With the global financial crisis, I've received several questions from members asking how this affects the go forward plans for air taxi companies worldwide. The financial pressures worldwide bring both challenges and opportunities. As outlined very publicly by DayJet, the challenges include raising capital in a capital constrained environment. Yet on the same day that DayJet announced its suspension of air operations, JetBird unveiled that it had received an investment of €10 million on a valuation of €100 million before JetBird had engaged its first flight. There are sophisticated investors that understand the overarching value in accelerating change to the air taxi model.

• First, major airlines and discount carriers are cutting direct service between cities. Travelers have become accustomed to more direct flight options throughout the past decade and this encourages air taxis as a surrogate for abandoned commercial air routes.
• Second, corporations that allow air charter and utilized corporate fleets are under cost-cutting pressures that may accelerate air taxi flights as a option to save money. As publicly outlined in a Harvard Business School case study on Walmart, Blink founders Peter Leiman and Cameron Ogden showed how the company could save 25% of its air travel fleet cost by utilizing VLJs. That foray in understanding corporate travel requirements on air travel fleets inspired them to form Blink as a leading air taxi carrier in Europe.
• Finally, companies under headcount reduction pressures may be forced to gain more efficient utilization of their employees. This places a higher value upon the employees time and productivity with the air taxi model allowing a return on time investment.

In summary, the momentum of the air taxi marketplace surpasses the pressures on the worldwide economy. While air charter has dropped by as much as 25%, the utilization of affordable air taxi flight numbers continue to grow at a healthy clip. Both Linear Air and SATSair last week at NBAA pointed to demand that significantly outpaced available supply. While there may be turbulence in the economy, air taxi opportunities continue to accelerate upwards on many fronts.