DayJet’s Southeast Very Light Jet Service Expands
27-Feb-2008
By Karen Di Piazza
Today, members of Boca Raton, Fla.-based DayJet Corp., the parent company of air charter operator DayJet Services LLC, can fly to more areas in the Southeast. Macon, Ga., Montgomery, Ala., and two Florida areas--North Miami Beach and Opa-locka, are now part of the DayPort service network. Most DayPorts are located at fixed based operations at various airports in the region. Since launching service on Oct. 3, today DayJet flies its members to 45 locations in five states.
Ed Iacobucci, president and CEO of DayJet, said, "The rapid contraction of regional transportation options is causing many U.S. communities to become increasingly isolated. Businesses in smaller communities regularly miss economic development opportunities and suffer productivity losses because of this growing isolation."
With each new DayPort community, the annual economic impact is projected to produce in excess of $10 million from the arrival of DayJet's on-demand, per-seat service, says the company, and doing so within its first three years of operation.
Vicky Harris, spokesperson for DayJet Corp., says the company has doubled its member network. A member represents a company; within each member company numerous employees are flying with DayJet. "Currently, we have in the neighborhood of 1,400 individuals within companies who belong to our network," she said. "Areas of service are dictated by the travel demands of DayJet's members. We still haven't expanded to North Carolina and Tennessee, which defines the current region."
On Jan. 15, DayJet's fleet of twin-engine Eclipse 500 VLJs reached 28. Many people may be under the impression that all 28 DayJets are being used for its airline-type booking operation, however, that's not the case. In fact, Harris said DayJet never intended to use all 28 aircraft at once.
"Currently. we have 80 pilots who are employed on a full-time basis, with each aircraft flown by a two-pilot crew," she said. "We have two shifts a day, so the first two-pilot crew goes home and another two-pilot crew begins. Out of our 28 DayJets, we use eight to 10 planes to service our member network; 10 aircraft are used for pilot training and the remaining aircraft are used as needed for backup. DayJet is a very methodical company; we've planned carefully and executed our plan to take care of members' travel needs. So, our game plan was to obtain, hold at 28 aircraft for a couple of months."
In short, Harris said DayJet doesn't just put aircraft out there hoping for travel demand, rather DayJet provides travel as demand increases.
DayJet's Future
Harris believes the way DayJet has gone about its business plan, its business model is providing good utility for aircraft usage.
"By the end of the year, on the high end, we anticipate having a total of 100 aircraft, inclusive of the 28 already in our fleet," she said. "At the high end we could see 90 service destinations within seven states, but it's possible we'll remain servicing the existing five states. This depends on customer demand."
She said DayJet, though, is really excited about taking delivery of future Eclipse 500 jets that are equipped with Avio NG avionics, and as well, aircraft that are certified for flight into known icing.
"Having aircraft with upgraded avionics will enable DayJet to provide better service to its members," she said. "Also, now that Eclipse Aviation has two Level D full-motion simulators, it enhances pilot training capabilities. We're still in the process of hiring and training pilots." As of going to press, Harris didn't readily have a current count of pilots who are in training.
DayJet said as scheduled airlines have abandoned smaller cities, flying larger aircraft less frequently and on longer flights, business professionals living in the Southeast are hindered by a lack of regional travel options. As a result, almost 40 million of the Southeast's 52 million annual business trips are driven rather than flown. Harris said DayJet is out to fill that gap--one service area at a time.
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