Another interesting article from Robert Cringley…
The idea behind DayJet is a lot simpler than the technology it takes to make it happen. Many regional travelers are spending whole days going to airports, sitting in airports, flying to hubs, changing planes, and sitting in more airports that they could almost drive faster to their final destination. By going point-to-point when the passenger wants to fly, DayJet replicates that driving experience, but with a chauffer and at over 400 mph.
The difference between DayJet and a traditional aircraft charter is that all you’ll be chartering is the seat you are sitting in. That means if you take a friend it costs twice as much, but it doesn’t mean that you are paying for seats you don’t use. And unlike a charter, DayJet won’t charge for sending the plane to pick you up — only for when you are actually in that seat.
Only time will tell if this concept is successful. I’m for it. Imagine skipping security lines and regional hubs and going right where you want to go.
What I find more interesting is looking at DayJet as a network application. In many ways, the Internet looks a lot like a typical large airline route map. Users connect to points-of-presence that link to ISP hubs at huge peering points that are, in turn connected by long distance backbone pipes. But until recently, the problem that makes a DayJet necessary hasn’t also affected the Internet. That problem is simply hub scalability. O’Hare, Atlanta, and Los Angeles airports have finite capacities, and they’ve all shown that pushing past 80 percent utilization causes huge glitches and cancelled flights. One way around this problem is bigger airplanes, hence this week’s first flight of the monster AirBus A380 double-decker. But another answer is bypassing the hubs altogether, hence DayJet.
For more on DayJet, check out their Web site.
Simply put, DayJet will make it easy for you to travel point-to-point between those hard-to-reach regional markets by providing a personalized air transportation system that responds to your needs. Upon receipt of the necessary government operating authority, DayJet?s “Per-Seat, On-Demand” jet service will give you the freedom to travel where you want to go, when you want to go, and bring you back again on your schedule, not ours. You decide. All at a price comparable to that of an overnight stay (including airfare, hotel, and per diem).
