(continued)

Ken Ross: Yes. If you were to take a Learjet from Chicago to the New York metropolitan area -- Teterboro, for example -- it would typically cost you about $14,000-$15,000. In the Eclipse, it would be about half that cost.

ATF: So it's fairly comparable to first class on a scheduled carrier.

Ken Ross: First class purchased on the day of the trip or the day before, yes.

ATF: I believe your entire Eclipse fleet is now based out of Chicago. What direction are you planning to build out in?

Ken Ross: One of our drivers for the upcoming two years is to grow our VLJ business and become the largest Very Light Jet operator of our kind in America, bearing in mind that our model is very different from that of companies like DayJet and Linear.

Specifically, we hope to have six to ten VLJs based in Chicago and at least one more Q Service VLJ fleet in the Midwest by the end of this quarter. As we expand further into the Midwest and the rest of the country over the next two years we hope to have quite a large fleet that may or may not be all Eclipses. At this point, I really don't know but I suspect there will be a second aircraft added. We do have plans for that aircraft, but it's not an aircraft that is available at this time.

ATF: That seems to let out the Mustang because it's available now. And you're probably not talking about Honda because they might not be certified in the time frame you mentioned. How about the Phenom?

Ken Ross: That I'm not going to tell you.

Generally our philosophy is to not make an announcement about adding service or new models to our fleet until we're set up and good to go. Some of our brethren in the aviation marketplace have made promises they ended up not being able to keep and 50 percent of those brothers aren't here anymore. When North American says it's going to do something, I want people to understand that we're really going to do it and that getting things done right and on time is part of our history.

ATF: Have there been any surprises -- good or bad -- since you started operating an Eclipse fleet?

Ken Ross: What actually surprised us was how comfortable and quiet the aircraft is at altitude and how receptive our passengers have been vis-a-vis a small aircraft.

We expected many clients to feel cramped in it and the reality has been just been the opposite. They've felt very comfortable in the aircraft and they've been very pleased with it. It gets one of the highest positive passenger ratings we've ever seen.

We have had, as I noted earlier, challenges from time to time with some of the software and operational characteristics. However it's very easy to fly, gives you a wonderful ride at altitude and is a tremendous performer in its category and class. Therefore, I'm sure that as Eclipse develops as a company their software in certain areas will become more mature and reliable.

ATF: You mentioned that the Eclipse experience has been getting very high ratings from customers. How has that affected repeat business?

ATF: I would say 50 percent of our Q customers are existing clients who previously used our other services and 50 percent have been new passengers attracted by the more cost-effective nature of the VLJ option. Among new passengers, the return rate has been 100 percent when they need to use us.

For example, most of our industrial managers make quarterly visits to factories, so we plan on making three or four flights year for them. Those folks who have flown Q, have all come back and said we'll fly the Eclipse again unless we need to take more people than it will hold.

To be truthful, we haven't a single passenger who's come back and said they didn't like the aircraft. It's basically made a convert out of every person who's flown in it.

Ken Ross: Thanks, Ken, we'll be the guys with our thumbs out the next time you land at Peachtree DeKalb.

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