WEBVTT - Bloomberg Businessweek Weekend - April 12th, 2024 0:00:00.120 --> 0:00:06.800 Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio news. 0:00:08.400 --> 0:00:12.799 This is Bloomberg Business Week Inside from the reporters and 0:00:12.960 --> 0:00:16.520 editors who bring you America's most trusted business magazine, plus 0:00:16.600 --> 0:00:20.760 global business, finance and tech news. The Bloomberg Business Week 0:00:20.760 --> 0:00:25.720 Podcast with Carol Messer and Tim Stenebeck from Bloomberg Radio. 0:00:27.280 --> 0:00:30.160 Har Everyone, Welcome to the Bloomberg Business Wee Weekend Podcast. 0:00:30.720 --> 0:00:33.240 This week, a key US price gauge top forecast for 0:00:33.280 --> 0:00:36.400 our third straight month on gains and rents and transportation costs. 0:00:36.760 --> 0:00:40.280 Banning fears it will stick and delay FED interest rate cuts, 0:00:40.320 --> 0:00:42.839 We've really rolled back our expectations when it comes to 0:00:42.840 --> 0:00:46.760 FED moves this year. This hour, though, on transportation, we've 0:00:46.800 --> 0:00:49.960 got David Neilman. He's the founder of five commercial airlines, 0:00:49.960 --> 0:00:53.080 including Jeff Blue and Breeze. He stops by to talk 0:00:53.120 --> 0:00:55.920 pricing and more. We also take a look at Delta's 0:00:55.920 --> 0:00:58.080 results and the revival of business travel. 0:00:58.320 --> 0:01:02.000 Also ahead, speaking of the sky, the eclipse. Did you 0:01:02.000 --> 0:01:02.600 see it, Carol? 0:01:03.000 --> 0:01:04.880 I did, courtesy of the NASA livestream. 0:01:04.959 --> 0:01:07.440 Okay, well, live stream was pretty cool. I actually got 0:01:07.440 --> 0:01:10.679 to venture outside, as did millions of Americans. Some thirty 0:01:10.720 --> 0:01:14.000 million people live in the path of totality. That's according 0:01:14.000 --> 0:01:16.679 to NASA, and lots more got to check it out. 0:01:16.680 --> 0:01:18.959 We had people traveling from all over to the path 0:01:18.959 --> 0:01:21.000 of totality to check out the eclipse. Maybe you'll be 0:01:21.000 --> 0:01:23.160 able to view the next eclipse though from way up 0:01:23.160 --> 0:01:25.680 in the sky. Very cool on a space balloon. How 0:01:25.680 --> 0:01:28.039 does that sound even cooler? Okay, we're gonna explain how 0:01:28.040 --> 0:01:29.360 you can do that with the co founder and co 0:01:29.480 --> 0:01:31.880 CEO of Space Perspective Gene Pointers. 0:01:31.920 --> 0:01:34.919 Sign me up, plus the top ten global stocks to watch, 0:01:35.040 --> 0:01:37.200 and a double dose of golf the putter used by 0:01:37.200 --> 0:01:39.679 Tiger Woods and others that's turned a brand into an 0:01:39.720 --> 0:01:43.480 asset class and the on again, off again, on again 0:01:43.640 --> 0:01:45.919 trauma of the PGA Tour and live golf. 0:01:46.080 --> 0:01:48.120 All of that to come. We begin with Boeing, though 0:01:48.200 --> 0:01:51.440 some news this week. The company facing a deepening crisis 0:01:51.520 --> 0:01:54.520 of confidence after deliveries in the first quarter dipped the 0:01:54.560 --> 0:01:58.000 lowest since mid twenty twenty one. Also, a longtime Boeing 0:01:58.040 --> 0:02:01.520 engineer alleged that the company took me manufacturing shortcuts on 0:02:01.600 --> 0:02:03.920 its seven eighty seven Dreamliner aircraft. 0:02:03.960 --> 0:02:06.520 Yeah, the woes continue for Boeing, and this also as 0:02:06.520 --> 0:02:08.520 a reminder of how far the plane maker has to 0:02:08.560 --> 0:02:11.200 go on its road to recovery from a near catastrophic 0:02:11.280 --> 0:02:14.880 accident early in January. No doubt major airlines are watching 0:02:14.960 --> 0:02:17.679 for what comes next from Boeing, which brings us to 0:02:17.720 --> 0:02:22.000 an individual well known in the commercial aviation industry, David Nilman. 