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Welcome back to Coastal Characters.
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I'm your host, Nicholas Barcello, and today we're joined by Dan Wolf, founder of Cape Air and former Massachusetts State Senator.
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Through Cape Air, Dan helped build one of the country's largest independent regional airlines while connecting communities across Cape Cod, the Northeast, and the Caribbean.
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Dan, it's great to have you with us.
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It is great to be here, Nick.
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Thanks.
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Please give me a little introduction about yourself.
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I grew up uh as a youngster in the city of Philadelphia.
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My mom was a history teacher, dad was a business person, and we always summered on Cape Cod, and like so many people listening, I'm sure, uh ended up relocating here uh after I went to college just because it's such a beautiful and a wonderful community, both environmentally and uh the pe people that are here.
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I studied uh political science at Wesleyan University in Connecticut.
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That was my uh secondary degree, and um here I am.
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Uh passion always a passion for flying, so I learned to fly at the Chatham Airport almost 50 years ago.
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So I've had a vantage point of looking at the Cape from the air for almost fifty years.
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And uh one thing led to another.
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Uh, went to mechanic school for a couple of years uh after I learned how to fly.
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So as a pilot and a mechanic, had the ability to start uh Cape Air in 1988, and uh it over the years it grew very organically.
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Oh, that's great to hear.
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We have one question, very very nice tradition here for Coastal Characters.
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Tell me, what is your go-to ice cream flavor?
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Oh my gosh.
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My guy it it's gotta be caramel, it's gotta be some one of the caramel flavors.
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Carmel swear.
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Like Carmel Swer, yeah.
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Okay.
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Carmel Swerve.
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That's a good choice.
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Personally, I just go basic vanilla.
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But do you put anything on it?
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No, just vanilla.
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Yeah, I make ice cream at Candy Corner, so I feel like I have a at least a good opinion, you know.
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What a great, what a great place that is to get ice cream, too, for sure.
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Okay.
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Cape Air started here on Cape Cod.
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What was the moment when you realized that Airline could actually work and grow beyond just a small regional idea?
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So I think, you know, like so many like so many small businesses that become bigger businesses, you really don't start with the idea of we're going to grow this into a big thing.
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Uh there was a need.
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Provincetown um was served by air to Boston since 1949.
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And in the early 1980s, the airline industry was going through a lot of uh reorganization and adjustment to deregulation.
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So the airline industry had been highly regulated up until 1978.
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Under the Carter administration, the airlines were deregulated, and there were a lot of shock waves after that.
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So in the early 1980s, when I was learning to fly and building flight time and really becoming uh well-versed in aviation, the airline industry itself was going through, again, a lot of shock waves.
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One of those was that the carrier serving between Provincetown and Boston went out of business.
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And then another carrier started up and they couldn't actually serve the market.
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So I was on Cape Cod here, knew how to fly, was a pilot, knew a lot of connections in the uh aviation world, and we bought one airplane and started service between Provincetown and Boston in the fall of 1989.
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Our aspiration, our first tagline, Nick, was uh Cape Air flying for the Cape and Islands, because all we wanted to be was to fill a void that had been created by deregulation and those shockwaves and provide air transportation primarily to Boston.
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So we started off with uh three flights a day.
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Our first brochure said up, up and away, three flights a day.
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And um it just took off and it grew.
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And surrounded by some really dynamic people, uh the airline over the years grew.
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So I don't think there was ever an epiphany moment.
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Yes.
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I think first we wanted to provide great service between Provincetown and Boston, and honestly, what happened was at the end of the first summer, the summer 1990, we had three airplanes by that point and nowhere to put them because there's no demand between Provincetown and Boston in the winter.
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So we started our first southern market, which was uh Hyannis DeMartha's Vineyard, uh, in 1991, and then we truly expanded to the south.
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We started roots in Florida in 1993.
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But it was very organic and it was much more head-down, like what can we do tomorrow?
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What can we do with the upcoming season to provide great service?
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It was never let's build a big business.
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And every now and then I'd look up and say, wow, we have five airplanes now, we have nine airplanes, we have fifteen airplanes.
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And over the years, Cape Air grew to 105 airplane fleet, and we served in uh five different regions around the northern hemisphere, as far west as the uh as Micronesia out in the Western Pacific and all over the Caribbean.
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Our second biggest region is down in the Caribbean.
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But I don't think there was ever that point where we said, wow, let's do this.
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Yes.
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It was really organic growth and it was being very opportunistic.
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That's great.
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That's good to hear.
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What was the process to go international?
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I mean to the Caribbean and and the Micronesia and the Pacific.
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Was there any were there any difficulties with that?
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A lot of paperwork.
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I mean, so yeah, there really are challenges because you're dealing with at one point we were with several different foreign national countries because we serve the British Virgin Islands, Nevis, St.
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Kitts, uh around in the Caribbean.
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So you're dealing with with very small nation states there.
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Uh out in Micronesia, you're actually dealing those are U.S.
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territories, so one is a territory and one is a U.S.
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Commonwealth.
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So we didn't have to do a lot of international work there, but it's a lot of paperwork.
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The thing is, when you have an ally in the foreign entity, they want your service, then it really helps because they streamline the process and they really walk you through it.
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Yeah.
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As opposed to trying to force your way in somewhere where you're not wanted.
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So it was never a problem for us.
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We were always welcomed and um the process worked pretty well.
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That's good to hear.
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Now, let's stick on to like the difficulty part.
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Every company has a moment where things almost fall apart.
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Was there ever a point early on when Cape Air almost didn't make it?
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Well, 9-12 of 2001.
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I mean 9-11 operating an airline, and you know it it almost brings me to tears because I know Nick, you're an aspiring pilot, so you'll relate to this.
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Um for me, flying was always a thing of beauty, I mean, as well as a business opportunity.
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It's something I love to do, and the aesthetics of it, I always called myself a pilot pilot poet.
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And to see the object of what I love so much to be used as a weapon or to be used for the mass destruction that 9-11 was was emotionally a huge shock.
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But for Cape Air to get through that period and not only survive but thrive was the biggest challenge.
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Now, we survived as an airline several recessions.
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The biggest shock we had to get through was after 9-11, when from a regulatory standpoint they were looking at small carriers, and it was unclear to us whether we were even going to be able to continue to use the aircraft type because Cape Air has an open cockpit, and 9-11 was all about the terrorists seizing the cockpit.
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So um it took several years to really recover from 9-11.
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Um so yeah, there were some existentialist uh existential moments, but that was really the the main one.
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Oh that's very interesting.
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Um dry mouth always gets me.
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I hear you.
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The aviation industry has changed a lot over the last few decades.
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What do you think are the biggest challenges regional airlines are facing today?
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So, you know, as Cape Air grew, um I always call Cape Air a technology company that happens to fly airplanes.
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Yes.
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And the reason Cape Air was has been successful is that we have embraced the commercial side of the technology advancement.
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And it's commercial is not just about selling tickets.
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It's about record keeping, it's about training, it's about really staying ahead of emerging technology so that you can be successful as a company.
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And everything from the accounting department to the marketing department to the training and maintenance, the entire um product really has changed in the time that we were in business.
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When we started Cape Air, high technology was something called a fax machine, which you've probably never seen, or if you have, you've seen it in a museum.
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And we had no computers, there were no spreadsheets, there were no word processors.
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Think about that.
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There was none of this.
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So as a business, we have had to adjust to all of the new emerging technologies, embrace them, use them.
