Take me to the pilot.
One of the arguments that is commonly levelled against the growth of mass market regional jet services is the problem of recruiting and managing large squads of pilots at the required level of experience. Twin jet aircraft are an order of magnitude more difficult to fly than prop planes, and the number of qualified pilots who are willing to forsake the lure of more upmarket airline jobs is understandably small. Iacobucci is typically bullish about the problem.

“Technology can help overcome the issues with both pilot retention and scheduling,” he says, “Traditionally pilots are expected to do shift work, three days on, three off. We’ll offer our pilots Monday to Friday morning and afternoon shifts, they’ll fly to local regional airports, and be back home every night. It will provide a whole new quality of life for them and their families.”

The company plans to start off with two pilot crews, and although Iacobucci claims that Dayjet has no immediate plans to change this configuration, it’s clear that these on-demand pioneers hope to offer single pilot services some day if they can work out how to make it safe and efficient.

“We’re doing a lot of research with United Airlines to see how we can move towards single pilot operations,” says Rayburn, “It will take time, but somewhere in the future you will probably see a single person in the cockpit of this type of service.”

Dayjet will also offer positions to more senior pilots in the 60 year age range, who may be looking for more regional work after a scheduled airline career, and the company also plans to open its own flight school university to grow its own pilots and culture. Predictable work hours and equity ownership appear to be two of the features which Dayjet hopes will lure the pilots they need, although there is one factor that Iacobucci says may make it harder for some pilots to join the Dayjet revolution.

“We’re going to be very picky in choosing our pilots, not just because we need the best pilots, but because we also need ones with great personalities. Our whole culture is about getting closer to the customer and we need pilots who can reflect that by being ambassadors for the service in every way. In return we’ll give them the kind of perks that reflect their importance to the operation.”

Ad Astra?
So will the fledgling airline manage to do what no-one before has achieved, and introduce mass market taxi-cab aviation to the world? Will Dayjet turn out to be the Hertz of aviation? There’s no doubt that the launch of the VLJ aircraft concept has radically changed the playing field in terms of what can and cannot be done with small jets in a regional market. Cheaper jets mean cheaper borrowings and overheads, means lower prices.

But of course lower prices mean nothing if you cannot manage demand, and this is where the Dayjet technology powered vision comes into its own. Competitive services on the horizon such as Pogo and Penguin Airlines appear to be treating the new breed of VLJ aircraft as no more than a replacement for older craft, while Iacobucci and Dayjet clearly see the new planes as mere packets in a sort of vast P2P transportation network, to be shuffled around as efficiently as possible. Iacobucci and his team are in effect trying to create a service which satisfies the long tail market for short run air travel; offering new destinations to people who have never considered on-demand air travel simply because it didn’t exist before. It’s clever stuff all right, at least on paper and in the computer simulations.

The real test of course comes with roll out in a real world. A world with volatile oil prices, governments and regulatory bodies. A world where a major crash can ruin a reputation in seconds, and in the case of Dayjet that could mean computer or aircraft. A world where competition is cut-throat and vicious predatory pricing a way of life. The challenges are formidable, and it will be fascinating to see whether a couple of geeks can really take on the world and win; with just some software, a few ant farmers and a vision.

Further reading.
A Jet for the Rest of Us.
Air Taxi at Your Service.
Ready Jet, Go.
The Sun Shines…
Entrepreneurs Set their Sights…
Eclipse Gears up to Train Pilots…
Flight of Fancy…

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