FLOAT is a commuter air service that will begin in January 2020.
It’s looking like you can remove sitting in LA traffic from your life completely… but it’s going to cost you a pretty penny. UC-San Diego graduate Arnel Guiang co-founded a start-up service that will give Southern California residents the option to avoid traffic by flying to work instead.
FLOAT – which stands for Fly Over All Traffic – is a commuter air service that operates a fleet of nine-passenger planes to over 40 small airports in Southern California. Locations range everywhere from Hollywood Burbank Airport and John Wayne Airport to smaller airports in cities like Camarillo, Big Bear, and San Diego. “FLOAT is shattering the myth that sitting in hours of traffic every day is a necessary and unavoidable way of life in Southern California,” said Guiang.
A base membership with the air service with start off at $1,250 per month for flights five days a week, averaging each commute to be about $30. Customers will be able to walk onto a plane within a matter of minutes, using an app instead of going through lengthy security checks by the TSA.
Guiang said that he came up with the idea for FLOAT while he was working for Northrop Grumman in Los Angeles County, in which his commute averaged out to two to three hours a day. One day a coworker offered to fly him to work in a private plane and his commute was shortened by at least 20 minutes.
The service is targeting “super commuters” with 90+ minute commutes and people who have chosen to live in nice homes outside of the city due to the high costs of living in Southern California. The company has more than 700 people signed up so far.