Air2Air has learned that a rumored project to access the technology behind the X Ray glasses may be more than a rumor, but most likely not. Obviously, Air2Air would like to outfit their personnel with glasses of that capability as both a security measure and a real morale booster considering the very attractive clientele that quite often flies with us. (As a side note, surprisingly, many of our pilots have offered to pay for the glasses themselves.)

TSA could be expected to be very interested in the capability which could allow their personnel to casually observe passengers going through security checkpoints and determine if those passengers were hiding something they should not. Of course, for the TSA, the issue of training, identifying objects which represent threats and not just weird personal items, proper use, and authorization are major issues. Not so for Air2Air. Air2Air’s current air tight security system relies on ensuring that our customers are carefully screened before they board our aircraft. Not only does our flight booking process ensure our passengers are who they say they are and are not carrying proscribed items, but our pilots take a close look at each and every passenger before they board.

Imagine how much more effective and less intrusive those glasses would be than the 40 millimeter wave technology units at 19 airports which TSA operates and the 150 backscatter, low-level X-ray machines that will be deployed over the next year at a cost of $130,000 to $160,000 per unit. Another 300 similar units are scheduled to be purchased in 2010. One company’s implementation of the “see through glasses” technology cost only $2,400 per set. That means over 50 TSA agents could be outfitted with the glasses for the cost of one X-ray machine. (Check out http://www.advanced-intelligence.com/glasses.html)

Of course if the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) says it does not trust the privacy safeguards of those machines, it is very unlikely that the James Bond glasses which will depict body shapes and private parts would be any more acceptable to them. Jay Stanley, an ACLU privacy expert has stated that “We would certainly all be safer on airlines if we all flew naked”

Although we agree with that comment, Air2Air would like to assure their passengers that one of the benefits of flying on Air2Air is that they will never be required to “Fly Naked.

Lets make some quick calculations. Lets say you and the people you are traveling with all earn $100,000 per year. Your actual cost to your company when you add in vacation, retirement, health care, office space, the company’s general and administrative burden, etc. etc. is at least $150,000. (More likely $200,000, but we will stick with $150,000.) How much is that an hour. Figure 49 weeks a year. 40 hour qoek week. (Who are you kidding? 40 hours a week? You wish!) That’s $76 per hour.

The meeting is critical to your company’s future. You have to be there and you have to be at the top of your game. Not only that, you have to take three team members who also make $100,000 a year. So, that’s $600,000 worth of annual company cost that has to travel. 4 x $76 = $304 per hour traveling. How long will it take you to get there? Mapquest says 2 hours and 32 minutes, but everyone knows there is no way you will make it leaving at 7:15 in the morning and slog all the way across the LA basin during rush hour in 2 hours and 30 minutes. Four hours to be safe and ensure you get there by 10:00. Lets say you actually can make it back in 2 hours and 30 minutes. Your total travel time is 6 hours and 30 minutes. Total person-hour cost to drive = $1,976.

What about taking the commercial airlines. There are no direct flights to Van Nuys from anywhere in San Diego.

What about Air 2 Air. Yes! Thats the ticket. Take a look at the numbers: 35-minute flight up. 35-minute flight back. 15 minutes on each flight for taxi time and 10 mintes each side for driving time. (35 min + 15 min + 20 min) x 2 = 2 hours of travel. You are going to save 4 hours and 30 minutes. And that is times four people for a total saved person-hours of 18 person hours!! Or a person cost savings of $1,368. Air 2 Air’s charge for the flight and standing by to wait for two hours? $895. A $473 savings.

Not only do you save money taking Air2Air, you’ll have time to do something in the office before you leave in the morning and you will be back for lunch and a full afternoon of work at the office. You’ll be a contender for most efficient and effective employee. You may help your CFO win the CFO of the year penny pinching award. The Board of Directors is going to give you and the CEO a bonus, perhaps even a promotion. Go forth and save money and charter from Air 2 Air!

One of our competitors, the FlyByNite Aviation Company buys airplanes at $X apiece. They burn fuel at ~$5.00 per gallon. They hire pilots off the street for $20 per hour. And they pull from the economy various other valuable assets whose value is set by supply and demand in our almost free economy. At the end of the year FBNA has taken in $1 million in revenue and spent $2 million. And, based on FBNA’s poor business model, inefficient management, and below average execution, there does not appear to be much better expectations for next or subsequent years. FBNA has removed valuable assests from the economy which might otherwise have been put to good use. Assets that you and I and the rest of the economic system valued at $2 million. And what did they do with them? They produced a service that was valued at $1 million. They destroyed $1 million dollars of value. Personally I think they should do hard time!

Conversely, Virtual Virtual, a company which has developed a software product whose function is not describable, nor comprehensible to anyone over the age of 24, buys a couple of computers, works day and night in grandma’s garage and produces, Voilá! A couple of very cool apps. And by twittering away to generate “buzz,” putting some man-hours person-hours into a great website, and being at the right place at the right time for a first year cost of $500,000 they have $8.43 million in sales. (I think I’m going to puke!) But! And I do mean butt! They have produced a product that many people want and are willing to pay for. Those $7.93 million in profits have created value for society. People (God only knows what kind of people) greatly value VV’s product and are willing to spend their hard earned money on it.

Those obscene profits represent the creation of wealth. They represent creating a product whose value is perceived to be massively more valuable than the sum of the components. The geeks and goons of VV should be considered national heros. They should be on trading cards with the likes of Babe Ruth.

Meanwhile those social criminals at FlyByNite Aviation should be brought before a Congressional Committee Star Chamber and held up for public derision. Tar and feathering is not too severe. They have robbed society! There is no excuse. Make profits, contribute to society, or pay the consequences!

These are great animals in great shape and accustomed to crowds, traffic and loud noises such as, surprisingly enough, gunshots. In many respects these horses have been celebrities as they have often faced lines of people wanting to pet them or have their pictures taken with them. Several law enforcement agencies in the southwest, and one from Canada, are interested in the horses as are some San Diego police officers.

Hence, our offer. If you live out in the hinterlands someplace and are coming to San Diego to put in a bid on one of these wonderful animals, Air2Air will fly you here at half price. If we could fit the horses in our planes we would fly them instead, but we can’t so we are making the offer to bidders instead. Our offer is good for any round trip you schedule to and from any airport within 500 miles of San Diego to Carlsbad-Palomar airport. And only to the first one to call and take us up on the offer. You don’t have to win one of the horses, you just have to prove that you put in a bid for at least $1,000 on one of the horses. Call us at 760-603-6774.

If you are interested you can go to publicsurplus.com for auction information