Piedmont Int'l in NC Has Stake in HondaJet's Future

Honda may be better known for jet skis than jet planes, but its decision to build the HondaJet for sale makes it a serious - and late - entry into the crowded world of very light jets.

The Triad has a stake in the jet's future; Honda developed and first flew it at Piedmont Triad International Airport. And local recruiters have asked the company to build the jet here, possibly employing several hundred workers.

Demand for small jets that weigh less than 10,000 pounds and carry just a few passengers could soon take off, in part, because a variety of companies are planning to start air-taxi services. With light, small jets, they could offer cheap and fast travel as low as $1 a mile on a schedule tailored to each passenger.

But Honda's future as a jet builder is far from certain because the new world of very light jets, which sell for as little as $1.5 million, is as crowded as the air approach to Atlanta and largely unknown.

Analysts estimate the market for the jets at anywhere from 500 to 10,000 a year. At least seven other companies are preparing to sell them in a market where analysts say the first to the runway will sell the most.

Honda may be more interested in presenting itself as a broad, global transportation company, however, than in selling massive numbers of planes, some say.

"They might just want to dabble in it just to show what they can do from a technology standpoint," said Richard Aboulafia , an aircraft analyst with the Teal Group.

Still, even if Honda builds only 40 to 50 planes a year, it would need 200 workers, he said. And the Triad would have an edge in recruiting such a small operation because Honda knows the region.

"The decisions that drew them there in the first place are likely to keep them there," Aboulafia said. "It's also likely not big enough to poach. This probably is a little bit below the radar horizon for a lot of people."

Although typical jet buyers - businesses and the wealthy - will line up for the planes, some see the air-taxi business as the biggest user of the jets. These would provide service to the smallest airports, picking up passengers one at a time and taking them - in a couple of hours - to other small airports, bypassing the parking, waiting and connections that eat up time at big airports.

DayJet, a Florida company, will be the first on the scene later this year with flights to small cities within Florida. DayJet believes it can bring faster, affordable travel to business people who mostly drive on business trips, said Vicky Harris, the company's director of marketing.

"We're looking to pull business travelers out of their cars," she said.

But analyst Aboulafia says the potential for air taxis is largely an illusion. "Air taxi service seems to be magical pixie dust and mystical critical mass."

He said air-taxi service will not be as simple as it looks.

"'Do I drive six hours? Do I fly an hour and a half?' It's not that (simple) at all. 'Do I drive to an airport, fly an hour and a half, rent a car and whatever?' It's not as seamless as door-to-door helicopter service."

If air taxis work anywhere, he said, they'll work in Florida, DayJet's first market. "Rich people, poor service, great geography. If it's going to work anywhere, it's going to work there."

But if the company expands, Harris said, the Carolinas - and most likely the Triad - will be high on its list.

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