0:02:22.240 --> 0:02:25.239 David is the founder and CEO of Breeze Airways. He's 0:02:25.280 --> 0:02:28.320 also a disruptor in the space, having founded five airlines, 0:02:28.360 --> 0:02:31.919 including Jet Blue, WestJet, and now Breeze Airways. We got 0:02:31.919 --> 0:02:34.480 his take on Boeing, how summer demand is shaping up, 0:02:34.800 --> 0:02:36.520 and the growth of his newest company. 0:02:36.639 --> 0:02:38.760 We actually made our first profit. We've made a profit 0:02:38.800 --> 0:02:41.079 in March and we expect to be profitable for the year. 0:02:41.680 --> 0:02:43.960 And you know, this is in a year where you know, 0:02:44.000 --> 0:02:46.600 some of the ulccs are really struggling, and you know, 0:02:46.600 --> 0:02:48.800 I'm just really proud of our team. We've really carved 0:02:48.800 --> 0:02:52.239 out at really great niche where people love flying on Breeze, 0:02:52.440 --> 0:02:56.000 They love the airplanes, the service. We have almost two 0:02:56.080 --> 0:02:59.040 hundred routes and ninety percent of them we have no 0:02:59.040 --> 0:03:01.639 NonStop competition, but there are routes of people really love 0:03:01.800 --> 0:03:05.320 to fly, and so that's really, you know, the most 0:03:05.919 --> 0:03:09.160 important thing for us is profitability and continue to grow 0:03:09.240 --> 0:03:11.960 and continuing to find great new markets and maturing the 0:03:12.000 --> 0:03:13.120 markets that we have today. 0:03:13.440 --> 0:03:15.760 So talk to us a little bit about fares holding 0:03:15.840 --> 0:03:17.840 up in this class. I mean, it feels like there 0:03:17.880 --> 0:03:20.040 are a lot of budget seats in the market. I mean, 0:03:20.280 --> 0:03:22.320 talk to us a little bit about fares and pricing 0:03:22.400 --> 0:03:24.840 and summer demand. How you're starting to see that shape up. 0:03:25.000 --> 0:03:26.880 Well, it's good. I mean we had a good first quarter. 0:03:26.960 --> 0:03:28.880 You know, it was interesting. We did more revenue in 0:03:28.880 --> 0:03:31.040 March than we did the whole first quarter of last year. 0:03:31.280 --> 0:03:34.440 Kind of shows you our growth. April looks good. You know, 0:03:34.480 --> 0:03:36.680 May is May. It's a bit of a transition month 0:03:36.720 --> 0:03:39.480 where we move a lot of our north south flying 0:03:39.520 --> 0:03:42.720 to east west. So you know, May looks pretty good, 0:03:42.720 --> 0:03:46.240 and then June summer looks strong and you know, holding 0:03:46.240 --> 0:03:49.840 our projections for a profitable years. So you know, it's 0:03:49.880 --> 0:03:52.480 interesting because we have kind of a base fair that's 0:03:53.000 --> 0:03:55.400 you know, kind of like a basic economy that everybody 0:03:55.440 --> 0:03:57.680 else has, and then the jump ups where you go 0:03:57.760 --> 0:04:00.680 from the nice nicer to nicest where you get into 0:04:00.720 --> 0:04:01.640 a first class seat. 0:04:01.800 --> 0:04:02.440 Isn't that bad? 0:04:02.480 --> 0:04:03.480 And people love it. 0:04:03.640 --> 0:04:07.040 May David, I'm interested in the fleet airbus A two 0:04:07.080 --> 0:04:10.480 twenties Embraer, one nineties and one ninety fives. How are 0:04:10.480 --> 0:04:14.240 you able to survive with such a small airplane when 0:04:14.320 --> 0:04:17.080 it seems like everybody else is increasing the size of 0:04:17.120 --> 0:04:21.000 the planes that they're using to offset those higher pilot salaries. 0:04:21.600 --> 0:04:24.600 That's a great question, It's a really great question. So 0:04:25.200 --> 0:04:28.600 the Embryers we use primarily for charters. We do have 0:04:28.640 --> 0:04:30.560 a little bit of schedule service with them, and they're 0:04:30.560 --> 0:04:32.279 going away by the end of this year, and it'll 0:04:32.279 --> 0:04:35.400 be all two twenties the one nineties. In the month 0:04:35.400 --> 0:04:39.080 of March, we did almost six hundred charters that we flew, 0:04:39.839 --> 0:04:42.359 you know, for NCAA, March Madness. 