FAST 5
You have made a number of changes at Honda Aircraft since assuming your role on April 1. How so? We have further strengthened the leadership structure within the company [and] seeing more teamwork. The way it was managed in the past was made possible due to Fujino’s knowledge and his expertise. He was able to manage almost anything across the company. He managed in a way where everyone reported to him directly. This also applied to the decision-making process, including the business sector of the company. However, I do not have the same background as Fujino. I have decided to build a strong team to further encourage collaboration for the team to work together. That is why I built a new team of leadership based on the company’s needs. What are your goals? We are looking into various things, such as the possibility of how this aircraft can be made more sustainable, where our potential customers are located, where the profit margins lie, etc. [We are] studying how we can fully extend our customer base. We have started working with commercial partnerships, such as Jet It and Volato recently, a good example of how we can do business. Beyond that, we are exploring what we can do for our downstream business. For upstream business, it is just selling aircraft and how we can leverage that into our business practice for sustainable business growth. All of what I have mentioned are in our project scope. With my team, especially with younger talent, we cannot rely on the success story from the past. We need to continue looking for new opportunities for our future. At the National Business Aviation Association Convention and Exhibition in October, Michimasa Fujino announced the all-new HondaJet 2600 single-pilot light jet concept with transcontinental capability. What is the status of the project? The development of the 2600 has never stopped. We have continued to explore and study various aspects and areas for the 2600 program since I have taken on this role. We are hoping to share updates by the end of this year. What are you projecting for deliveries in 2022? What are you seeing in demand? We continue to be No. 1 [in] delivery in the light jet category. Last year, we garnered 50% share of market in VLJ [very light jet]. Moving forward, the business focus I have is rather than volume focus, we want to focus on each customer’s touch point and bringing the best customer experience to each. Last year’s deliveries [37 were] based on inventory and new production. Due to the challenge on supply chain, we are seeing some impact on our production like many other companies. We may not be able to build as much as last year. Still, due to the growing demand, we have delivered all of the inventory we have. So the delivery number this year depends on how much our factory can produce, considering our production capacity amid this supply chain challenge. The market itself has shifted with COVID. Everyone was afraid of traveling in the initial stages of COVID, but the demand for travel has constantly been changing. People today are thinking, ‘How can I move myself around quickly utilizing a business jet?’ The new market has definitely been established and also expanded. However, with the current economic situation, we do not know what will happen tomorrow. Another challenge is the inventory situation. We have a backlog of two years and are working to fulfill this demand. Utilization is also high. Last year, we surpassed 100,00 total flight hours. In the first half of 2022, HondaJet has already surpassed 120,000 hours. The 100,000 was accumulation in the past six years. But just in the first half of 2022, we have already gained over 20,000 flight hours. This really shows that customers who purchased in the early phase mostly use HondaJet for private purposes, like having a Ferrari in their garage. Now, we see demand from a more commercial area or business use. For example, Jet It and Volato, who run superb programs, constantly have the aircraft in the air. We are discussing how we can help, such as providing a maintenance program to ensure that their aircraft maintains a high utilization rate. Their businesses are in high demand. The jets are in the air, and as a result, there are more flight hours. This is also beneficial for our business to remain sustainable, including maintenance, upgrade package and parts delivery. Honda Aircraft introduced the HondaJet Elite version of the HondaJet in 2018 and the Elite S 2021. What is the future? We have advanced technology available .... We are constantly seeking for an opportunity to bring HondaJet to the next level to meet our customers’ needs. We have had an upgrade model almost every two years. A focus on safety as well as effort on carbon neutrality has been implemented at Honda. We are also looking into technologies like situation awareness and augmentation to help reduce pilot workload. As an example, Elite S is equipped with ASAS (Advanced Steering Augmentation System), which helps pilot augmentation for steering. There are also other avionics features which help reduce pilot workload. We are constantly looking for ways to make our aircraft fun to fly but also with utmost safety features.
—Molly McMillin, a 25-year aviation journalist, is managing editor of business aviation for the Aviation Week Network and editor-in-chief of The Weekly of Business Aviation, an Aviation Week market intelligence report.
