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Two air taxi updates
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1. Miwok: As mentioned recently, yet another air taxi company has started up. This one, Miwok Airways, is using small, posh Cirrus SR22 propeller-driven airplanes and serving Southern California roughly between San Diego in the south, Oxnard in the northwest, and Palm Springs in the east.
The Air Taxi Law blog -- yes, there is such a thing, a sign in itself -- has more interesting info about the thinking behind Miwok. It also includes a service area map and this comment about its strategy:
2. SATSair: This note from an employee of probably the best known air-taxi service that uses Cirrus airplanes:
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*Note: this is a little joke, based on my having flown a Cirrus for many years. And things are actually great in this part of the print journalism business!
The Air Taxi Law blog -- yes, there is such a thing, a sign in itself -- has more interesting info about the thinking behind Miwok. It also includes a service area map and this comment about its strategy:
Miwok's business plan is making several interesting assumption. First, one assumption is that people will use an air taxi for much shorter trips. While Miwok has entered a partnership with Enterprise Rental Car, will the added factor of a rental car (even with a premium no wait service) or a taxi at the destination outweigh the pain factor in just driving your own car for such a short trip? Second, another assumption is that the passenger is willing to trade low fares for a shared airplane although Miwok will price the trip higher if no one else joins your trip. Sharing an Eclipse is one thing. Sharing the back seats of a Cirrus is a little more intimate, but still much more comfortable and more room than a center seat on an airline coach class flight!Also, I see that AVWeb has just put up an interview with Miwok's founder, here.
2. SATSair: This note from an employee of probably the best known air-taxi service that uses Cirrus airplanes:
I read your original article about Air Taxis years ago [2001] while I was a UPS driver.This faith in the "ahah!" potential of the small-airplane taxi model is what motivates people trying to get these companies going. My thinking is: if times get tough enough in the print journalism business, like the ex-UPS driver I can consider other career options...*
Now I am a pilot at Satsair. They still have a way to go but it is a brilliant plan almost like when fedex came out with the overnight letter. Everyone needs the service, sometime they just did not know it, same way with air taxi.
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*Note: this is a little joke, based on my having flown a Cirrus for many years. And things are actually great in this part of the print journalism business!
