In 2006,Raburn,who was one of Microsoft’s first executives and later bacame CEO of Symantec,plans to offer the Eclipse 500 to the private aviation market.The twin-engine jet plane will seat six and will sell for less than half the price of the current least expensive jets.the targeted price will be about 1 million,a real bargain by today’s standards.Raburn is aiming his jet at companies that operate jet taxis on short flights up to about 500 miles and businesspeople who cannot afford expensive corporate jets but who need the convenience of flexible air travel.”the new generation of very light jets will offer all the speed and safety of airline travel at a cost far below that of today’s private jet, ”says Raburn.”these aircraft are giving rise to a new industry known as ‘air taxis.’these services will cost little more than a full-fare coach ticket on many routes and will provide access to thousands of locations not served at all by airlines today.”Raburn estimates that the Eclipse 500 will fly at a cost of just 69 cents per mile.
Raburn is targeting a market that has been in a nosedive,just 384 business jets were shipped in 2003,down 44 percent from 2002,according to the General Aviation Manufacturers Association.Eclipse has 2100 orders for its budget jets,generating 75 million in deposits,and expects to ship 1500 a year once production begins.Raburn says Eclipse will reach 1 billion in annual revenue faster than any company in history except Amazon.com.