0:04:41.920 --> 0:04:42.600 And all of that. 0:04:42.760 --> 0:04:45.760 So we use those planes primarily for that operation, and 0:04:45.800 --> 0:04:48.839 our pilots and flight crews do a great job. Now 0:04:48.839 --> 0:04:51.400 the two twenty you're right, I mean, pilot salaries have 0:04:51.440 --> 0:04:55.080 gone up, and fortunately the pilot shortage situation in the 0:04:55.200 --> 0:04:59.719 US has really gotten better, much much better, you know, 0:04:59.760 --> 0:05:02.600 with with pilots getting ready to be laid off at 0:05:02.600 --> 0:05:05.159 some airlines and a lot of airlines not hiring and 0:05:05.200 --> 0:05:07.520 a lot of that's because of buoying deliveries, but because 0:05:07.560 --> 0:05:11.680 the two twenties so efficient on fuel burn and maintenance costs. 0:05:11.760 --> 0:05:13.880 You know, we only have one hundred and thirty seven seats, 0:05:13.880 --> 0:05:18.440 and our trip cost, we believe is about twenty percent lower, 0:05:18.480 --> 0:05:21.680 fifteen to twenty percent lower than a three twenty and 0:05:21.800 --> 0:05:24.240 a lot of our competitors fly a three twenties, you know, 0:05:24.320 --> 0:05:28.080 be it Spirit or Frontier or Allegiant or Jeff Blue. 0:05:28.240 --> 0:05:31.080 So we can fly for twenty percent lower, and that 0:05:31.200 --> 0:05:33.919 just opens up an exponential amount of routes that we 0:05:33.920 --> 0:05:36.320 can fly because we have lower trip costs, because the 0:05:36.360 --> 0:05:39.279 plane is new and it's efficient, and you know, has 0:05:39.360 --> 0:05:41.520 these long ranges, so we can do these long, thin 0:05:41.640 --> 0:05:44.800 routes as well. So you know, yeah, I mean what 0:05:44.880 --> 0:05:47.040 Spirits I think is really struggling trying to figure out 0:05:47.080 --> 0:05:48.520 what do I do with a two hundred and forty 0:05:48.520 --> 0:05:51.320 seed airplane. I got a fly where everybody else is 0:05:51.760 --> 0:05:54.440 and you know the other everybody else is not, you know, 0:05:54.520 --> 0:05:58.040 being kind of late to them where eighty percent of 0:05:58.080 --> 0:06:01.280 their routes they have NonStop competition. Ninety percent of our 0:06:01.360 --> 0:06:03.080 routes we have known on sub competition. 0:06:03.560 --> 0:06:07.080 You know, David, You've used Airbus planes a lot in 0:06:07.120 --> 0:06:10.440 your timeline and creation of five different carriers, if you will, 0:06:10.680 --> 0:06:13.039 And you had the Airbus three twenties, right, a big 0:06:13.080 --> 0:06:16.840 part of Jet Blue back then. I'm just curious what 0:06:16.880 --> 0:06:19.719 you make of what's going on with Boeing in trouble again, 0:06:19.760 --> 0:06:22.800 if you will. And you know it's a duopoly, right, 0:06:22.839 --> 0:06:24.680 it's either Airbus or Bowing at this point. But I'm 0:06:24.720 --> 0:06:26.600 just curious how you were thinking about Boeing in its 0:06:26.640 --> 0:06:29.200 future here, and why don't you choose more Boeings. 0:06:29.360 --> 0:06:32.200 My first airline more Sarah had Boyings and I love Boying, 0:06:32.240 --> 0:06:35.279 and I went up to Boying and was fully intent 0:06:35.360 --> 0:06:38.960 on buying seven thirty seven's for Jet Blue. We couldn't 0:06:38.960 --> 0:06:40.920 come to an agreement, so we went and met with Airbus. 0:06:41.000 --> 0:06:43.520 Airbus just sold me that they had a better product, 0:06:43.640 --> 0:06:46.599 a better airplane now, better, our customers would love it more, 0:06:47.240 --> 0:06:50.000 you know, fly by wire or just so many other advantages, 0:06:50.160 --> 0:06:53.280 better fuel burn, and it was just a newer technology. 0:06:53.360 --> 0:06:56.000 It was a newer technology airplane. So I picked Airbus 0:06:56.000 --> 0:06:58.679 at that time. Now, the reason I picked it wasn't 0:06:58.960 --> 0:07:01.400 because of safety. It was just because it was a 0:07:01.400 --> 0:07:04.160 better airplane for US, and it was a better airplane 0:07:04.200 --> 0:07:04.919 for our customers. 0:07:05.279 --> 0:07:07.120 I find seven thirty seven's. 0:07:06.800 --> 0:07:07.799 On a weekly basis. 0:07:07.800 --> 0:07:10.440 They just got off a United seven thirty seven last week. 0:07:10.800 --> 0:07:14.480 I feel one percent safe. I have total confidence in Boeing. 