Cessna Aircraft Brings Full FAA Certification To The VLJ Market

With their September 8th announcement the Cessna Mustang becomes the first fully certified VLJ available.  Including single pilot, day and night operations, VFR and IFR flight rules and the ability to operate in RVSM airspace the Cessna is poised to start delivery on its list of 250 orders for the Mustang.

While being the first fully certified VLJ will certainly ensure the Mustang has a head start in the VLJ market other manufacturers are expected to enter the market in the coming months.

Eclipse Aviation has recieved FAA Type Certification for their Eclipse 500 and Embraer has recently announce large North American orders for their Phenom 100 VLJs from Magnum Jet.  Eclipse says they have around 2500 orders on the books and plan to build production up to around 1000 aircraft a year.

With VLJ and Air Taxi customers keeping a close eye on this emerging market inlcuding DayJet, JetSet Inc., and Magnmum Jet more orders can be expected.

Magnum Jets partnership with Million Air, the third largest FBO operator, may give it a foothold in the Air Taxi market.  This relationship as well as plans to operate both the Adam Aircraft A700 as well as Embraer's Phenom 100 bring together mission specific aircraft as well as proven ground operations.

As other aircraft come online in this new aircraft market the real test is in the operation.

• Will customers appreciate the time and cost savings associated with these new operations?
• Can the increased traffic be absorbed by the smaller local airports?
• Will business accept VLJ aircraft as supplimental lift for specific missions?
• As operations continue to grow can, can the VLJ and Air Taxi operators manage the scheduling, crewing and operations required?