now for the outliers: Point2Point and DayJet.

1. John Boehle’s company, Point2Point, was founded last year in Fargo, North Dakota with lots of government help—local, state and federal. Since John was intimately involved in a benchmark air taxi proof-of-concept study sponsored by NASA, the FAA, DOT, State of North Dakota and City of Fargo, he was an obvious first-mover. And since he had just finished his graduate aviation business degree at the University of North Dakota (yes, they have a prestigious aviation school in Fargo), he should have had the inside track.
I think he did and his model was good. What wasn’t so good was his fateful choice of the Cirrus SR-22 (just like SATSAir and ImagineAir). The SR-22 is a great single engine piston four-seat airplane that is reasonably fast, exceedingly safe and easy to fly. But, it is NOT certified for Flight Into Known Icing (FIKI); and, according to my sources, it never will be due to the design of the wing. John knew this so he began flying with SR-22’s and ordered the new Diamond DA-42 just beginning to be delivered last winter. (The DA-42 is YourJet’s favorite choice of airplane for air taxi while waiting for our D-Jets. For all of the reasons we love Diamond, which I will cover in a future note, we love the DA-42 and the D-Jet. I flew the DA42, in London, Ontario last February—it is a dream machine of advanced design, technology and usability. It is a great choice for a air taxi service plying the colder climes of the northern hemisphere, i.e. anywhere in the East north of the panhandle of Florida!) But it is not yet FIKI certified, though it nearly was last December. It would have been were it not for the inexperience of a Circuit City Citation jet’s flight crew who inadvertently activated and then deactivated the anti-ice system on the jet during a cold, wet approach into Pueblo, Colorado almost one year ago. Since the jet was approaching the airport at low altitude in icing conditions and the anti-ice system was off, ice accumulated on the wings, the shape of the airfoil was distorted to the point that it no longer resembled an airfoil, the airplane lost lift, ceased to fly and crashed short of the runway, killing all on board. Ironically, a company Citation following on approach landed without difficulty, not knowing that their Circuit City brethren had crashed. Next, the FAA got nervous; and when the FAA gets nervous, life for everyone gets difficult as it did for John Boehle. In the wake of the Circuit City crash, the FAA suspended further FIKI certifications until they examined the process to be certain that that process itself did not contribute to the crash. That was last December right about the time Point2Point took delivery of its first DA-42—now without its FIKI certification. John and Point2Point now had two airplane types that would be destined to sit on the ground much of the icy cold upper Midwest winter. This proved to be too much for the business bottom line and John threw in the towel about 5 months ago when he ran out of money. So, what is the lesson? It is: he who lives in a cold wet winter, needs airplane that can fly in ice—legally. That means, grasshopper, that the airplanes MUST be FIKI capable and certified for us to take off in known icing conditions. That is why we can’t fly the SR-22 ever or the Eclipse until it gains FIKI certification. Though the DA-42 is not yet FIKI certified, it has completed all of the tests and FAA certification is expected imminently. It is certified for flight into known ice in Europe and Canada. US certification will follow very soon. Since we don’t begin flying until next summer, this will allow for even more time for Diamond to secure the FAA FIKI certification for the Twin Star.
2. As for DayJet it is difficult to know where to start. Ed Iacobucci (pronounced “yako bue chee”) founded DayJet soon after Vern Raburn founded Eclipse Aviation to invent VLJ’s. Both guys are visionary and we applaud the Eclipse 500 and the boldness of Ed’s DayJet model. Ed has been working at great expense on DayJet for at least five years. He was retired before then, having sold Citrix which he founded some years before. He decided that he wanted to do something else productive and he knew Vern Raburn. They scratched each other’s backs, as it were, with Ed proclaiming VLJ air taxi the new paradigm in regional air travel which had the intended effect of endorsing Vern’s radical VLJ concept. Further, Ed ordered not one or ten but 240 Eclipse 500 while they were yet a sparkle on the CAD screen! Vern, with his new-found concept-legitimizing order agreed to prioritize deliveries to Ed so that he would have first-mover advantage as copycats were sure to spring up.
All of this has worked very well for these companies to secure investor confidence and financing. But the snags started with actual FAA certification of the jet, which was delayed several times. This is not at all unusual in the airplane-making business; and, in fact, Boeing just announced last week that, after all, FAA certification of their 787 Dreamliner would be delayed at least 6 months. Boeing has a history of bringing new airplane concepts into production—they know how to overcome the inevitable problems and delays bringing a new airplane into certification and to market. And so they will with the composite Dreamliner Eclipse has no experience; but I have no doubt that they will overcome the challenges before them and finally get the wrinkles with the Eclipse 500 worked out. In other words, they will learn how to do it, just as Boeing did eons ago. Eclipses’ next airplane design will fly effortlessly to market, I predict. This has all caused Ed Iacobucci to delay repeatedly DayJet’s start up by well over a year. Time costs lots of money in the aerospace business and even Ed is not immune. Even now, though DayJet is taking delivery of Eclipse 500’s, the airplane is not fully certified for use to its full capability and therefore Ed’s air taxi service is hamstrung. But, Ed is growing restive. In a recent statement, he shocked industry-watchers saying that DayJet has begun to look at other VLJ manufacturers. Even if the Eclipse were already fully certified, Ed and Vern have by now realized what we and others, who have performed exhaustive due diligence, know—a twin engine jet is great for an entry-level corporate business jet; but a single engine jet is an absolute requirement for air taxi economic feasibility. How do we know? Why, Vern showed up at Oshkosh in his new jet digs—a single engine jet dubbed the Eclipse Concept Jet. Guess it is still a concept to him even though Piper, Cirrus, Diamond, Epic and a host of others consider it a reality.

So, why then, did we decide against the Eclipse 500—since the production problems only recently came to light? The answer is simple: A twin engine jet, even a VLJ, is not the optimal platform for a per-seat, and on-demand air taxi service. It costs more to acquire and operate than a single and with autoland just around the corner for all airplanes, an available ballistic recovery system (BRS)—read “parachute” attached to the airframe and the incredible reliability of modern turbofan engines, a single engine jet is safe, no ifs ands or buts. And it allows us to operate our service at a price point that has the broadest market appeal making refreshingly easy and dignified air taxi transportation affordable to many, many more people than ever before. We will be good stewards of the environment, too since we will burn less, fuel, emit much less carbon dioxide and make less noise. All while getting people safely, affordably and effortlessly to their destinations. Next time, I will wax on about the events of the last month and some of the people who have tirelessly given life to YourJet.

Let’s keep pushing…
Todd House