Recently, Richard Kaplan posted:

"Neil Gould" wrote
(People will buy the aircraft that they think represents a...)
better choice for their mission, and since the VLJ market will be at
least in part defined by return on investment, I think that planes
costing

I gather that means you believe in the concept of hundreds or more
Eclipse air taxis? Now that is very much an unproven business model.

Yet, it is one that everyone entering that market with a VLJ believes to
be viable.

It is even more of an unproven business model when you start
calculating the payload of an Eclipse.

That depends on how correct Eclipse is about the seat/mile costs. A full
E-500 has to be cheaper to fly in than a half-full Citation.

Charter operations almost
never make a profit if the capital investment in an airplane are
considered;
[...]
I have yet to see a realistic spreadsheet
of any Part 135 charter operation which results in a net profit
including both the cost of capital and operating costs; there is no
reason to believe the Eclipse will be any different.

This is a problem that affects all operations equally. If one can reduce
their capital expenses by a significant amount, that results in a higher
net profit, and I have a hard time seeing how that is a Bad Thing.

Neil