Fallows on DayJet in 2008

In 2001, James Fallows published in hardback "Free Flight, From Airline Hell to a New Age of Travel." In 2002, he toned down the title of the paperback release to "Free Flight, Inventing the Future of Travel." I suspect the majority of the traveling public the past few weeks would think the original title was more appropriate. Regardless, I have posted before about James Fallows' book and Dr. Bruce Holmes and how what is happening today in the air taxi and on demand market with Cirrus and Eclipse aircraft was forecast by these gentlemen many years ago and discussed in Free Flight.

Fallows made a trip to DayJet earlier this year and took a flight with his fellow visionary, Bruce Holmes. He has written the most recent and detailed article to date in the mainstream press on DayJet which appeared in Atlantic Monthly's May edition. It's now available online. Entitled "Taxis in the Sky," the article traces DayJet's research, start-up, growth and development. It also includes Fallows' description of his recent flight with Holmes. The online article includes Fallows' photos of his trip.

There is a lot detail in the article and it's written by Fallows, so it's a good read. There are a couple of simple observations that Fallows makes. Here is my favorite excerpt about the simplicity and convenience of the air taxi service:

Fallows states: "[O]bjectively, this is a comfortable and convenient way to travel. You go to the airport, which, because it’s small, is less congested than ones you’re used to. You walk to the DayJet counter, which resembles a rental-car booth. There’s probably no line, because probably no one else is going at just this time. As you step up to the counter, a trapdoor-like device measures your actual weight while the attendant asks to weigh your bags. (On small airplanes this is important, for instance in determining where to place the bags.) A minute or two later, you walk out to the plane, and a minute or two after you’re seated, it taxis and takes off.

Decades ago, while working for Jimmy Carter, I was struck by one underpublicized detail about Air Force One: practically as soon as the president sat down, the plane started to move. It’s not quite as fast with these small jets, but eliminating the waste time of the airline experience—the hour or two you must be at the airport before the plane actually starts taxiing, the 10 to 15 minutes or more between taxi and takeoff—makes a big difference in overall travel speed. It’s the same at the other end. Two minutes after the wheels touched the tarmac on my DayJet flight to Lakeland, I was standing in the terminal.

The plane feels roomy rather than cramped inside, certainly compared with a jammed airliner. The cabin is quiet enough that you can talk in a normal voice—though by the end of my return trip, I noticed enough of a whine to want to bring a noise-canceling headset the next time I travel. (To be fair, I also wear these on airliners.) It was bumpy going through a layer of clouds on descent, but those clouds would have been bumpy in any airplane. And the view was great."

Compare his description and mine in an earlier post to your most recent trip to your airport or your most recent trip on the interstate. Five to ten minutes from the parking lot to takeoff. There is just no comparison.