0:07:14.880 --> 0:07:17.600 Obviously they're going through a rough patch here, you know, 0:07:17.720 --> 0:07:21.840 but there's the safety record in the United States for 0:07:21.920 --> 0:07:25.239 all commercial carriers is unbelievable. I mean, if you look back, 0:07:25.560 --> 0:07:28.280 it's hard to find the last major accident by a 0:07:28.320 --> 0:07:32.240 Boying airplane, you know, in the United States, and it's 0:07:32.360 --> 0:07:35.640 really difficult. So my heart goes out to Boying. I 0:07:35.680 --> 0:07:37.680 know they're going through it. I know that this will 0:07:37.680 --> 0:07:40.120 make them a better company, and I expect them to 0:07:40.120 --> 0:07:41.440 come out of it stronger than ever. 0:07:41.760 --> 0:07:44.640 That was the founder and CEO of Breeze Airways, David Neilman. 0:07:44.880 --> 0:07:47.560 While we're talking about airlines Delta this week, even earnings 0:07:47.560 --> 0:07:50.080 outlook that top to Wall Street estimates thanks to a 0:07:50.120 --> 0:07:52.960 step up in corporate travel and steady leisure demand heading 0:07:53.000 --> 0:07:56.120 into summer. The stock came under though some pressure following 0:07:56.120 --> 0:07:59.960 those results, as did the overall airlines group. Following us 0:08:00.000 --> 0:08:03.120 it's inflation data that showed airfares dropped seven point one 0:08:03.160 --> 0:08:05.560 percent in March from the prior year. That tim was 0:08:05.600 --> 0:08:07.800 the biggest decrease since November bottom line. 0:08:08.000 --> 0:08:09.920 We wanted to hear more about Delta, and so we 0:08:10.000 --> 0:08:13.160 checked in with Bloomberg News US airlines reporter Mary Schlangenstein. 0:08:13.320 --> 0:08:17.120 What Delta talked about primarily was one that their operations, 0:08:17.120 --> 0:08:21.120 their flight operations have really improved this year, and they're 0:08:21.160 --> 0:08:23.040 not alone in doing that. There hasn't been a lot 0:08:23.040 --> 0:08:24.760 of bad weather, and a lot of the airlines were 0:08:24.760 --> 0:08:28.400 performing better operationally. But they're also talking about a big 0:08:28.440 --> 0:08:31.880 factor being the return of some of the corporate travel 0:08:32.720 --> 0:08:35.199 accounts that were lagging. The areas that were lagging like 0:08:35.360 --> 0:08:39.240 tech and financial services, they're finally seeing those companies come back, 0:08:39.559 --> 0:08:42.560 so that managed corporate travel revenue is back to twenty 0:08:42.679 --> 0:08:46.120 nineteen levels. Volumes are still lagging, but the revenue is 0:08:46.160 --> 0:08:47.280 returned to twenty nineteen. 0:08:47.920 --> 0:08:51.880 Remind us Mary about where Delta gets its revenue mix 0:08:51.920 --> 0:08:54.280 in terms of domestic versus international. 0:08:54.320 --> 0:08:58.199 Here, Yeah, they're still more heavily domestic. But the differentiator 0:08:58.200 --> 0:09:00.360 for Delta is so much of their revenue comes from 0:09:00.480 --> 0:09:05.040 premium products. So in the first quarter, their premium product 0:09:05.360 --> 0:09:08.960 revenue rows ten percent, main cabin only rows four percent, 0:09:09.280 --> 0:09:12.280 and that's been a pretty consistent thing for them. They 0:09:12.480 --> 0:09:16.680 really focus on that premium customer and their cells have 0:09:16.760 --> 0:09:19.680 been leaning more toward that area for some time. 0:09:20.040 --> 0:09:23.360 But since they're more heavily domestic, how much were they 0:09:23.400 --> 0:09:25.920 affected by a slowdown into potential slow down in domestic 0:09:25.960 --> 0:09:30.360 travel and an increase of late in international travel. 