My thoughts on VLJ’s
by JJ Cassa - November 18th, 2008
Robert Mark from the Jetwine blog posed the following provoking question today in his post “Do VLJ’s Have A Future”:
“Would there be a Citation Mustang or a Phenom 100 if Eclipse had not pushed the button on the VLJ market first?…”
The answer to that question in my opinion is yes. There have been more and more pilots lately that are getting into flying as a means of business transportation rather than for the fun of it from my own personal observation. For an illustration of this, look at the most popular manufacturer of single engine pistons today: Cirrus Aircraft. In a recent interview with Cirrus that I read they had stated that their general customer was buying the plane as a means of transportation. I insuinated (maybe improperly) from the article that this meant these people had no real lifelong passion for aviation, they were just looking for the fastest means of transportation out there. These pilots will spare no expense for speed, and the next logical step to get there at some point will be a jet. I think that the Citation Mustang, Embraer Phenom and Cirrus Jet fit the bill quite nicely for these missions, and it is my belief they were built for this market vs. the original “air taxi” market that sparked the Eclipse.
As to the “air taxi” side of the VLJ equation, I really don’t personally see that much of a mass market for it. Most business travelers that I talk to that are not as into aviation as I am freak out getting on your normal run of the mill CRJ much less anything smaller.