After his company Coastal Technologies helped to transform the US telecommunications market with call routing software, Richard Kane realized that the same high-speed computing and AI technologies used by Coastal were applicable to any system where routing was key to efficiency. He and fellow pilot, Dr Peter Diamandis, identified business aviation charters as one such area.
Together, Kane and Diamandis combined their passions for aviation and mathematics, and before long, several bizjet operators were benefitting from their route optimisation AI solution.
But Kane wanted to do more. Routes could be optimized, saving millions of gallons of Jet A and tons of carbon, but in his view, the industry was still flying too-large aircraft with small payloads — averaging 1.8 passengers and, on occasion, a dog — over short legs on which efficient cruising altitudes and speeds were never reached.
Setting out to revolutionize private flying, he launched Florida-based private jet company and AI-powered air taxi service Verijet, with Diamandis serving as a board member.
Kane went on to select an aircraft type that he reckons is better suited to the average US private aviation charter — one that carries those 1.8 passengers less than 600 miles at an average speed of 243kt. He found it in the affordable, low-emission Cirrus Vision Jet G2.
The single-engine Cirrus Vision Jet G2. Image: Verijet
Powered by a single Williams FJ44 turbofan, the Cirrus Vision Jet G2 delivers exceptional fuel economy. Its deceptively spacious cabin and range are easily up to the job, while its composite construction means airframe fatigue is not going to be an issue over multiple short sectors.
Any reservations passengers have over flying in the unusual looking, diminutive jet are overcome as soon as they experience its spectacular visibility and smooth ride, according to Kane.
Reducing emissions was a primary driver from the outset and Kane says that while a typical mid-size jet flying between Santa Monica and