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Now artificial intelligence, of course, is a huge opportunity and challenge in any industry, but certainly how it gets integrated into the airline industry is going to be the next big technology challenge.
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So the biggest changes have been around technology.
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Oddly enough, not around the technology of the aircraft itself.
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A lot of the technology that we're using to actually propel the airplane and fly the airplane have been there since the 50s, 60s, 70s, so pretty conventional.
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But the navigation systems, the engine monitoring systems, all of that has gone through.
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You know, it was radio vacuum tube, again, a museum piece for you, through uh solid state technology and now, of course, microchip technology.
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So, you know, as things have evolved, um any business has to be really dynamic.
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And one of the things I'm proudest about about Cape Air is how we've embraced those changes and enhancements as they've evolved.
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Do you think planes will ever go electric?
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Yeah, well, so it's a great question.
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We we Cape Air was the first airline to sign an agreement for an all-electric airplane, which was being really on paper being designed in 2016.
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And the company that was doing it was an Israeli company called Aviation, and Cape Air had on order uh the first 75 all-electric airplanes to replace our fleet.
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Um it hasn't happened yet.
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And the reason it hasn't happened with electric aircraft is because the energy density of a battery is just not there yet.
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So if you take a pound of gasoline and the energy that that contains and a pound of battery, it's so different.
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Yeah, it's not equal.
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Right.
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So the main thing you gotta figure out with electric aviation is how you're gonna carry the battery.
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An airplane is really designed around the energy source, you know, gasoline, jet fuel, electric battery, um, and the propulsion source.
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Is it a jet engine, is it a reciprocating engine, is it an electric motor that powers the airplane?
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And so there are a lot of white sheet designs out there, it's an emerging technology, and my hope is that Cape Air become the first to embrace that technology.
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And there's a reason why it makes sense for us to be the first, which is we small we fly relatively small airplanes, relatively short distances.
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And because of the energy density challenge, the first airplanes that are going to be all electric are going to be smaller airplanes, and the first stage lines are gonna be relatively short distances.
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Yeah, I'd imagine range would be the biggest problem in that equation.
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So that's very interesting though.
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First airline, that I would I would love to see that.
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So you can go online, if you Google Eviation, you'll see the airplane.
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It looks like a few very futuristic design because again, that airplane is really built around the batteries and around the electric motors.
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It's a beautiful airplane.
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It actually, the prototype actually flew several years ago.
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So if you go online and look, Eviation uh you can you can find the airplane, you can see the first flight.
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But they had financing problems in that company, and they never got to uh manufacturing and production.
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There are a couple of other other um electric aircraft manufacturers, one out in California called Joby, one up in Burlington, Vermont called uh Beta, and both of those are designing airplanes that my hope is Cape Air start to use them in commercial service within the next, let's say, five years.
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Five years.
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Yep.
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That would have been my next question when you see this going into electric.
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I think Nick, everybody assumed that you know how how um microchips, you know, they doubled in size every year.
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Yeah.
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And now we have terabytes or nothing.
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And back then a terabyte would have been a whole skyscraper to have that kind of information.
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Everybody assumed that battery density was going to do the same thing.
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If we have a battery that can produce X amount of energy per pound, that's just gonna go on a geometric scale, and it really hasn't.
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We really need to rethink the energy source for an electric airplane.
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And it's gotta be um it's gotta be weight efficient, and we're just not quite there yet.
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Well, that's great to hear.
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Let's see this.
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You've always kept Cape Sorry.
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You've always kept Cape Air connected to Cape Cod.
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Why was it important to keep the company rooted here instead of moving it somewhere bigger?
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The heart and soul of the company is here on the Cape.
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It's in the name.
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It was a it was a group of local people who love this place, who have a passion for this place.
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And we were just so blessed and so privileged to be able to bring that together and and catalyze it in a way that not only worked here on the Cape and resonated, but was a model that was scalable and transportable to other regions.
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So our second biggest region, other than the Cape and Islands and around New England, we're we're in all the New England states now.
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But the second biggest region by cap passengers carried and by revenue is the Caribbean.
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And we have a base in San Juan, which we uh started flying down there in 1998.
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Um and that's been a great region.
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So we built a business model that really was based on small community being served by, and it's very different than the major airline model.
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And I think a lot of other businesses on the Cape, even ones that have gone over the bridge and expanded nationally, have s have sort of tried to keep that Cape Cod parochialism because it works so well.
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So we we developed a business model that is all about community service, whether it's here, whether it's in San Juan or the Virgin Islands or out in Micronesia.
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It's about building that service model around the community and then keeping that focus, whether it's the Cape.
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One of the things I loved most about the business is as we sep, you know, as we spread out, we had employees that would move all over the our network.
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So you'd have a Chamorro employee from Micronesia uh end up going to New Hampshire, or you'd have somebody from Maine who had never been out of the state end up, you know, in a remote island in the Caribbean.
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And so it was really kind of fun to to see our own um environment and in our own culture become bigger and more spread out and embrace and be more inclusive to different cultures all over the northern hemisphere.
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It's been just a great journey.
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That's beautiful.
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That is great.
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Just focused on community.
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I see a lot of companies just like, oh, I just want to make money.
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That's the main goal, just make money, get a name out, get famous, but that that's really beautiful.
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You you have to you have to be profitable to stay in business.
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But the main focus, especially at a service business, which an airline is, is the people.
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Yep.
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So it's it's the employees and making sure that they are motivated and enjoying and having fun and um feel empowered to participate in a successful venture.
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And then of course that reflects itself into the service you provide to the customers.
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So if you have a great people thing going on, and I know you've experienced it at the candy shop, I'd know what kind of business you guys are running there.
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Um if you're creating that kind of energy and people really feel like they're part of something important and exciting, that's contagious and it works in the community and it works for your customers, and it um it just paves the way for success.
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Okay, this one matters for me, this question.
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As someone who's hoping to build a career in aviation, I'm curious, what advice would you give young people who want to get into the industry today?
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Follow your passion.
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You know, it's very i when I learned to fly, you could get a private pilot's license for you're you're gonna choke when I say this, Nick, because I know you're looking at it and I know you're looking at the cost.
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My private license was less than$1,000.
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Yes.
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So you could buy, you could, you could rent the airplane for about sixteen dollars an hour and the instructor was eight dollars an hour.
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So for$24 an hour, I was able to get my license.
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I bus tables at a restaurant in Chatham, and by busing tables I could pay for my flight lessons.
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As you know, because you're you're embarking on this career, it's completely different now.
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It is and it's changed a lot.
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Just for a private license, you might be looking at tens of thousands of dollars just for the private to get to the ability where you can be a commercial pilot, a flight instructor, and build time.
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You're looking at probably between one and two hundred thousand dollars now.
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Yeah.
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I've heard it's doubled in the past few years as well.
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So it's just it's difficult.
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But where there's a will, there's a way.
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Exactly.
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If you're passionate about it, um you will get it done.
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There's a way.
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And I, you know, looking across the table at you, myself having flown now for 50 years, I'm just excited for your passion for it and what I know your future is going to bring you.
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Thank you very much.
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You've been both an entrepreneur and a public servant as a Massachusetts State Senator.
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How did those two experiences shape the way you think about leadership?
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Well, as I said before, it's all about people.
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Yep.
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And um the same culture that I experienced at Cape Air, which is collaborative energy, uh people who are inspired and motivated and working together to accomplish a goal, that in theory is how a political system, a democracy, should work.
