By BILL KINNEY
The Marietta Daily Journal
Published on: 01/06/08

This columnist has ridden in his share of taxicabs through the years, and even on water taxis in places like Nashville and Savannah. But the wave of the future could be air taxis. It's the latest travel option.

If you're tired of having to drive to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Airport, then wait in long security-check lines, then another long wait for your flight to depart and a further long wait to pick up your baggage when you arrive, taking an air taxi might be a worthwhile option.

Air taxis go where you want to go, when you want to go. They fly out of small airports, like Cobb County McCollum Airport in Kennesaw. And they're operated by companies like Imagine Air of Lawrenceville, which started operations back in April and now has grown to 15 employees.

Air taxis are a legitimate option for trips of 300 to 500 miles, according to Imagine CEO and co-founder Aaron Sohacki.

"We use small, safe and efficient airplanes," he said. "As for 'small,' our average business trip involves just one to three people. The 'safety' part is obvious, and as for efficiency, our small size makes us more efficient and helps keep costs down."

Imagine offers service to thousands of airports at any given time, including 600 in the Southeast.

It has a fleet of five Cirrus SR-22 GTSs, which can hold four passengers and offer a much smoother ride than most general aviation, Cessna-type aircraft, Sohacki said,

Imagine also is about to obtain its first jet, which will hold five passengers plus a pilot.

The Cirrus travels at 200 mph and the jet will go about 400 mph.

"We're also the first air taxi company in the world to offer online booking (flyimagineair.com), so you can fly 24/7 365 days a year," Sohacki said.

The Cirrus has a fuel capacity of 80 gallons, meaning it can fly between 500 and 1,000 miles without refueling, depending on the number of passengers.

The Georgia Tech grad has always loved flying and was in the Flying Club there when he came up with the idea for the company.

One of the biggest selling points for air taxi service is convenience.

"You can start out in the morning in Marietta, drive to McCollum, fly up to Nashville, spend a couple hours there at a business meeting, then fly to Charlotte for a round of golf and then fly home in time for dinner," Sohacki said. "That would take three days of driving and almost as much to fly on commercial airlines, but we get it down to one day."

"People are conditioned to fly a certain way with the airlines," he said. "You're forced to travel on their schedule. But with us, you can do a lot in one day then be back home with family."

What about cost? Charter airlines base their costs on the time involved and whether a plane needs to be repositioned, he said.

"With us, it's straight distance," he said. "In some cases, it is close to what a commercial airline would be, but in a lot of cases, it's about a half to a fifth of what a traditional charter would cost."

With a traditional charter, the customer would pay the cost of renting the jet, plus the pilot's fee, plus fuel costs and extras.

"With us, it's just one number, like buying from Delta," Sohacki said.

Traditional charter airlines have focused their efforts on the very wealthy, and offer only a limited number of airplanes as a result, Sohacki explained. "So each trip is its own special request. But we're trying to build a network of airplanes. So if you want to go to Tampa, we might then take a 10-minute flight to Orlando, then pick up someone and take them to Savannah before coming back here, so the burden on us is to reduce the inefficiency in the system."

And while taxis are cheaper, there are tradeoffs, such as luggage. You can't take much, in other words, because air taxis are so much smaller. The Cirrus can carry only 130 pounds of luggage for its four passengers.

Airliners also can fly in some weather that air taxis cannot, such as in icy conditions. And air taxis are not pressurized, meaning they do not fly above 10,000 feet.

"But our advantage is that we operate out of smaller airports," Sohacki said. "If there's a storm over Atlanta and the airport is closed, there may be 500 flights affected. But with us, you can be on the ground within five minutes just about anywhere."

Most of Imagine's pilots are retired from Delta and all are commercial-rated.

"We're very fortunate to be in Atlanta," he said. "There's a good pool of pilots here and we can choose the very best."

So air taxis just could be the wave of the future in aviation.

"With charters you have to worry about what the airplane's doing when you're not in it," Sohacki said. "With us, you just worry about where you want to go and when you want to leave and we worry about what happens after that."

ImagineAir and Let your Imagination Fly are trademarks of Imagine Air Jet Services, LLC. All other trademarks are registered trademarks are property of their respective owners.