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Air taxis are miles away from usual airport fray

By STEVE HUETTEL
Published March 7, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT [Times photo: Ken Helle] SATSair pilot John Savage looks over his plane as he prepares to take off from Peter O. Knight Airport in Tampa last week.

Michael Lacy left his South Tampa home just before 7 a.m., drove 15 minutes to Peter O. Knight Airport near downtown and strapped into the kind of leather seat you'd find in a BMW or Lexus.

An hour later, the four-seat air taxi touched down in West Palm Beach, where a rental car waited. Lacy and an associate arrived early for the 9 a.m. meeting with a venture capital firm. They zipped back to Tampa after lunch.

No fighting interstate traffic to the airport. No long lines at security checkpoints. "Absolutely very efficient from a time perspective," says Lacy, 35, vice president of Hyde Park Capital in Tampa.

It was also a blast. How often do you get to fly behind the pilot in speedy plane with a parachute in case something goes wrong?

For years, aviation experts trumpeted the coming of air taxis, tiny jets that travelers could hire for trips to hundreds of small cities where the big airlines fly infrequently, if at all.

SATSair got a jump on the competition. The Greenville, S.C., company made its first flight the day after Thanksgiving 2004. A pregnant woman vacationing in Hilton Head, S.C., needed to get to Greenville for a doctor's appointment and back. SATSair short for Smart Air Travel Solutions provided the only practical way.

The company now flies 26 propeller-driven Cirrus SR22 planes around the Southeast and as far north as Philadelphia and Indianapolis. About 1,500 customers a month fly SATSair, about half the carrier's capacity, says co-founder Tim McConnell. The company has yet to turn a profit.

Compared to regular airlines, SATSair isn't cheap - $595 per hour, from engine start until the pilot shuts it off. Buying blocks of time brings the hourly cost as low as $440. That price covers up to three passengers.

Critics say the projected demand for air taxis is at least unknown and probably vastly exaggerated.

For starters, how many people feel comfortable flying in a plane the size of a minivan that doesn't have a bathroom? How many travelers will pay double the cost of full-fare coach for the convenience of a private jet?

That misses the point, says McConnell. SATSair largely caters to businesspeople who would otherwise drive four hours or more to reach customers and can't make it home the same day.

It's the same market coveted by DayJet of Delray Beach. Business travelers make 42-million one-way trips of 100 to 700 miles annually between Southeast states, including Florida, the company says.

DayJet plans to launch flights within Florida by the end of June, flying one of the new generation of small, inexpensive jets, the Eclipse 500.

SATSair didn't wait for the new jets. But the Cirrus planes have created a buzz all their own.

The high-performance aircraft with flat-screen monitors that display real-time weather and location information are a favorite among private pilots. Most people know Cirrus as the plane with the parachute.

Parachutes saved the lives of 14 people aboard Cirrus planes in seven incidents since 2002, the Orange County Register reported last year, citing National Transportation Safety Board figures.

SATSair hasn't ever used the parachute. But pilots include instructions in every safety briefing to passengers: switch a lever to cut off fuel to the engine, then pull down a red handle overhead.

That made all the difference for one passenger. The woman froze when she saw the tiny plane and McConnell had to use his best Southern charm to coax her on board.

She later told workers at her office: This is the only airplane I've ever been in where I felt in control that I could save my own life.

Steve Huettel can be reached at huettel@sptimes.com or (813) 226-3384.

Spirit gets creative

Spirit Airlines said Tuesday it will charge for all checked baggage and beverages such as coffee and soda on flights starting in June, while also cutting fares by up to 40 percent. The low-cost, Miramar-based carrier, which has seven daily nonstop flights from Tampa International to Detroit, Atlantic City, Atlanta and Fort Lauderdale, said it is cutting fares from 10 to 40 percent systemwide, and on last-minute fares as well. Customers will still be allowed one carry-on bag for free, but one or two checked bags will cost $5 each if passengers use the carrier's Web site to make reservations, $10 each if they don't. The charge is $100 for the third bag and on.

[Last modified March 6, 2007, 22:50:16]