00:17:39.680 --> 00:17:55.920
Whether you're a citizen whose participation is voting at the booth, whether you're running for Board of Select, or whether you're volunteering your time at a nonprofit, that energy about service to community is to me the same energy as forming a corporation.
00:17:56.160 --> 00:18:06.160
So we Cape Arrow became an employee-owned company uh along the way because we wanted to share this success um with, you know, by by sharing the ownership in the company.
00:18:06.240 --> 00:18:11.200
And that helped empower people and get them, you know, to be really engaged in the enterprise.
00:18:11.359 --> 00:18:12.960
I feel the same way about politics.
00:18:13.119 --> 00:18:21.759
I think you can only have a successful political system and community if people want to participate, if they're inspired to participate.
00:18:22.000 --> 00:18:26.319
It's one of the sad things about today is I think people feel powerless and shut out.
00:18:26.640 --> 00:18:31.839
And in a democracy or a successful corporation, people need to feel empowered and included.
00:18:32.240 --> 00:18:32.880
Yep.
00:18:33.279 --> 00:18:33.839
That's true.
00:18:34.160 --> 00:18:37.119
So it's so to me it was sort of an extension of that.
00:18:37.359 --> 00:18:45.920
Um the reason is I didn't think that through Cape Air I was able to participate in what some of the biggest challenges in our region are.
00:18:46.160 --> 00:18:49.599
Some of them environmental, some of them economic, some of them social.
00:18:49.839 --> 00:19:14.079
And one of the things I love about the blue economy, which is why we're here today, is that that's really focused on looking at a healthy society, a healthy healthy community, as defined by businesses which can pay wages so that people can live lives of dignity and pride here on Cape Cod, raise a family, and have expectations that as a society we offer them up as the American dream, or I'd call it the Cape Cod dream.
00:19:14.319 --> 00:19:16.960
But for your generation, it has become more and more challenging.
00:19:17.599 --> 00:19:18.480
It's been difficult.
00:19:18.640 --> 00:19:24.400
I look into the future, it looks a little scary, but we'll see as it goes on, right?
00:19:24.720 --> 00:19:35.599
All I can tell you is that in 1968, when I was eleven years old, or in let's let's say 1975, when I was graduating from high school, it was really turbulent times.
00:19:35.759 --> 00:19:46.240
I mean, it was the Vietnam War, the civil rights movement, um, there were huge economic d upheavals there, and all I can tell you is at that time it was scary too.
00:19:46.559 --> 00:19:54.160
So the fear that you're fear feeling and how your generation looks at overcoming challenges, it's not new.
00:19:54.240 --> 00:19:55.680
They're different challenges.
00:19:55.920 --> 00:20:07.839
And we in my generation, our legacy has to be to make sure that we are giving you a world that for those of your generation who want to work hard, who have a passion, who have a dream, also have an opportunity.
00:20:08.160 --> 00:20:09.200
Yeah, and I'm hopeful.
00:20:09.279 --> 00:20:10.400
I am, truly.
00:20:12.319 --> 00:20:16.880
When you look ahead twenty, thirty years, what do you think aviation will look like, especially just regional?
00:20:17.039 --> 00:20:18.880
Do you think everyone's gonna switch to electric?
00:20:18.960 --> 00:20:22.079
Do you think it's gonna be a little longer than 20 to 30 years?
00:20:22.160 --> 00:20:39.519
So wearing my big picture hat, the environmental impact of aviation, I think as we get more and more conscious about how we need to treat the atmosphere or the environment relative to things like climate change, we have to embrace technologies that will reduce carbon.
00:20:40.000 --> 00:20:41.920
And that's in all modes of transportation.
00:20:42.079 --> 00:20:43.839
I mean, I drove an electric car here today.
00:20:44.000 --> 00:20:44.160
Yes.
00:20:44.559 --> 00:20:49.519
Um so the current administration, notwithstanding, climate change is real.
00:20:49.680 --> 00:20:58.799
You can measure it with a ruler at our ocean front here on the Cape, you can see sea level rise, we experience sea level rise, the intensity of the storms like the one we just went through here on the Cape.
00:20:59.200 --> 00:21:02.319
So I think it's our responsibility to look for ways to decarbonize.
00:21:02.480 --> 00:21:12.559
So I think the next 20 or 30 years is going to be about reducing the footprint, the environmental impact that aviation is having while improving and increasing the service.
00:21:12.799 --> 00:21:19.839
The aviation infrastructure in this country is barely able to keep up with the business demands that are made on it.
00:21:20.000 --> 00:21:23.279
I'm talking about the air traffic control system, the airport system.
00:21:23.359 --> 00:21:27.279
So we need to make huge investments, making sure that we're embracing modern technology.
00:21:27.519 --> 00:21:34.240
AI, for example, could make our um air trans our our air traffic system much more efficient.
00:21:34.480 --> 00:21:41.279
We could fly more airplanes, save fuel by flying shorter distances, and there are a lot of enhancements that we could see.
00:21:41.440 --> 00:21:45.839
So I think the air traffic control system is going to embrace technology changes as we go forward.
00:21:46.000 --> 00:21:49.440
I think the methods of propulsion are going to become cleaner.
00:21:49.599 --> 00:21:59.680
And I also think there are going to be some innovative, um one of the emerging technologies is called EVToll, electric vertical takeoff and landing, which are craft that don't need a long runway.
00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:02.960
That can take off vertically, fly you somewhere, and then land vertically.
00:22:03.039 --> 00:22:05.759
And I think you're going to see that technology emerge as well.
00:22:06.240 --> 00:22:08.079
I'd imagine it costs a lot of money for that.
00:22:08.240 --> 00:22:12.000
Where do you think you'll find the money to pay for these new modern technology?
00:22:12.400 --> 00:22:13.440
So there's two places.
00:22:13.599 --> 00:22:14.960
One is private investment.
00:22:15.119 --> 00:22:19.519
You know, are we going to see the investment community say, okay, there's a business opportunity here.
00:22:19.680 --> 00:22:25.680
If we invest in the medium and long term, we'll see that transition and there'll be a lot of money for those who are visionary and invest.
00:22:25.920 --> 00:22:27.119
And then the role of the government.
00:22:27.279 --> 00:22:37.279
The government, just like with what's happening now, the government has to provide an infrastructure or make sure that there's an infrastructure so that those advancements can take place.
00:22:37.440 --> 00:22:55.279
So in that case, that's investing in airports, it's investing in charging technology, the electric grid is going to have to be really upgraded so that it can handle all of the demands to to uh to power uh those electric aircraft as we design them, also uh surface vehicles.
00:22:55.440 --> 00:23:00.079
Um government has a huge role and the investment community has a huge role.
00:23:00.640 --> 00:23:01.119
True.
00:23:01.279 --> 00:23:01.920
It is.
00:23:03.599 --> 00:23:09.119
When you look back at everything you've built with Cape Air, is there anything you're specifically the most proud of?
00:23:10.559 --> 00:23:30.720
Yeah, I'm um the part I'm most proud of is that people who came to the company, whether they were pilots or mechanics or or airport um service personnel or administrative people, um, I think came to the company with a desire and a vision to make a living, but to also be part of something bigger than they were.
00:23:30.960 --> 00:23:36.400
And one of the things that I'm most proud of Cape Air is the spirit and the culture of the company.
00:23:36.559 --> 00:23:40.720
And as I said before, that really reflects itself into the service that gets provided.
00:23:40.880 --> 00:23:56.240
So if you have a really healthy, dynamic, um, active, inclusive uh culture internally, the way we all get along as employees, that just translates almost organically to the customer and to the communities that you're serving in.