0:09:31.120 --> 0:09:33.920 So international travel has been really strong since last year, 0:09:33.960 --> 0:09:37.120 and Delta saying it continues to be really strong, even 0:09:37.160 --> 0:09:40.000 across the Atlantic, where there were concerns early on that 0:09:40.200 --> 0:09:42.400 there was too much capacity in that market this year, 0:09:42.440 --> 0:09:45.199 but Delta says there's plenty of demand. They see demand 0:09:45.240 --> 0:09:48.800 strong to the Pacific and Latin America. Domestically, they're saying 0:09:48.840 --> 0:09:51.440 demands picked up too. They're picking up some travel, they 0:09:51.440 --> 0:09:55.840 think from the domestic focus carriers that are having to 0:09:55.880 --> 0:10:02.480 rejuggle their schedules and redo their operating scheduled because of 0:10:02.559 --> 0:10:04.559 some conditions specific to the domestic market. 0:10:04.559 --> 0:10:06.920 You're talking about Boeing or Spirit. 0:10:07.920 --> 0:10:12.120 We're talking about domestic focus carriers like Spirit, Allegiant, even 0:10:12.200 --> 0:10:13.240 Jet Blue to some expensis. 0:10:13.280 --> 0:10:15.120 Okay, Hey, Mary, one thing I wanted to ask you. 0:10:15.160 --> 0:10:19.400 The CEO at Baston saying in your story that you 0:10:19.559 --> 0:10:23.679 noted is that while revenue acceleration has brought the carrier 0:10:23.679 --> 0:10:25.680 back fully to twenty nineteen levels, you just said that 0:10:25.720 --> 0:10:28.880 earlier volume remains eighty five to ninety percent of pre 0:10:28.960 --> 0:10:31.960 pandemic levels. Does that mean so Yay Delta has more 0:10:31.960 --> 0:10:34.920 of a runway to kind of grow that and grow 0:10:35.000 --> 0:10:37.280 the revenue line or is it? How are I don't know. 0:10:37.320 --> 0:10:39.800 How is the industry rethinking about the levels that were 0:10:39.960 --> 0:10:42.280 pre pandemic and where we are do we go back 0:10:42.280 --> 0:10:43.520 to those levels at some point? 0:10:43.800 --> 0:10:46.719 Well, on business travel in particular, I think that they 0:10:46.760 --> 0:10:49.160 believe that there's some segment of that volume that's just 0:10:49.200 --> 0:10:52.640 not going to come back because they're still seeing, you know, 0:10:52.720 --> 0:10:56.160 a permanency to some of the change travel patterns where 0:10:56.200 --> 0:11:00.520 people are taking you know, to blend leisure travel andsiness travel. 0:11:00.559 --> 0:11:03.199 So their business trip may be longer, they maybe aren't 0:11:03.200 --> 0:11:06.360 traveling as frequently as they did before. So I think 0:11:06.640 --> 0:11:08.760 part of the volume is always going to be gone. 0:11:09.400 --> 0:11:14.240 I think the revenue even on non business travel has 0:11:14.280 --> 0:11:17.040 exceeded twenty nineteen levels already, and so as the volume 0:11:17.040 --> 0:11:18.000 for leisure travel. 0:11:18.160 --> 0:11:21.960 Mary my head is on the equipment providers Airbus, Bowing 0:11:22.040 --> 0:11:26.800 and Braier Bambardier, all of which provide aircraft to Delta. 0:11:27.320 --> 0:11:30.080 I'm wondering, since it does have a mixed fleet, was 0:11:30.080 --> 0:11:32.240 was there any commentary about Boeing on the call? 0:11:32.679 --> 0:11:36.800 Not a lot. You know, Delta does primarily fly Boeing aircraft. 0:11:36.800 --> 0:11:39.040 They don't currently fly the Max. They have the Max 0:11:39.040 --> 0:11:41.520 ten on order, but they don't expect to receive that 0:11:41.559 --> 0:11:45.320 for about three years yet. But what CEO ed Baston 0:11:45.400 --> 0:11:47.120 did say was that you know, safety is a top 0:11:47.160 --> 0:11:50.760 priority across the industry and that every day, you know, 0:11:50.840 --> 0:11:53.800 that's the top priority for every airline. So he didn't 0:11:53.800 --> 0:11:56.839 comment specifically on Boeing, and he didn't comment specifically on 0:11:56.880 --> 0:12:01.199 the safety incidents that have been currying cross the industry recently, 0:12:01.280 --> 0:12:02.880 but just said that's a top priority. 0:12:03.160 --> 0:12:04.040 He did say in an. 0:12:04.000 --> 0:12:06.680 Interview I had with him yesterday that he knows the 0:12:06.720 --> 0:12:09.200 new chairman at Boeing is familiar with him, and he 0:12:09.280 --> 0:12:11.560 expects that at some point he will talk to him 0:12:11.840 --> 0:12:13.880 about any concerns about Boeing itself. 