"Very Light Jets (VLJs) will do for the transportation industry what the PC has done for mainframe computing and cellular is doing to telephony - give customers more service, more flexibility, more control at less cost as well as generate new products and services," said Matt Andersson, senior aviation consultant, Aerospace, Defense and Transportation, CRA International, at the recent Senate Aviation Subcommittee's hearing on new entrants into the national airspace system.

VLJs, more importantly, will bring many aviation assets into fuller productivity, especially smaller airports and underused airspace, said Andersson, adding the boost to economic productivity alone will have a profound impact as millions of travel hours are saved every year and "reinvested" back into the economy. The impact for small communities, which General Aviation Manufacturers Association Chair Jack Pelton called neglected markets, will be enormous.

Andersson noted the epithets associated with VLJs, calling descriptions such as "mosquito fleet" or "Pterodactyl Airlines," unhelpful sound bites. "As for the notion of a 'mosquito fleet,' I prefer a smart team of peregrine falcons, of fast swallows or a VLJ family of 'worker bees,' pollinating their environment and experts at making honey," he said.

Despite the upsides to this newly emerging transportation industry, VLJ leaders spent the majority of their time on Capitol Hill debunking the myths, including whether the aircraft will siphon passengers away from commercial airlines. DayJet President Ed Iacobucci noted trips of 600 miles or less "remain frustrating and inefficient" for millions of travelers. He noted this segment of the national air transportation system has had diminishing service since 2000. At the same time, he said, scheduled flights at small regional airports dropped 17 percent.

"For decades," he said, "despite concerted efforts, a variety of subsidies and programs have failed to bring broad-based, sustainable, self-supporting commercial air service to secondary communities and rural areas. Even in the case where flights are available, multiple legs must be flown through a hub airport costing time and money. Regional trips often require a forced overnight stay due to flight scheduling. As a result, 136 million of the 192 business trips identified in the 2003 BTS Business Travelers Survey were spent driving endless hours to regional meetings 100 to 750 miles away."

Iacobucci said that marketing studies, focus groups and agent-based demand generation technology show that most passengers for the per-seat, on-demand service, will come off the highway.

It is the impact of VLJs on the air traffic system that worries most commercial operators who charge they will "blacken the skies." However, Michael Cirillo, FAA's vice president for system operations services, said their impact should actually be minimal, given their design for lower altitudes and small, satellite airports, despite FAA's prediction that 5,000 VLJs will enter service by 2017. That prediction, according to FAA Associate Administrator for Safety Nicholas Sabatini, has prompted the creation of a cross-organization group to address safety and capacity issues. The group consists of the air traffic organization (ATO), fight standards service, aircraft evaluation group and the aircraft certification office, with separate committees focusing on pilot training and checking, flight operations, maintenance, and inspector and controller training.

To assuage fears that VLJs will increase congestion, Eclipse Aviation President Vern Rayburn pointed to the Journal of Air Traffic Control. "The VLJ business model is based on providing personal, point-to-point services through non-congested airports...precisely to avoid the hassles associated with large hubs," it said. The report also noted that VLJs are designed to operate from runways as short as 3,000 feet and would not even cause congestion if they were to go into a large hub.

"VLJ aircraft will have advanced integrated avionics to provide enhanced pilot situational awareness, enable seamless traffic flow integration and optimal spacing with commercial traffic flows," said the report, calling concerns about speed compatibility a red herring. "VLJs are capable of operating at speeds compatible to those of commercial jet aircraft, throughout the terminal area and until well inside the final approach fix; VLJ climb and descent rates are compatible with commercial turbojet aircraft; VLJ aircraft can land and depart safely using shorter runways, unusable by commercial jet traffic. On intersecting runways, VLJ aircraft are capable of routine (LAHSO) Land and Hold Short Operations."

Sabatini indicated ATO is already expanding capacity and efficiency with new procedures known as Domestic Reduced Vertical Separation Minima (DRVSM), which increased capacity in the en route airspace by doubling the number of usable altitudes between 29,000 and 41,000 feet. He said controllers can reduce minimum vertical separation at those altitudes from 2,000 to 1,000 feet. Another tool, the User Request Evaluation Tool (URET), allows controllers to predict potential aircraft-to-aircraft and aircraft-to-airspace earlier, affording more time to construct alternate flight paths.

Sabatini also pointed to the Roadmap for Performance-Based Navigation, which allows users to plan their future transition and investment strategies. The roadmap rests on two key concepts - Area Navigation (RNAV) and Required Navigation Performance (RNP), which uses on-board technology affording more direct point-to-point routing and giving pilots not only lateral guidance but vertical precision as well. RNAV significantly reduces pilot-controller communication by providing flight path guidance that is incorporated into on- board avionics systems.

