Charles smiled, his white teeth and gray hair recognizable to the viewers from many years of wide publicity.
“It’s going great, thank you for asking. In five more days, the Fend 100 will be airborne, and I wanted to thank you for having me on your show to talk about it.”
“Can you tell our audience what to expect during the flight next week?”
“Sure thing. The Fend 100 will fly its first passenger flight just like any other commercial airliner, with one key difference. The Fend 100 Artificial Intelligence Pilot System will be doing all the work. The computers will completely take over for the pilots. The Fend 100 will fly up and down the Florida coast for a few hours, allowing our passengers to experience what real airborne luxury can be like, and then the Fend 100 will return for a safe landing back at our headquarters near Jacksonville.”
Charles looked around the room, beaming. “I can’t tell you all how proud I am of the men and women on the Fend 100 project team. They have each put a great deal of hard work into this. Decades of research and development have led to this moment. It is truly the dawn of a new era in aviation.”
The TV host said, “Mr. Fend, what do you say to those that are worried about flying on pilotless aircraft?”
Charles nodded and smiled. “You know, there was a day not too long ago in our history when people rode on elevators, and they couldn’t imagine the possibility of not having a bellboy there to expertly control it for them.”
The crowd around him gave a muffled laugh.
“Today,” Charles continued, “we think nothing of walking into an elevator and pressing that little button. That button sends you traveling through the air, thanks to a bunch of computers and electronics. There was a time when pilots used to control aircraft mechanically, through yokes attached to cables. You needed muscle power to move the elevators and ailerons. To manipulate the surface of the wing, which would move the aircraft into a turn. Aviators needed a wealth of knowledge to navigate and solve problems while flying. But those days are long past. We have computers in our phones that are exponentially more powerful than anything we had in the early days of aviation.”
The TV show host said, “So you’re saying that computers can do it all now?”
“Let me ask you a question. Have you gone on an airplane in the past few months?”
The TV host smiled. “Yes, Mr. Fend.”
“How long was your flight? Probably a few hours, right? And do you know that the pilots on your commercial airliner were probably only touching the flight controls for about two minutes out of the entire flight? Aircraft can already do everything by themselves. On a foggy day, they even land themselves. Why? Because computers make fewer mistakes than people. In truth, mankind has been ready to take this step for quite some time. And, despite what the newspapers say about me, I’m a human being… not a computer.”
The crowd around him laughed again. Louder this time. That was good. Keep them happy. People needed to believe in this.
“I… believe it or not, I understand the unease that some might feel at the thought of a pilotless aircraft flying them around the world. But science and statistics prove it… computers are safer. The majority of advancements in aviation over the past few decades have been incremental introductions of automated flight. Airspeed control. Altitude hold. Different computerized functions that most of you laymen would simply lump into the term ‘autopilot.’ But each one of these improvements was another step towards allowing a computer to more fully control the airplane. It is worth mentioning that these improvements have saved countless lives. Now, with artificial intelligence, we have machines that can learn, just like a pilot. And that is really the groundbreaking technology that we’re going to provide. We want to make flying even safer and more efficient than it is today.”
The TV host said, “Will you still have pilots as a backup? In case anything goes wrong?”
Charles Fend looked over at Maria and then back at the camera. She had told him to be ready for that question.
“We have built in that capability. And we will continue to work with the FAA and other regulatory agencies on best practices as we look to integrate this into the commercial aviation industry. Fend Aerospace has meshed the latest in AI capability with autopilot software. This creates a proprietary feature that enables safe and effective pilotless commercial flight. It’s really quite extraordinary — and it will make flying both safer and cheaper.”
“Mr. Fend, I think we can all agree that those are both two improvements to look forward to.” The host thanked him and transitioned to the next segment.
Cheers and claps from the crowd around him.
Brunch was at Sequoia, a restaurant on the shores of the Potomac. White tablecloths and a glitzy atmosphere.
“Are you excited?” Max said.
“Thrilled,” his father answered, although he didn’t sound it. Max and Charles Fend sat across from each other at an outside table. “This automated flight program has been more than ten years in the making. It will be nice to see it through before my retirement.” He took a drink. “So your classes start in a few weeks?”
“Orientation. It’s just a weekend. The classes start in August. I think I’ll be the old man of my cohort.”
His father shook his head. “I can’t believe you’re going to Georgetown. It hurts my heart. You know you don’t need it for a resume. I’ll give you the job anyway. That’s a privilege of owning your own company.”
Max smiled. His father had gone to Boston College, a rival Jesuit institution, for his undergrad degree back in the day.
Max had decided to get his MBA at Georgetown prior to starting his new career. His twelve years of prior work experience would qualify him for an elite subset of jobs, but those jobs were unrelated to managing an aerospace company.
“Well, we’ll have to start betting on the sports games,” his father said.
“Deal.”
Max forked another bite of his “Chesapeake eggs Benedict” — a delicious hollandaise sauce dribbled over lump crab meat, a poached egg, and an English muffin. His father sipped on his bloody mary, looking up at the dreary gray sky.
“So you’re sure about the retirement, then?” Max asked as he chewed.
“Mr. Fend, good morning!”
A woman strolled along the walkway near the restaurant’s outdoor seating area.
“Maria. You can’t get away from me, it seems. How are you, my dear? Care to join us?”
“Oh no, I couldn’t.”
Max realized Maria must have been in the group of executives that had flown on the corporate jet up from Jacksonville the day before. They were doing a full court press publicity tour in the run-up to the Fend 100 flight. Max’s father had been on TV more often in the last few weeks than in the past decade. And for a man as in the spotlight as he was, that was saying a lot.
“Are you sure? We don’t mind,” said Max’s father.
Maria came up to their table, sliding awkwardly through a large set of potted frond leaves.
“No, thank you, though. I was just doing a little shopping before we head back.” She smiled at Max. “Max, I’m surprised your father didn’t send you on the Today Show in his place yesterday. Now that you’ll be joining the company and all.”
Max gave a humble grin. “I hope he has more common sense than that. After spending the past few weeks with you all in Jacksonville, I’ve realized just how much I still have to learn.”
Maria pushed a lock of her red hair back over her shoulder. “Max, you will do just fine.” She smiled widely and looked back at Max’s father. “Every time he comes down to Jacksonville, he’s always asking such good questions.”