Linear Air debuts new jet service
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- June
- 25
The chief executive of an air taxi service is betting that a fuel-efficient jet he will base at the Westchester County Airport will give him an edge in the competitive business travel industry.
Linear Air of Concord, Mass. has leased four Eclipse E500 jets and will station two of them at the local airport, which straddles the Harrison-Rye town line. The E500s will join two Caravan single-engine turboprop planes that Linear has based at the airport.
The Caravans can accommodate eight passengers, while the Eclipse seats just three. But the twin-engine Eclipse can fly twice as fast—400 miles an hour—and can climb to 41,000 feet to avoid nasty weather.
Of perhaps greater importance, the Eclipse E500 is part of a new class of aircraft called very light jets (VLJ) that use less fuel than other light jets, Linear President and Chief Executive William Herp said. That helps the company price its fares competitively, he said.
As major airlines shut down service to smaller cities in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and eastern Canada regions, Linear hopes to be able to fill the breach, Herp said. Trips that might have taken two days or more because of inflexible airline schedules can be accomplished in one day.
The cabins in the E500 are comfortable enough to seat a 6-foot-7 inch man in comfort, as such a person told Herp on a recent flight from Boston to Columbus, Ohio, Herp said. The cockpit is equipped with refreshments and the day’s newspapers, but some passengers enjoy watching the pilots in the up-close cockpit, he added.
Service in Westchester starts July 1. Linear’s Web site is www.linearair.com.
This entry was posted
on Wednesday, June 25th, 2008 at 4:25 pm by Jerry Gleeson.
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