00:23:56.319 --> 00:23:58.640
Um and I know you've experienced that where you work too.
00:23:58.960 --> 00:23:59.440
Yes, I have.
00:23:59.680 --> 00:24:08.000
Um so that's just a lesson I wish more and more um corporations, bigger corporations, would would take seriously.
00:24:08.240 --> 00:24:22.079
Because you do see in bigger corporations, you know, we could name a few here if you wanted to, but you see them looking at uh individual people as um more or less economic units and not as human beings.
00:24:22.799 --> 00:24:26.640
And the reason we're all in this together is to make a great place for human beings.
00:24:26.799 --> 00:24:27.119
Yes.
00:24:27.359 --> 00:24:29.279
So I don't never really understood that.
00:24:29.359 --> 00:24:42.799
It's part of the responsibility of building anything, whether it's a business or or a nonprofit, is to create an environment where human beings feel like they're able to be fulfilled and actualized in the job that they're doing.
00:24:43.119 --> 00:24:44.079
Exactly.
00:24:46.000 --> 00:24:47.279
Not always perfect.
00:24:47.519 --> 00:24:47.759
Yeah.
00:24:48.000 --> 00:24:58.720
You know, I I will say there'll be some KPER employees who are listening to this saying, well, that wasn't my experience, but that has always been the goal at that company, and I'm very proud, I'm very proud of that.
00:25:00.319 --> 00:25:06.000
If you could give one piece of advice to someone trying to start something meaningful in their community, what would it be?
00:25:06.400 --> 00:25:07.519
Collaboration.
00:25:07.759 --> 00:25:21.359
You know, if if you have a vision and a dream, even if it's something that can be successful, but you're not able to attract like-minded people, inspire them in a joint collaborative effort, you're not going anywhere.
00:25:22.000 --> 00:25:46.960
Nothing great gets done by an individual, even though we become a society that sort of worships the Elon Musk's or the you know Jeff Bezos or what's his name at Facebook, even though we put become that society, the fact is the reason those organizations became big and strong and successful was because there were groups of people, all of whom shared a vision and shared a common goal and made it happen.
00:25:47.200 --> 00:26:00.319
So, you know, the advice I have for somebody who has that vision is build a team, define what the role of that team is, empower the individuals in that team, and then be really collaborative.
00:26:00.480 --> 00:26:03.279
And the main lesson there, Nick, remember this.
00:26:03.519 --> 00:26:04.319
Have fun doing it.
00:26:05.200 --> 00:26:07.359
You know, your journey is going to be through the military.
00:26:07.599 --> 00:26:13.680
As you do that, you should find joy and enjoyment in what you're doing each and every day to the degree that you can.
00:26:13.920 --> 00:26:17.279
And that is infectious and that will breed success.
00:26:18.880 --> 00:26:22.799
One thing I feel like is the biggest problem is building the team.
00:26:23.039 --> 00:26:28.720
What do you look for in people when you're building a team and you're trying to look to create something meaningful?
00:26:29.119 --> 00:26:30.000
I love that question.
00:26:30.160 --> 00:26:41.359
So any human relationship, whether it's a business relationship, whether it's a family relationship, whether it's a religious relationship, any relationship to be successful has to be based on a foundation of trust.
00:26:41.599 --> 00:26:45.519
So the first thing I look at is are do we trust each other?
00:26:45.759 --> 00:26:48.720
Is there genuine integrity and character in the room?
00:26:48.960 --> 00:26:57.440
Because without that, if you build, if you build any organization on a foundation that is not based on character and trust and integrity, it will not succeed.
00:26:57.680 --> 00:26:58.640
It will implode.
00:26:59.039 --> 00:27:16.960
If you have those strong basic fibers at the foundation, then even when you make mistakes, and everybody building any organization will make mistakes, you recover from them, you learn from them in an environment of honesty and truth, and then you go on and you repair from those mistakes.
00:27:17.200 --> 00:27:20.559
So it is about trusting the people that you're building the team with.
00:27:20.799 --> 00:27:25.039
It's about, you know, the intelligence and integrity, all of that stuff.
00:27:25.200 --> 00:27:27.519
But it it's got to be a shared common vision.
00:27:27.839 --> 00:27:28.640
It does.
00:27:28.960 --> 00:27:30.559
Well, that's all I have for today.
00:27:30.640 --> 00:27:34.640
Thank you very much for coming out, and I appreciate you taking the time talking to us.
00:27:34.960 --> 00:27:37.759
My pleasure, and all I can say, Nick, is you have a bright future.
00:27:37.920 --> 00:27:38.319
Thank you.
00:27:38.480 --> 00:27:44.640
Find joy, find satisfaction, find fulfillment in it, and um let's talk in another twenty or thirty years.
00:27:44.720 --> 00:27:46.880
If I'm blessed around to be around for that.
00:27:47.200 --> 00:27:48.240
Let's stay in touch.
00:27:48.480 --> 00:27:48.880
Thank you.
00:00:23.440 --> 00:00:25.280
Welcome back to Coastal Characters.
00:00:25.359 --> 00:00:32.159
I'm your host, Nicholas Barcello, and today we're joined by Dan Wolf, founder of Cape Air and former Massachusetts State Senator.
00:00:32.320 --> 00:00:41.600
Through Cape Air, Dan helped build one of the country's largest independent regional airlines while connecting communities across Cape Cod, the Northeast, and the Caribbean.
00:00:41.840 --> 00:00:43.520
Dan, it's great to have you with us.
00:00:43.840 --> 00:00:45.200
It is great to be here, Nick.
00:00:45.359 --> 00:00:46.000
Thanks.
00:00:46.719 --> 00:00:49.039
Please give me a little introduction about yourself.
00:00:49.439 --> 00:00:52.640
I grew up uh as a youngster in the city of Philadelphia.
00:00:52.799 --> 00:01:08.079
My mom was a history teacher, dad was a business person, and we always summered on Cape Cod, and like so many people listening, I'm sure, uh ended up relocating here uh after I went to college just because it's such a beautiful and a wonderful community, both environmentally and uh the pe people that are here.
00:01:08.400 --> 00:01:12.319
I studied uh political science at Wesleyan University in Connecticut.
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That was my uh secondary degree, and um here I am.
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Uh passion always a passion for flying, so I learned to fly at the Chatham Airport almost 50 years ago.
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So I've had a vantage point of looking at the Cape from the air for almost fifty years.
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And uh one thing led to another.
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Uh, went to mechanic school for a couple of years uh after I learned how to fly.
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So as a pilot and a mechanic, had the ability to start uh Cape Air in 1988, and uh it over the years it grew very organically.
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Oh, that's great to hear.
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We have one question, very very nice tradition here for Coastal Characters.
00:01:46.480 --> 00:01:49.760
Tell me, what is your go-to ice cream flavor?
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Oh my gosh.
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My guy it it's gotta be caramel, it's gotta be some one of the caramel flavors.
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Carmel swear.
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Like Carmel Swer, yeah.
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Okay.
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Carmel Swerve.
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That's a good choice.
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Personally, I just go basic vanilla.
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But do you put anything on it?
00:02:02.239 --> 00:02:03.280
No, just vanilla.
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Yeah, I make ice cream at Candy Corner, so I feel like I have a at least a good opinion, you know.
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What a great, what a great place that is to get ice cream, too, for sure.
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Okay.
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Cape Air started here on Cape Cod.
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What was the moment when you realized that Airline could actually work and grow beyond just a small regional idea?