0:12:14.000 --> 0:12:16.720 Has there been any chatter about them changing their order 0:12:16.960 --> 0:12:19.640 of those new Max planes that have not yet been 0:12:19.679 --> 0:12:22.600 delivered to Airbus if that isn't even a possibility given 0:12:22.760 --> 0:12:24.120 the airbus supply constraints. 0:12:24.480 --> 0:12:27.800 They just placed that order recently, they haven't had it 0:12:27.800 --> 0:12:30.320 for very long, and I don't think there's any consideration 0:12:30.400 --> 0:12:33.520 at this point. The deliveries are due farther out. That 0:12:33.600 --> 0:12:35.440 gives plenty of time for the Max ten to be 0:12:35.520 --> 0:12:38.840 certified before their deliveries come up, and even for Delta 0:12:38.960 --> 0:12:41.079 for Boeing to catch up on some production. So I 0:12:41.120 --> 0:12:42.880 don't think that's being considered right now. 0:12:43.080 --> 0:12:46.520 That's Bloomberg News US Airlines reporter Mary Schlangenstein coming up. 0:12:46.559 --> 0:12:48.600 Sure, you could get on a plane, but how about 0:12:48.640 --> 0:12:52.000 floating up into Earth's upper atmosphere at a cool twelve 0:12:52.040 --> 0:12:54.560 miles per hour via a ship launched balloon. 0:12:54.600 --> 0:12:56.400 What do you think? Maybe a nice little glass of 0:12:56.480 --> 0:12:58.679 champagne to go along with it? Well, the co founder 0:12:58.720 --> 0:13:01.920 and co CEO Space PERSPECTI coming up next. You're listening 0:13:01.920 --> 0:13:06.200 to Bloomberg BusinessWeek. This is Bloomberg. You're listening to the 0:13:06.280 --> 0:13:10.400 Bloomberg Business Week podcast. Catch us live weekday afternoons from 0:13:10.440 --> 0:13:13.080 two to five pm Eastern Listen on Apple car Play 0:13:13.160 --> 0:13:15.680 and and Brout Auto with a Bloomberg Business act or 0:13:15.720 --> 0:13:16.920 watched us live on. 0:13:16.840 --> 0:13:21.560 YouTube this past Monday, millions across North America took a 0:13:21.600 --> 0:13:24.160 break from whatever they were doing to stare up at 0:13:24.160 --> 0:13:28.000 the sky and take in in person, possibly a once 0:13:28.040 --> 0:13:31.920 in a lifetime cosmic wonder, a total solar eclipse. And Tim, 0:13:31.960 --> 0:13:33.839 you even left the studio to give us a live 0:13:33.880 --> 0:13:35.400 report while it was happening. I mean, I got to 0:13:35.400 --> 0:13:37.040 say you were giddy kind of leading up into it. 0:13:37.120 --> 0:13:38.760 Yeah, it was pretty excited. I mean I have memories 0:13:38.800 --> 0:13:40.880 from when I was a little kid, probably five or 0:13:40.880 --> 0:13:42.880 six years old, checking out the eclipse at summer camp 0:13:43.040 --> 0:13:43.760 with those boxes. 0:13:43.880 --> 0:13:45.840 Yeah, like we used to make right with the holes 0:13:45.840 --> 0:13:46.120 and like. 0:13:46.120 --> 0:13:49.600 I don't know, yeah, the whole projectors right. Unfortunately, New 0:13:49.679 --> 0:13:52.320 York City was overcome by a massive cloud during most 0:13:52.320 --> 0:13:56.199 of the eclipse. However, it's still was pretty cool all right. 0:13:56.200 --> 0:13:58.720 Even rarer but hoping to become more common, is floating 0:13:58.760 --> 0:14:01.520 up into Earth's upper atmosphere at a cool twelve miles 0:14:01.559 --> 0:14:04.800 per hour. It all happens on a ship launched balloon 0:14:04.920 --> 0:14:08.040 in a sixteen foot spherical capsule up to one hundred 0:14:08.080 --> 0:14:10.760 thousand feet. I mean, Tim, forget about watching, Like we said, 0:14:10.760 --> 0:14:12.640 the next eclipse from New York. How about taking a 0:14:12.679 --> 0:14:13.720 tour to space itself. 0:14:13.760 --> 0:14:16.520 Yeah, okay, it could potentially become a reality. It's going 0:14:16.559 --> 0:14:19.160 to cost you though, one hundred and twenty five thousand dollars. 0:14:19.480 --> 0:14:21.200 After three hours, though, you'll be able to look out 0:14:21.240 --> 0:14:23.440 the windows and see something very few people have been 0:14:23.440 --> 0:14:26.240 able to see, large portions of land and sea, the 0:14:26.320 --> 0:14:28.960 rimmed curvature of the Earth, and of course millions of stars. 