"It's never going to be cheaper than driving without the value of time, but with the time savings, it's a killer application," McAfee said.
As a demonstration, Barnea flew me from Santa Monica to John Wayne International Airport in Orange County on Wednesday.
At the airport, I was able to park 100 feet from the plane and was seated in the back seat of the aircraft in about five minutes. The plane, a Cirrus SR22, felt cramped, but there was still elbow room between me and Barnea, who took the other back seat.
There was enough room in the storage bin behind the seats to hold two small pieces of luggage and a golf bag. A bag less than 20 pounds is free, but there is a $15 fee if it weighs more than that. Passengers in a full plane can't carry more than 40 pounds of luggage each.
Before departing, the pilot gave quick instructions on pulling the emergency handle for the aircraft's parachute -- in case everyone else on board became incapacitated. The 55-foot parachute, a standard on the Cirrus plane, deploys from behind the cockpit and brings the aircraft down to the ground with an impact described as equivalent to jumping off a 10-foot ladder.
Within 15 minutes after I arrived at the airport, the plane was in the air, flying directly over the San Diego Freeway, where southbound traffic was bumper to bumper. Less than 20 minutes later, we were at John Wayne Airport, about to get into a rental car at a private terminal.
The flight, with a cruising speed of 200 miles an hour at 4,500 feet, was smooth and provided a panoramic view of the Los Angeles Basin. During the flight the pilot advised passengers that she could land the plane at any time if any of us felt sick. The plane passed near four airports -- LAX, Hawthorne, Torrance and Long Beach, any of which could have been used for landing.
It had taken all of about 35 minutes, from parking the car at Santa Monica Airport to getting into a rental car at John Wayne Airport. Earlier in the day, it took me one hour and 30 minutes to drive from John Wayne Airport to Santa Monica, navigating past an accident and three traffic choke points.
The fare for saving nearly an hour of travel time and much aggravation was $95 one way.
Under a computer algorithm that Barnea developed for Miwok's booking system, fares change constantly, reflecting the number of passengers on the flight, the distance of the route, the time of day when demand is the strongest and how the plane would have to be repositioned to pick up the next set of passengers.
