Affordable personal jets closer than you think

Challenge to FAA
There are many regulatory issues the industry must deal with. Airport safety regulations, for example, will challenge the economic models of short-flight companies. The FAA is grappling with what sorts of rules should apply to traditional commercial carriers and the new microjet carriers, Steinberg said.

One way around many regulations is for passengers to be part owners in a small jet. Ownership can be a little as a one-sixteenth share, and even those shares can be subleased. NetJets operates along these lines and has a fleet of more than 500 small jets, more aircraft than Southwest Airlines or US Airways. Among the fractional owners is Warren Buffet, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. and one of the world's richest men.

Before the rest of us hop on an air taxi, there are issues the FAA must resolve.

It can be difficult to know who is responsible for flight control, maintenance, and other important issues as many small companies sprout up. And regulations for commercial jet flights don't allow single-pilot operation. All microjets are designed for a lone pilot.

"Some of these lines are becoming fuzzier," Steinberg added. "Things get muddled in a world of shared ownership."

Industry leaders don't agree on which business model might be successful, shared ownership or companies that own and operate their aircraft and profit by selling tickets.

Either way, the FAA will have to make "fundamental changes" to its body of rules and regulations to manage the explosion of small-jet traffic, Steinberg said.

"Technology should drive the regulations, not the reverse," he said.

We are looking at regulation changes that should enable operations" of small jets in the commercial market, said Katherine Perfetti, a flight standards specialist with the FAA.

"We're not just totally reacting to this," Perfetti said. "We've been a part of the process."

Serious entrepreneurs, meanwhile, cautiously welcome FAA regulation for the new industry. They are eager to make sure anyone with a web site and a credit card can't get into the air travel business, said Gavin Stener, CEO of Corporate Clipper.

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