The Beauty of Air Taxis

"It is, by far, the easiest solution to traveling there and back in the same day."
Mike McMenamin, CEO Access Insurance Co.

With all the focus on the beautiful Masters Golf Tournament this weekend in Augusta, the Augusta Chronicle's Business section features an article today by LaTina Emerson entitled "Air Tax Services Growing." The article highlights ImagineAir, and also discusses SATSair and DayJet. The article describes how Mike McMenamin, the above quoted CEO of an Atlanta insurance company, has been using air taxi services for the past three years. This week, he flew on ImagineAir for a quick day trip to see the players, the greens, and the beautiful azaleas at the Masters. "He flew in Thursday morning and returned home later that day by 5pm, in time for dinner and to prepare for work Friday." The article also mentions the following:

• ImagineAir is considering locating a base in Augusta.


• ImagineAir has flown more than 500 flights since it opened a year ago.


• ImagineAir has 5 Cirrus SR-22s and plans to add another 5 to 10 Cirrus and several Eclipses this year.


• SATSair also ferried passengers to the Masters with 25 bookings (including PGA players like Charlie Warren) and is flying about 1800 passengers a month.


• SATSAir has 26 Cirrus SR-22s.


• In March, SATSair had a record 2,000 passengers (an amazing number!).

In 1994, I once took a "break" from law school to attend a practice round, but, of course, I drove there. The course is indeed unbelievably beautiful. This is a splendid time of the year in Georgia and the Carolinas with the spring flowers in full bloom before we get hit with the suffocating heat and humidity of the summer. I have had the opportunity the past few weeks to share with my young daughters the beautiful - albeit short lived - sight and smell of Wisteria draping a bunch of tall Southern pines near our home.

The article demonstrates that the air taxi model is not only for business efficiency, but also for pleasure travel and adds a whole new dimension to time savings and convenience. I agree with Mr. McMenamin's quote above and would even take it a step further: Air taxis are by far the easiest way to travel anywhere right now. For those using them, they are indeed a beautiful thing.