0:14:29.400 --> 0:14:32.080 That's all part of the experienced Space Perspective is looking 0:14:32.120 --> 0:14:34.240 to provide. So for more on this, we checked in 0:14:34.280 --> 0:14:37.440 with the co founder and co CEO Space Perspective, Jane Pointer. 0:14:37.680 --> 0:14:40.520 We are wanting to take as many people as possible 0:14:40.560 --> 0:14:44.680 to space. Only six hundred and fifty people have ever 0:14:44.720 --> 0:14:47.640 been to space and the entire history of humanity, which 0:14:47.680 --> 0:14:49.600 is kind of crazy to think about. 0:14:49.800 --> 0:14:52.640 And that that includes people like Jeff Bezos who've gone 0:14:52.920 --> 0:14:54.000 via Blue Origin. 0:14:54.080 --> 0:14:56.960 Or Neil Armstrong or Neil Yeah, yeah, yeah. 0:14:56.840 --> 0:14:59.200 That includes everybody, Yeah, everybody. 0:14:59.240 --> 0:15:01.600 Would you do you can number of people do you 0:15:01.640 --> 0:15:05.120 consider one hundred thousand feet above earth space? 0:15:06.360 --> 0:15:06.520 Oh? 0:15:06.600 --> 0:15:09.000 Yeah, actually so, I mean, look, it's an interesting question. 0:15:10.160 --> 0:15:12.840 There really is no universal definition of space. 0:15:13.000 --> 0:15:16.880 Actually, and we, as you said, we are above ninety 0:15:16.920 --> 0:15:20.160 nine percent of the atmosphere. That last one percent stretches 0:15:20.440 --> 0:15:22.840 way past the International Space Station. 0:15:23.440 --> 0:15:24.800 So in as it is a. 0:15:24.760 --> 0:15:27.880 Space environment, it's a vacuum outside the enormous windows we 0:15:28.000 --> 0:15:31.040 fly to space, and then we're also regulated by the 0:15:31.160 --> 0:15:36.120 FAA's Office of Commercial Space Transportation as a spacecraft. So yeah, 0:15:36.160 --> 0:15:38.720 we're we're definitely in space. You could say we're at 0:15:38.720 --> 0:15:39.400 the edge of space. 0:15:39.440 --> 0:15:41.000 But what would you say to critics? You say, Okay, 0:15:41.040 --> 0:15:43.880 we actually think and like, again, there's no universal definition 0:15:43.920 --> 0:15:46.360 of it. But critics might say, Okay, we think it's 0:15:46.560 --> 0:15:53.200 one hundred kilometers above Earth, we think it's three hundred arbitrary. 0:15:54.120 --> 0:15:56.680 Yeah, no, I mean, look, it's a little arbitrary. And 0:15:56.880 --> 0:16:01.360 the most important thing is that what our customers are 0:16:01.400 --> 0:16:05.720 getting is access to that quintessential astronaut experience of seeing 0:16:05.760 --> 0:16:09.720 us from space. I mean, that is what's important, and 0:16:10.080 --> 0:16:13.320 that's what we're offering, and we're offering it in a 0:16:13.400 --> 0:16:17.520 way that is really accessible, right. I Mean, when most 0:16:17.560 --> 0:16:22.040 people think about spaceflight, they think about rockets, they think 0:16:22.080 --> 0:16:25.600 about the high g forces that some describers like having 0:16:25.640 --> 0:16:27.800 an elephant sitting on your chest, or the you know, 0:16:27.840 --> 0:16:32.120 the constricting spacesuits, the training, the uncomfortable capsule. I mean, 0:16:32.160 --> 0:16:34.280 let's face it, it may be thrilling for those who 0:16:34.280 --> 0:16:37.440 want that kind of thing, but it is not very comfortable. 0:16:37.440 --> 0:16:39.520 You're not going to take your family or your grandma 0:16:40.120 --> 0:16:43.520 on a rocket to space. For the most part. However, 0:16:43.760 --> 0:16:47.120 what we are doing as Space Perspective is a very 0:16:47.160 --> 0:16:50.800 different kind of experience, whereby it truly is something that 0:16:50.840 --> 0:16:52.760 you can take your family on. It's a family friendly 0:16:52.880 --> 0:16:56.720 version of going to space because it's so gentle. And 0:16:56.800 --> 0:17:01.800 then you get that outrageous view seeing our help. 0:17:01.240 --> 0:17:04.000 Me out your work looking at your website. So tell me, 0:17:04.040 --> 