In February, DayJet, which provides jet service for regional business travel, flew past Tifton and expanded their service network to Macon, which became one of their 45 community airports in the Southeast. On Wednesday, Murphy Malcolm, manager of government and community affairs for the company, arrived in Tifton to speak to the Rotary Club about the business and the possibilities of locating in Tifton.

Malcolm had been invited to be the guest speaker at the Rotary Club by Jack Perry, who has volunteered to be the president of the chamber since Earl Denham resigned the post. In February, Perry had told The Gazette he would get in touch with DayJet about locating in Tifton and he did.

Malcolm told the club members, “It is not a question of if DayJet is coming (to Tifton) but when it is coming.” He said, “There is definitely an impetus building.”

Presently, DayJet does fly to Tifton but provides limited service. The next step would be for Tifton to become a DayStop and eventually become a DayPort.

In order for Tifton to become part of the DayJet network, Malcolm said there were three requirements: A demand for the services; the presence of infrastructure; and a community that is interested in and supports the services.

Malcolm stressed that DayJet is a new company and has only been operational for seven months. They have 28 jets and have 45 markets in five states. Ultimately they plan to have 300 aircraft and 200 locations.

“DayJet fills a transportation niche,” Malcolm said. He said they are looking for the businessman who has to drive for several hours to reach his destination. He likens the DayJet experience in flying to what happened with the personal computer when it became within reach of everyone.

The jets — Eclipse 500s — are small and light. “Our jet weighs under 6,000 pounds soaking wet,” Malcolm joked. They cost $1.5 million each, which is far below the price of other charter aircraft. The plane seats five people: Two pilots and three passengers and their overnight bags.

“It has green credentials,” Malcolm said. It is quieter than other jets, has low emissions and low energy requirements.

“Tifton doesn’t have per-seat service now,” Malcolm said. Residents here would have to rent the entire plane — or three seats — because Tifton is not yet a DayJet DayStop.

There is a small membership fee of $250 to be able to book a flight. There is no fee to go on the DayJet Web site at www.dayjet.com and get price quotes on flights. The best prices on flights will be ones where you have the largest “window” of flight times. You enter the latest time you can arrive and the earliest time you can leave and that will determine the price of the ticket. Most of the time the cost will be more than an airline ticket but less than a private charter of a King Air.

Malcolm said that he is acquainted with Brad Day, the newly hired chamber president who begins work today. He said that Day was instrumental in bringing DayJet to Tallahassee, which has proved to be one of their busiest DayPorts.

Malcolm said he wanted to encourage Tifton residents to visit the DayJet Web site and become familiar with their services and look at their price quotes.

“Once you try us, you’re hooked,” he said. He gave the example of the business man who had already flown DayJet 50 times from Boca Raton to Gainesville, saving countless hours in driving time.