TECH TALK
needs to go through more of a typical legacy-like process. With that said, at least aviation fi rms are able to have a more user-friendly experience. Figure 1 shows a screen capture of the app from Victor which allows customers to manage the booking process and even comparison shop. Other fi rms have similar apps and the competition keeps driving more functionality. However, while we have shortened the time and eff ort to book a private or semi-private fl ight on a smaller jet, due to FAA regulations, it is not yet exactly truly Uber-like. The next generation of air travel might be what will expand the air charter market.
AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES WILL
USHER IN THE FUTURE While Uber and others are fi ghting the taxi industry for domination in the current ground-transportation market, it is the next generation of travel that will bring a revolutionary change. The clash of the legacy businesses with the on-demand, app- enabled technology-driven processes is aff ecting many long-standing regulations and laws (and the business taxes they generate). How these battles play out will eventually aff ect other industries, especially aviation, so this economic war is worth watching. It will be interesting to watch, as in any war, how bystanders (governments, auto companies and dealers and repair shops, etc.) will become entangled one way or another.
In the automotive market, the unintended aff ect is being perceived as a slowdown in car purchases by younger people living in urban or suburban areas, since they can now obtain a lower-cost ride when needed, versus buying, maintaining, insuring and operating a car. The car manufacturers have taken notice, and
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are getting nervous. GM has already made a large investment in Lyft, fi rst as a good investment and secondly to obtain insider information in how this shift in the consumer sentiment will aff ect future product designs. Other newcomers to the auto business (Tesla, Google, supposedly Apple, and many others working on autonomous vehicles) have taken notice and business plans of each have been undoubtedly challenged and changed. Uber and other companies are
already looking at self-driving cars for use in the near future. According to Bloomberg Business, Google plans to begin deploying an autonomous fl eet of vehicles in confi ned areas such as military bases, college campuses and other small, closed environments. This will allow them to refi ne their product prior to unleashing self- driving cars onto city streets. This will bring Google directly into a battle with Uber and Lyft, which now has an ally in GM. Also, Tesla and the legacy car manufacturers are all testing self-driving cars and the surrounding technologies around them. This should be a glorious business war for consumers. If self-driving (autonomous) cars
begin to enter the market in the next decade, the resulting demands will make for superb business for those prepared. There will be the need to upgrade roadways (to better accommodate sensors in the cars to increase safety), install more smart road infrastructure (better monitoring, signs that communicate with cars, greater and more intricate embedded traffi c interactive management systems) and expanded GPS, among dozens of other sets of technologies. Many of these technologies are already being tested around the world, and will begin entering service as cars are all able to make use of them.
So what about the aviation market and its emerging technologies, specifi cally those around NextGen and drones?
AUTONOMOUS AIR VEHICLES The automotive market has been consumed by the self-driving car trend recently, and this is now spilling over into aviation. Aviation has been consumed by the emerging drone market and all of the challenges it brings. This is in addition to the entire industry preparing for the launch of NextGen and SESAR. This brings us to the fi rst announced company that has an autonomous air vehicle, which can carry a passenger, which is actually being fl ight tested at this time. Chinese drone maker EHang claims to be developing the world’s fi rst “autonomous aerial vehicle” for transporting people. The initial product is called the 184, and it is an electric-powered quadcopter drone. It is fi ve feet tall and weighs 440 pounds, with a 220-pound payload. EHang indicates the 184 is managed via a smartphone app where all you need to do is enter in your destination, and the autonomous vehicle does the rest (with a little help from a centralized control center). It sounds pretty much like Uber, at least from a customer point of view. The price is expected to be between $200K and $300K, plus a service fee based upon usage. “Passengers don’t need to learn
how to fl y it, they don’t need get to a pilot’s license,” EHang cofounder Derrick Xiong said in an interview. ”They just need to press a button and then it vertically takes off , fl ies from point A to point B, and lands.” I wonder if either Uber or Lyft has already invested in this company. At the moment, the vehicle can only travel short-to-medium distances, approximately 10 miles,
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