0:17:06.920 I'm seeing this white looks like a balloon, I mean, 0:17:07.160 --> 0:17:10.159 tell me how it all works. And are these actually 0:17:10.280 --> 0:17:13.560 up in space yet and tested or give you an idea? 0:17:14.000 --> 0:17:16.000 Yeah, so, yes, what you're seeing there is a space 0:17:16.040 --> 0:17:18.359 balloon at the top, and underneath it is as a 0:17:18.400 --> 0:17:22.840 pressurized capsule. So if you can get on a commercial airplane, 0:17:23.200 --> 0:17:27.280 then you can get on spaceship Neptune. That that is 0:17:27.359 --> 0:17:32.359 the idea of the design. And indeed, many of these 0:17:32.400 --> 0:17:34.360 space balloons have been flown before. 0:17:34.720 --> 0:17:36.560 You know, most people have never heard of them. 0:17:36.840 --> 0:17:40.680 But they've actually been flown over a thousand times by NASA, 0:17:41.520 --> 0:17:45.479 European Space Agency by some of our team members as well, 0:17:45.880 --> 0:17:47.680 and in the last twenty years there have been no 0:17:47.760 --> 0:17:51.320 incident in space. So it's this legacy technology that what's 0:17:51.440 --> 0:17:54.760 technically called a zero pressure balloon that we're using, and 0:17:55.040 --> 0:17:59.520 actually my co founder and I have taken people higher 0:17:59.520 --> 0:18:02.560 than we're going. We've carried capsules larger and heavier than 0:18:02.920 --> 0:18:05.480 in spaceship Neptune, So we've really done every aspect of 0:18:05.480 --> 0:18:07.520 this before. And we did an initial test flight a 0:18:07.560 --> 0:18:10.720 couple of years ago, and now we're getting into a 0:18:11.080 --> 0:18:15.359 full on series of uncrewed test flights with our test 0:18:15.400 --> 0:18:18.400 capsule Excelsior, that is exactly the same as the one 0:18:18.440 --> 0:18:20.040 that we're all going to be flying to space on. 0:18:20.480 --> 0:18:22.880 How does it get into space? What's the proposal? 0:18:22.920 --> 0:18:26.840 So it's buoyancy control, So there's a gas inside the 0:18:26.840 --> 0:18:29.520 balloon that is lighter than the air around it, and 0:18:29.680 --> 0:18:33.440 it literally lifts it up off You mentioned earlier that 0:18:33.480 --> 0:18:36.440 we do laugemanship, so it lifts it up and then 0:18:36.520 --> 0:18:39.280 wants your in space, and you know we've hung out 0:18:39.320 --> 0:18:42.440 and hung at our bar and had your. 0:18:42.960 --> 0:18:44.080 Your meal or whatever it is. 0:18:44.080 --> 0:18:46.560 You're going to do in space, your wedding, your played 0:18:46.600 --> 0:18:50.080 your music. We let out a little bit of gas 0:18:50.240 --> 0:18:54.560 which then brings it very gently back down to the 0:18:54.560 --> 0:18:57.600 ocean for a splash down. So it's exactly the same 0:18:57.640 --> 0:19:00.639 as like For example, some people ask me, doesn't he 0:19:00.680 --> 0:19:02.920 just keep on? Why doesn't he keep on going out 0:19:02.920 --> 0:19:06.480 to space? Think of it like an ice cube floating 0:19:06.480 --> 0:19:10.760 on top of water. The space balloon is literally floating 0:19:10.960 --> 0:19:12.360 on top of the atmosphere. 0:19:13.119 --> 0:19:16.639 So, Jane, one interesting thing about this is that you 0:19:16.720 --> 0:19:21.679 launch from a ship. Why choose to launch from a 0:19:21.720 --> 0:19:24.080 ship in the ocean rather than from dry land. 0:19:25.119 --> 0:19:29.920 Yeah, it was a game changing decision for the company actually, 0:19:30.800 --> 0:19:34.040 So you would think, surely it's easier, less complicated to 0:19:34.119 --> 0:19:36.200 launch from the land. Well, I mean, yes, I suppose, 0:19:36.320 --> 0:19:41.320 But the issue is, just like a rocket launch, there 0:19:41.400 --> 0:19:45.439 are weather sensitivities. So what the ship does for us, 0:19:45.440 --> 0:19:48.199 it does many things. We can move the ship with 0:19:48.280 --> 0:19:50.159 the wind and the direction of the wind, so we 0:19:50.200 --> 0:19:53.159 can create almost perfect launch conditions over the ship in 0:19:53.560 --> 0:19:56.800