While the coming very light jets have been widely touted as the tool for a new point-to-point on-demand transportation system, Bismarck, N.D., is making plans to move forward on that model with airplanes that are available now — the Cirrus SR22-GTS. City and state officials have been studying the plan for three years, and now are ready to award a contract to a private company that will run the local airline, called Point2Point Airways. The business plan calls for the company to start with five planes or fewer, and grow to 15 within two years, according to The Associated Press. The airline already has received more than $2 million in federal and state money. The routes would connect smaller cities such as Grand Forks, Bismarck, Fargo, and Duluth, Minn., that now have no direct air service.