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So I think, you know, like so many like so many small businesses that become bigger businesses, you really don't start with the idea of we're going to grow this into a big thing.
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Uh there was a need.
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Provincetown um was served by air to Boston since 1949.
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And in the early 1980s, the airline industry was going through a lot of uh reorganization and adjustment to deregulation.
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So the airline industry had been highly regulated up until 1978.
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Under the Carter administration, the airlines were deregulated, and there were a lot of shock waves after that.
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So in the early 1980s, when I was learning to fly and building flight time and really becoming uh well-versed in aviation, the airline industry itself was going through, again, a lot of shock waves.
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One of those was that the carrier serving between Provincetown and Boston went out of business.
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And then another carrier started up and they couldn't actually serve the market.
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So I was on Cape Cod here, knew how to fly, was a pilot, knew a lot of connections in the uh aviation world, and we bought one airplane and started service between Provincetown and Boston in the fall of 1989.
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Our aspiration, our first tagline, Nick, was uh Cape Air flying for the Cape and Islands, because all we wanted to be was to fill a void that had been created by deregulation and those shockwaves and provide air transportation primarily to Boston.
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So we started off with uh three flights a day.
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Our first brochure said up, up and away, three flights a day.
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And um it just took off and it grew.
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And surrounded by some really dynamic people, uh the airline over the years grew.
00:04:01.439 --> 00:04:03.280
So I don't think there was ever an epiphany moment.
00:04:03.439 --> 00:04:03.520
Yes.
00:04:03.680 --> 00:04:17.519
I think first we wanted to provide great service between Provincetown and Boston, and honestly, what happened was at the end of the first summer, the summer 1990, we had three airplanes by that point and nowhere to put them because there's no demand between Provincetown and Boston in the winter.
00:04:17.680 --> 00:04:25.759
So we started our first southern market, which was uh Hyannis DeMartha's Vineyard, uh, in 1991, and then we truly expanded to the south.
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We started roots in Florida in 1993.
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But it was very organic and it was much more head-down, like what can we do tomorrow?
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What can we do with the upcoming season to provide great service?
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It was never let's build a big business.
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And every now and then I'd look up and say, wow, we have five airplanes now, we have nine airplanes, we have fifteen airplanes.
00:04:45.439 --> 00:04:57.360
And over the years, Cape Air grew to 105 airplane fleet, and we served in uh five different regions around the northern hemisphere, as far west as the uh as Micronesia out in the Western Pacific and all over the Caribbean.
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Our second biggest region is down in the Caribbean.
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But I don't think there was ever that point where we said, wow, let's do this.
00:05:04.399 --> 00:05:04.560
Yes.
00:05:04.800 --> 00:05:08.399
It was really organic growth and it was being very opportunistic.
00:05:08.959 --> 00:05:09.439
That's great.
00:05:09.519 --> 00:05:10.160
That's good to hear.
00:05:10.639 --> 00:05:12.399
What was the process to go international?
00:05:12.560 --> 00:05:15.759
I mean to the Caribbean and and the Micronesia and the Pacific.
00:05:15.920 --> 00:05:17.680
Was there any were there any difficulties with that?
00:05:18.240 --> 00:05:19.040
A lot of paperwork.
00:05:19.279 --> 00:05:31.680
I mean, so yeah, there really are challenges because you're dealing with at one point we were with several different foreign national countries because we serve the British Virgin Islands, Nevis, St.
00:05:31.839 --> 00:05:33.519
Kitts, uh around in the Caribbean.
00:05:33.600 --> 00:05:36.079
So you're dealing with with very small nation states there.
00:05:36.240 --> 00:05:39.199
Uh out in Micronesia, you're actually dealing those are U.S.
00:05:39.360 --> 00:05:41.519
territories, so one is a territory and one is a U.S.
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Commonwealth.
00:05:42.480 --> 00:05:45.920
So we didn't have to do a lot of international work there, but it's a lot of paperwork.
00:05:46.160 --> 00:05:54.639
The thing is, when you have an ally in the foreign entity, they want your service, then it really helps because they streamline the process and they really walk you through it.
00:05:54.720 --> 00:05:54.800
Yeah.
00:05:55.040 --> 00:05:58.000
As opposed to trying to force your way in somewhere where you're not wanted.
00:05:58.079 --> 00:05:59.759
So it was never a problem for us.
00:05:59.920 --> 00:06:03.040
We were always welcomed and um the process worked pretty well.
00:06:03.360 --> 00:06:04.079
That's good to hear.
00:06:04.240 --> 00:06:06.560
Now, let's stick on to like the difficulty part.
00:06:06.720 --> 00:06:09.680
Every company has a moment where things almost fall apart.
00:06:09.839 --> 00:06:13.279
Was there ever a point early on when Cape Air almost didn't make it?
00:06:13.680 --> 00:06:16.000
Well, 9-12 of 2001.
00:06:16.160 --> 00:06:24.560
I mean 9-11 operating an airline, and you know it it almost brings me to tears because I know Nick, you're an aspiring pilot, so you'll relate to this.
00:06:24.720 --> 00:06:29.120
Um for me, flying was always a thing of beauty, I mean, as well as a business opportunity.
00:06:29.199 --> 00:06:35.040
It's something I love to do, and the aesthetics of it, I always called myself a pilot pilot poet.
00:06:35.360 --> 00:06:44.560
And to see the object of what I love so much to be used as a weapon or to be used for the mass destruction that 9-11 was was emotionally a huge shock.
00:06:44.879 --> 00:06:51.839
But for Cape Air to get through that period and not only survive but thrive was the biggest challenge.
00:06:52.000 --> 00:06:54.959
Now, we survived as an airline several recessions.
00:06:55.199 --> 00:07:12.959
The biggest shock we had to get through was after 9-11, when from a regulatory standpoint they were looking at small carriers, and it was unclear to us whether we were even going to be able to continue to use the aircraft type because Cape Air has an open cockpit, and 9-11 was all about the terrorists seizing the cockpit.
00:07:13.279 --> 00:07:17.680
So um it took several years to really recover from 9-11.
00:07:17.839 --> 00:07:23.040
Um so yeah, there were some existentialist uh existential moments, but that was really the the main one.
00:07:24.079 --> 00:07:25.439
Oh that's very interesting.
00:07:25.680 --> 00:07:34.560
Um dry mouth always gets me.
00:07:34.879 --> 00:07:35.439
I hear you.
00:07:37.519 --> 00:07:41.040
The aviation industry has changed a lot over the last few decades.
00:07:41.199 --> 00:07:44.879
What do you think are the biggest challenges regional airlines are facing today?
00:07:45.360 --> 00:07:51.680
So, you know, as Cape Air grew, um I always call Cape Air a technology company that happens to fly airplanes.
00:07:51.839 --> 00:07:52.000
Yes.
00:07:52.319 --> 00:07:59.600
And the reason Cape Air was has been successful is that we have embraced the commercial side of the technology advancement.
00:07:59.759 --> 00:08:02.319
And it's commercial is not just about selling tickets.
00:08:02.480 --> 00:08:09.360
It's about record keeping, it's about training, it's about really staying ahead of emerging technology so that you can be successful as a company.
00:08:09.439 --> 00:08:18.879
And everything from the accounting department to the marketing department to the training and maintenance, the entire um product really has changed in the time that we were in business.
00:08:19.040 --> 00:08:26.879
When we started Cape Air, high technology was something called a fax machine, which you've probably never seen, or if you have, you've seen it in a museum.
