Eclipse Aviation News
Who is changing the way you travel in the 21st century? As part of T+L's 35th anniversary celebration, we're recognizing 35 innovators—from the designer whose mission is to provide extra legroom on planes to the scientist who's developed a non-addictive sleeping pill—who are making travel safer, sexier, and more streamlined than ever before.
Vern Raburn President and CEO of Eclipse Aviation, Albuquerquewww.eclipseaviation.com
Innovation Democratizing private-jet travel
Backstory In the nineties, frustrated that new iterations of light jets were becoming more expensive, Raburn developed his own. The Eclipse 500 is what he calls a VLJ (very light jet): a highly efficient six-seat, twin-engine aircraft. At press time, Raburn had sold more than 2,350 of the planes, which are scheduled to receive Federal Aviation Administration certification this year. His primary customers are "taxi in the sky" services like DayJet, which will sell seats for only a fraction more than domestic fares on legacy carriers—allowing business travelers who want to fly nonstop between regional airports a way to do so affordably.