VLJs are poised to take advantage of these improvements. "Working in partnership with the FAA over the past three years and leveraging technical research and development by NASA, we have identified key areas in which operational best practices, combined with new technology will be implemented," said Iacobucci, adding these investments afford usage of RNP and Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) lateral precision vertical (LPV) approaches. Its fleet will also be equipped with Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast (ADS-B) to reap the benefits of reduced minimum separations and much improved situational awareness.

Finally, Rayburn noted that the current hub and spoke system used by the airlines is reaching capacity regardless of the integration of VLJs. He pointed out that since airlines drive the majority of the system costs, VLJs will not change this dynamic even as their passengers pay more in taxes than the scheduled airline passenger, largely because of the higher ticket price.

"It would be irresponsible not to point out the elephant in the room," he said. "Airlines see air transportation as a zero sum game and are acting to limit air transportation capacity versus expand it. Fearing they will lose passengers to VLJ operations, the airlines are propagating a series of myths to impede the air transportation expansion our country so desperately needs. This energy is misdirected and harmful to our economic future. Most VLJ passengers want to travel where the airlines do not and will be choosing VLJ air transportation in lieu of their cars. Additionally, the ample airspace capacity and new aircraft capabilities exist to make this expansion possible today."

Pilots will also be trained in the advanced technology that is the cockpit environment of the Eclipse 500. That means autothrottle; color weather radar; dual-redundant flight management system with aircraft performance computer; "smart" electronic checklists; and an intelligent crew-alert system. "To ensure availability of critical flight data, the Eclipse 500 is equipped with redundant, high reliability, solid state electronic sensors and displace," said Rayburn. "In addition, both Primary Flight Displays and the Multi- Function Display have a reversionary mode, allowing them to transfer information to one of the other displays if required."

DayJet is following the Transportation Security Administration's 12-5 security rule. Iacobucci and other witnesses also addressed the safety issues surrounding VLJs. DayJet, for instance, will use two-person crews, training them to airline standards through the Eclipse Aviation/United Airlines (UAUA) partnership. Training maintenance personnel will also be well beyond the minimal requirements of Part 135 and closer to airline standards.

As for non-air-taxi pilots, Eclipse Aviation President Vern Raburn allayed fears that the sky will be filled with rookie hot shots. "The reality is the people who are purchasing these airplanes are not just learning to fly," he said. "They are licensed, seasoned pilots who have earned multi-engine and instrument ratings."

VLJ Training Standards

The training program will provide a level of training typically available only to commercial airline pilots, said Eclipse President Vern Rayburn, adding the company will refund the deposit of any customer who can't successfully complete its training program.

Pilots must undergo a written pilot qualification review, as well as a flight skills assessment in a full-motion simulator focusing on instrument proficiency and airmanship skills. Each pilot will be required to take the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator personality test to help tailor the training program to their individual personality type. Based on the results of the initial testing, supplemental training may be required for some customers prior to beginning the type rating.

Training covers the basics of operating a jet and emergency situations. The Jet Basics Self-Paced Study Course, in a CD format, provides an overview of jet aircraft and their operating environment. Topics include jet engines, high altitude physiology, high altitude and high airspeed aerodynamics, and high altitude flight planning, weather and radar. The emergency situations training will provide hands-on upset recovery training in Eclipse's L-39 jet. In addition to classroom work on physiology and hypoxia, candidates will experience actual hypoxia training with a mixed gas simulator.

After the foundational training is complete, pilots will transition to the Eclipse 500 type-certificate training which is in four parts. They include: self-paced study of the Eclipse 500 aircraft systems; classroom training; simulator training; and, actual flight training in the Eclipse 500. The type rating transition course will provide classroom instruction that emphasizes FITS scenario-based training to build good judgment. Pilots will then take a type rating examination in the aircraft or full-motion simulator once the simulators are certified.

Depending on the pilot's experience, following completion of the type rating examination, some pilots will receive their type rating in single-pilot operations. Others will be required to fly with experienced mentor pilots, which is similar to an airline-style initial operating experience. This pilot mentor program will include operations in high- density traffic areas, the high-altitude weather environment, and will ensure that the pilot displays the proper proficiency to operate as a single pilot in the jet environment. Completion of the mentor program is not based on hours flown but on actual proficiency.

Recurrent training will be required for all Eclipse 500 pilots with the frequency dependent on individual pilot skill level and experience. For the more experienced pilot, one- year recurrent training will be the norm. For pilots requiring the mentor program, six-month recurrent training will be an initial requirement. Recurrent training will also include web-based home study, classroom review and a proficiency check in a simulator.