00:08:27.360 --> 00:08:31.920
And we had no computers, there were no spreadsheets, there were no word processors.
00:08:32.080 --> 00:08:32.879
Think about that.
00:08:33.039 --> 00:08:34.159
There was none of this.
00:08:34.399 --> 00:08:41.120
So as a business, we have had to adjust to all of the new emerging technologies, embrace them, use them.
00:08:41.279 --> 00:08:52.320
Now artificial intelligence, of course, is a huge opportunity and challenge in any industry, but certainly how it gets integrated into the airline industry is going to be the next big technology challenge.
00:08:52.559 --> 00:08:54.879
So the biggest changes have been around technology.
00:08:55.120 --> 00:08:59.360
Oddly enough, not around the technology of the aircraft itself.
00:08:59.600 --> 00:09:09.519
A lot of the technology that we're using to actually propel the airplane and fly the airplane have been there since the 50s, 60s, 70s, so pretty conventional.
00:09:09.679 --> 00:09:14.799
But the navigation systems, the engine monitoring systems, all of that has gone through.
00:09:14.879 --> 00:09:24.159
You know, it was radio vacuum tube, again, a museum piece for you, through uh solid state technology and now, of course, microchip technology.
00:09:24.559 --> 00:09:28.879
So, you know, as things have evolved, um any business has to be really dynamic.
00:09:28.960 --> 00:09:35.679
And one of the things I'm proudest about about Cape Air is how we've embraced those changes and enhancements as they've evolved.
00:09:36.159 --> 00:09:38.159
Do you think planes will ever go electric?
00:09:38.639 --> 00:09:41.360
Yeah, well, so it's a great question.
00:09:41.519 --> 00:09:52.320
We we Cape Air was the first airline to sign an agreement for an all-electric airplane, which was being really on paper being designed in 2016.
00:09:52.720 --> 00:10:02.559
And the company that was doing it was an Israeli company called Aviation, and Cape Air had on order uh the first 75 all-electric airplanes to replace our fleet.
00:10:02.799 --> 00:10:04.480
Um it hasn't happened yet.
00:10:04.559 --> 00:10:11.200
And the reason it hasn't happened with electric aircraft is because the energy density of a battery is just not there yet.
00:10:11.519 --> 00:10:19.679
So if you take a pound of gasoline and the energy that that contains and a pound of battery, it's so different.
00:10:20.080 --> 00:10:20.720
Yeah, it's not equal.
00:10:21.200 --> 00:10:21.440
Right.
00:10:21.600 --> 00:10:26.559
So the main thing you gotta figure out with electric aviation is how you're gonna carry the battery.
00:10:26.960 --> 00:10:35.440
An airplane is really designed around the energy source, you know, gasoline, jet fuel, electric battery, um, and the propulsion source.
00:10:35.600 --> 00:10:41.440
Is it a jet engine, is it a reciprocating engine, is it an electric motor that powers the airplane?
00:10:41.679 --> 00:10:50.240
And so there are a lot of white sheet designs out there, it's an emerging technology, and my hope is that Cape Air become the first to embrace that technology.
00:10:50.399 --> 00:10:57.759
And there's a reason why it makes sense for us to be the first, which is we small we fly relatively small airplanes, relatively short distances.
00:10:58.320 --> 00:11:07.440
And because of the energy density challenge, the first airplanes that are going to be all electric are going to be smaller airplanes, and the first stage lines are gonna be relatively short distances.
00:11:07.840 --> 00:11:11.039
Yeah, I'd imagine range would be the biggest problem in that equation.
00:11:11.360 --> 00:11:12.799
So that's very interesting though.
00:11:13.039 --> 00:11:15.200
First airline, that I would I would love to see that.
00:11:15.600 --> 00:11:19.039
So you can go online, if you Google Eviation, you'll see the airplane.
00:11:19.120 --> 00:11:26.639
It looks like a few very futuristic design because again, that airplane is really built around the batteries and around the electric motors.
00:11:26.879 --> 00:11:28.240
It's a beautiful airplane.
00:11:28.320 --> 00:11:31.279
It actually, the prototype actually flew several years ago.
00:11:31.440 --> 00:11:38.000
So if you go online and look, Eviation uh you can you can find the airplane, you can see the first flight.
00:11:38.320 --> 00:11:44.639
But they had financing problems in that company, and they never got to uh manufacturing and production.
00:11:45.039 --> 00:12:00.559
There are a couple of other other um electric aircraft manufacturers, one out in California called Joby, one up in Burlington, Vermont called uh Beta, and both of those are designing airplanes that my hope is Cape Air start to use them in commercial service within the next, let's say, five years.
00:12:00.960 --> 00:12:01.440
Five years.
00:12:01.679 --> 00:12:01.840
Yep.
00:12:02.080 --> 00:12:06.559
That would have been my next question when you see this going into electric.
00:12:06.960 --> 00:12:13.039
I think Nick, everybody assumed that you know how how um microchips, you know, they doubled in size every year.
00:12:13.200 --> 00:12:13.360
Yeah.
00:12:13.600 --> 00:12:15.440
And now we have terabytes or nothing.
00:12:15.600 --> 00:12:19.840
And back then a terabyte would have been a whole skyscraper to have that kind of information.
00:12:20.159 --> 00:12:23.039
Everybody assumed that battery density was going to do the same thing.
00:12:23.279 --> 00:12:30.080
If we have a battery that can produce X amount of energy per pound, that's just gonna go on a geometric scale, and it really hasn't.
00:12:30.320 --> 00:12:34.320
We really need to rethink the energy source for an electric airplane.
00:12:34.480 --> 00:12:39.679
And it's gotta be um it's gotta be weight efficient, and we're just not quite there yet.
00:12:40.799 --> 00:12:42.320
Well, that's great to hear.
00:12:43.120 --> 00:12:44.159
Let's see this.
00:12:44.559 --> 00:12:46.639
You've always kept Cape Sorry.
00:12:46.799 --> 00:12:49.279
You've always kept Cape Air connected to Cape Cod.
00:12:49.519 --> 00:12:52.960
Why was it important to keep the company rooted here instead of moving it somewhere bigger?
00:12:53.519 --> 00:12:55.519
The heart and soul of the company is here on the Cape.
00:12:57.279 --> 00:12:58.159
It's in the name.
00:12:58.240 --> 00:13:04.720
It was a it was a group of local people who love this place, who have a passion for this place.
00:13:05.039 --> 00:13:18.240
And we were just so blessed and so privileged to be able to bring that together and and catalyze it in a way that not only worked here on the Cape and resonated, but was a model that was scalable and transportable to other regions.
00:13:18.480 --> 00:13:23.919
So our second biggest region, other than the Cape and Islands and around New England, we're we're in all the New England states now.
00:13:24.080 --> 00:13:28.159
But the second biggest region by cap passengers carried and by revenue is the Caribbean.
00:13:28.320 --> 00:13:33.120
And we have a base in San Juan, which we uh started flying down there in 1998.
00:13:33.440 --> 00:13:36.480
Um and that's been a great region.
00:13:36.639 --> 00:13:46.320
So we built a business model that really was based on small community being served by, and it's very different than the major airline model.
00:13:46.399 --> 00:13:56.480
And I think a lot of other businesses on the Cape, even ones that have gone over the bridge and expanded nationally, have s have sort of tried to keep that Cape Cod parochialism because it works so well.
00:13:56.799 --> 00:14:07.440
So we we developed a business model that is all about community service, whether it's here, whether it's in San Juan or the Virgin Islands or out in Micronesia.
