The VLJs is just one of a new breed of small, powerful — and, yes, easy to fly — civilian jet planes poised to take off. Very Light Jets (VLJs) are loosely defined as jets with a gross weight below 10,000 pounds. They typically carry three to four passengers (in addition to two pilots) and cost from $1.5 million to $3 million, roughly half the price of current entry-level jets. Fuel and operating costs are also substantially lower. Yet these minijets don’t cut corners on performance, Some reach speeds of up to 450 mph at jetliner altitudes of 41,000 ft.

The VLJs are expected to open up jet flight to a whole new tier of private pilots, small businesses, fractional-ownership groups and regional air-taxi services. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) anticipates some 5000 VLJs in the air by 2017. “This is a real game changer for our industry,” FAA chief Marion Blakey told an enthusiastic crowd of plane buffs at the Oshkosh air show in Wisconsin last year.

A number of designs are currently in development, and will feature advanced avionics.

VLJs are intended to have lower operating costs than conventional jets, and will be able to operate from runways as short as . In the United States where the majority of these jets are being designed, NASA and the FAA have encouraged their development and foresee their widespread use in point-to-point air taxi service. The Small Aircraft Transportation System would provide air service to areas ignored by airlines.

These “on-demand” air taxi services depend on low cost projections and high demand to become a reality. The viability of these services is the subject of much debate among industry experts. Richard Aboulafia, an aviation industry expert and a self-described “VLJ agnostic”, believes that the VLJ phenomenon may turn out to be one of the greatest disappointments in the aviation industry, due to the hype and economic infeasibility of large-scale air-taxi operations.

In total, over 3,000 VLJs have been ordered from three manufacturers. Cessna Aircraft Company, based in Wichita, Kansas, delivered the first ever production VLJ, the six-seater Citation Mustang, to Mustang Management Group of Fresno, California on November 23, 2006. Cessna has over 500 orders for the Mustang, mainly from owner-operators. Cessna received full certification for the Mustang on September 8, 2006. Cessna received FAA certification to fly into “known icing conditions” on November 9, 2006. Cessna received its FAA Production Certificate for the Mustang on November 23, 2006.

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