00:14:07.600 --> 00:14:14.879
It's about building that service model around the community and then keeping that focus, whether it's the Cape.
00:14:15.120 --> 00:14:23.600
One of the things I loved most about the business is as we sep, you know, as we spread out, we had employees that would move all over the our network.
00:14:23.759 --> 00:14:34.399
So you'd have a Chamorro employee from Micronesia uh end up going to New Hampshire, or you'd have somebody from Maine who had never been out of the state end up, you know, in a remote island in the Caribbean.
00:14:34.639 --> 00:14:47.600
And so it was really kind of fun to to see our own um environment and in our own culture become bigger and more spread out and embrace and be more inclusive to different cultures all over the northern hemisphere.
00:14:47.679 --> 00:14:48.960
It's been just a great journey.
00:14:49.279 --> 00:14:49.840
That's beautiful.
00:14:49.919 --> 00:14:50.399
That is great.
00:14:50.480 --> 00:14:51.919
Just focused on community.
00:14:52.080 --> 00:14:54.960
I see a lot of companies just like, oh, I just want to make money.
00:14:55.279 --> 00:15:00.159
That's the main goal, just make money, get a name out, get famous, but that that's really beautiful.
00:15:00.639 --> 00:15:03.679
You you have to you have to be profitable to stay in business.
00:15:04.399 --> 00:15:08.639
But the main focus, especially at a service business, which an airline is, is the people.
00:15:08.879 --> 00:15:09.039
Yep.
00:15:09.279 --> 00:15:18.720
So it's it's the employees and making sure that they are motivated and enjoying and having fun and um feel empowered to participate in a successful venture.
00:15:18.879 --> 00:15:23.039
And then of course that reflects itself into the service you provide to the customers.
00:15:23.360 --> 00:15:31.039
So if you have a great people thing going on, and I know you've experienced it at the candy shop, I'd know what kind of business you guys are running there.
00:15:31.200 --> 00:15:44.879
Um if you're creating that kind of energy and people really feel like they're part of something important and exciting, that's contagious and it works in the community and it works for your customers, and it um it just paves the way for success.
00:15:46.879 --> 00:15:49.120
Okay, this one matters for me, this question.
00:15:49.759 --> 00:15:56.879
As someone who's hoping to build a career in aviation, I'm curious, what advice would you give young people who want to get into the industry today?
00:15:57.200 --> 00:15:58.480
Follow your passion.
00:15:58.799 --> 00:16:09.600
You know, it's very i when I learned to fly, you could get a private pilot's license for you're you're gonna choke when I say this, Nick, because I know you're looking at it and I know you're looking at the cost.
00:16:09.919 --> 00:16:12.320
My private license was less than$1,000.
00:16:12.960 --> 00:16:13.440
Yes.
00:16:13.679 --> 00:16:19.759
So you could buy, you could, you could rent the airplane for about sixteen dollars an hour and the instructor was eight dollars an hour.
00:16:19.919 --> 00:16:23.919
So for$24 an hour, I was able to get my license.
00:16:24.080 --> 00:16:28.960
I bus tables at a restaurant in Chatham, and by busing tables I could pay for my flight lessons.
00:16:29.440 --> 00:16:33.039
As you know, because you're you're embarking on this career, it's completely different now.
00:16:33.360 --> 00:16:34.399
It is and it's changed a lot.
00:16:34.720 --> 00:16:43.840
Just for a private license, you might be looking at tens of thousands of dollars just for the private to get to the ability where you can be a commercial pilot, a flight instructor, and build time.
00:16:44.000 --> 00:16:46.879
You're looking at probably between one and two hundred thousand dollars now.
00:16:47.200 --> 00:16:47.519
Yeah.
00:16:47.679 --> 00:16:50.320
I've heard it's doubled in the past few years as well.
00:16:50.480 --> 00:16:52.320
So it's just it's difficult.
00:16:52.720 --> 00:16:54.480
But where there's a will, there's a way.
00:16:54.720 --> 00:16:54.960
Exactly.
00:16:55.360 --> 00:16:58.720
If you're passionate about it, um you will get it done.
00:16:58.799 --> 00:16:59.440
There's a way.
00:16:59.600 --> 00:17:08.799
And I, you know, looking across the table at you, myself having flown now for 50 years, I'm just excited for your passion for it and what I know your future is going to bring you.
00:17:09.119 --> 00:17:10.240
Thank you very much.
00:17:11.200 --> 00:17:15.759
You've been both an entrepreneur and a public servant as a Massachusetts State Senator.
00:17:15.920 --> 00:17:19.279
How did those two experiences shape the way you think about leadership?
00:17:19.920 --> 00:17:21.759
Well, as I said before, it's all about people.
00:17:21.920 --> 00:17:22.319
Yep.
00:17:22.640 --> 00:17:39.279
And um the same culture that I experienced at Cape Air, which is collaborative energy, uh people who are inspired and motivated and working together to accomplish a goal, that in theory is how a political system, a democracy, should work.
00:17:39.680 --> 00:17:55.920
Whether you're a citizen whose participation is voting at the booth, whether you're running for Board of Select, or whether you're volunteering your time at a nonprofit, that energy about service to community is to me the same energy as forming a corporation.
00:17:56.160 --> 00:18:06.160
So we Cape Arrow became an employee-owned company uh along the way because we wanted to share this success um with, you know, by by sharing the ownership in the company.
00:18:06.240 --> 00:18:11.200
And that helped empower people and get them, you know, to be really engaged in the enterprise.
00:18:11.359 --> 00:18:12.960
I feel the same way about politics.
00:18:13.119 --> 00:18:21.759
I think you can only have a successful political system and community if people want to participate, if they're inspired to participate.
00:18:22.000 --> 00:18:26.319
It's one of the sad things about today is I think people feel powerless and shut out.
00:18:26.640 --> 00:18:31.839
And in a democracy or a successful corporation, people need to feel empowered and included.
00:18:32.240 --> 00:18:32.880
Yep.
00:18:33.279 --> 00:18:33.839
That's true.
00:18:34.160 --> 00:18:37.119
So it's so to me it was sort of an extension of that.
00:18:37.359 --> 00:18:45.920
Um the reason is I didn't think that through Cape Air I was able to participate in what some of the biggest challenges in our region are.
00:18:46.160 --> 00:18:49.599
Some of them environmental, some of them economic, some of them social.
00:18:49.839 --> 00:19:14.079
And one of the things I love about the blue economy, which is why we're here today, is that that's really focused on looking at a healthy society, a healthy healthy community, as defined by businesses which can pay wages so that people can live lives of dignity and pride here on Cape Cod, raise a family, and have expectations that as a society we offer them up as the American dream, or I'd call it the Cape Cod dream.
00:19:14.319 --> 00:19:16.960
But for your generation, it has become more and more challenging.
00:19:17.599 --> 00:19:18.480
It's been difficult.
00:19:18.640 --> 00:19:24.400
I look into the future, it looks a little scary, but we'll see as it goes on, right?
00:19:24.720 --> 00:19:35.599
All I can tell you is that in 1968, when I was eleven years old, or in let's let's say 1975, when I was graduating from high school, it was really turbulent times.
00:19:35.759 --> 00:19:46.240
I mean, it was the Vietnam War, the civil rights movement, um, there were huge economic d upheavals there, and all I can tell you is at that time it was scary too.
00:19:46.559 --> 00:19:54.160
So the fear that you're fear feeling and how your generation looks at overcoming challenges, it's not new.
00:19:54.240 --> 00:19:55.680
They're different challenges.
00:19:55.920 --> 00:20:07.839
And we in my generation, our legacy has to be to make sure that we are giving you a world that for those of your generation who want to work hard, who have a passion, who have a dream, also have an opportunity.
00:20:08.160 --> 00:20:09.200
Yeah, and I'm hopeful.
00:20:09.279 --> 00:20:10.400
I am, truly.
00:20:12.319 --> 00:20:16.880
When you look ahead twenty, thirty years, what do you think aviation will look like, especially just regional?
00:20:17.039 --> 00:20:18.880
Do you think everyone's gonna switch to electric?
00:20:18.960 --> 00:20:22.079
Do you think it's gonna be a little longer than 20 to 30 years?
00:20:22.160 --> 00:20:39.519
So wearing my big picture hat, the environmental impact of aviation, I think as we get more and more conscious about how we need to treat the atmosphere or the environment relative to things like climate change, we have to embrace technologies that will reduce carbon.
00:20:40.000 --> 00:20:41.920
And that's in all modes of transportation.
00:20:42.079 --> 00:20:43.839
I mean, I drove an electric car here today.
00:20:44.000 --> 00:20:44.160
Yes.
00:20:44.559 --> 00:20:49.519
Um so the current administration, notwithstanding, climate change is real.
00:20:49.680 --> 00:20:58.799
You can measure it with a ruler at our ocean front here on the Cape, you can see sea level rise, we experience sea level rise, the intensity of the storms like the one we just went through here on the Cape.
00:20:59.200 --> 00:21:02.319
So I think it's our responsibility to look for ways to decarbonize.
00:21:02.480 --> 00:21:12.559
So I think the next 20 or 30 years is going to be about reducing the footprint, the environmental impact that aviation is having while improving and increasing the service.
00:21:12.799 --> 00:21:19.839
The aviation infrastructure in this country is barely able to keep up with the business demands that are made on it.
00:21:20.000 --> 00:21:23.279
I'm talking about the air traffic control system, the airport system.
00:21:23.359 --> 00:21:27.279
So we need to make huge investments, making sure that we're embracing modern technology.
00:21:27.519 --> 00:21:34.240
AI, for example, could make our um air trans our our air traffic system much more efficient.
00:21:34.480 --> 00:21:41.279
We could fly more airplanes, save fuel by flying shorter distances, and there are a lot of enhancements that we could see.
00:21:41.440 --> 00:21:45.839
So I think the air traffic control system is going to embrace technology changes as we go forward.
00:21:46.000 --> 00:21:49.440
I think the methods of propulsion are going to become cleaner.
00:21:49.599 --> 00:21:59.680
And I also think there are going to be some innovative, um one of the emerging technologies is called EVToll, electric vertical takeoff and landing, which are craft that don't need a long runway.
00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:02.960
That can take off vertically, fly you somewhere, and then land vertically.
00:22:03.039 --> 00:22:05.759
And I think you're going to see that technology emerge as well.
00:22:06.240 --> 00:22:08.079
I'd imagine it costs a lot of money for that.
00:22:08.240 --> 00:22:12.000
Where do you think you'll find the money to pay for these new modern technology?
00:22:12.400 --> 00:22:13.440
So there's two places.
00:22:13.599 --> 00:22:14.960
One is private investment.
00:22:15.119 --> 00:22:19.519
You know, are we going to see the investment community say, okay, there's a business opportunity here.
00:22:19.680 --> 00:22:25.680
If we invest in the medium and long term, we'll see that transition and there'll be a lot of money for those who are visionary and invest.
00:22:25.920 --> 00:22:27.119
And then the role of the government.
00:22:27.279 --> 00:22:37.279
The government, just like with what's happening now, the government has to provide an infrastructure or make sure that there's an infrastructure so that those advancements can take place.
00:22:37.440 --> 00:22:55.279
So in that case, that's investing in airports, it's investing in charging technology, the electric grid is going to have to be really upgraded so that it can handle all of the demands to to uh to power uh those electric aircraft as we design them, also uh surface vehicles.
00:22:55.440 --> 00:23:00.079
Um government has a huge role and the investment community has a huge role.
00:23:00.640 --> 00:23:01.119
True.
00:23:01.279 --> 00:23:01.920
It is.
00:23:03.599 --> 00:23:09.119
When you look back at everything you've built with Cape Air, is there anything you're specifically the most proud of?
00:23:10.559 --> 00:23:30.720
Yeah, I'm um the part I'm most proud of is that people who came to the company, whether they were pilots or mechanics or or airport um service personnel or administrative people, um, I think came to the company with a desire and a vision to make a living, but to also be part of something bigger than they were.
00:23:30.960 --> 00:23:36.400
And one of the things that I'm most proud of Cape Air is the spirit and the culture of the company.
00:23:36.559 --> 00:23:40.720
And as I said before, that really reflects itself into the service that gets provided.
00:23:40.880 --> 00:23:56.240
So if you have a really healthy, dynamic, um, active, inclusive uh culture internally, the way we all get along as employees, that just translates almost organically to the customer and to the communities that you're serving in.
00:23:56.319 --> 00:23:58.640
Um and I know you've experienced that where you work too.
00:23:58.960 --> 00:23:59.440
Yes, I have.
00:23:59.680 --> 00:24:08.000
Um so that's just a lesson I wish more and more um corporations, bigger corporations, would would take seriously.
00:24:08.240 --> 00:24:22.079
Because you do see in bigger corporations, you know, we could name a few here if you wanted to, but you see them looking at uh individual people as um more or less economic units and not as human beings.
00:24:22.799 --> 00:24:26.640
And the reason we're all in this together is to make a great place for human beings.
00:24:26.799 --> 00:24:27.119
Yes.
00:24:27.359 --> 00:24:29.279
So I don't never really understood that.
00:24:29.359 --> 00:24:42.799
It's part of the responsibility of building anything, whether it's a business or or a nonprofit, is to create an environment where human beings feel like they're able to be fulfilled and actualized in the job that they're doing.
00:24:43.119 --> 00:24:44.079
Exactly.
00:24:46.000 --> 00:24:47.279
Not always perfect.
00:24:47.519 --> 00:24:47.759
Yeah.
00:24:48.000 --> 00:24:58.720
You know, I I will say there'll be some KPER employees who are listening to this saying, well, that wasn't my experience, but that has always been the goal at that company, and I'm very proud, I'm very proud of that.
00:25:00.319 --> 00:25:06.000
If you could give one piece of advice to someone trying to start something meaningful in their community, what would it be?
00:25:06.400 --> 00:25:07.519
Collaboration.
00:25:07.759 --> 00:25:21.359
You know, if if you have a vision and a dream, even if it's something that can be successful, but you're not able to attract like-minded people, inspire them in a joint collaborative effort, you're not going anywhere.
00:25:22.000 --> 00:25:46.960
Nothing great gets done by an individual, even though we become a society that sort of worships the Elon Musk's or the you know Jeff Bezos or what's his name at Facebook, even though we put become that society, the fact is the reason those organizations became big and strong and successful was because there were groups of people, all of whom shared a vision and shared a common goal and made it happen.
00:25:47.200 --> 00:26:00.319
So, you know, the advice I have for somebody who has that vision is build a team, define what the role of that team is, empower the individuals in that team, and then be really collaborative.
00:26:00.480 --> 00:26:03.279
And the main lesson there, Nick, remember this.
00:26:03.519 --> 00:26:04.319
Have fun doing it.
00:26:05.200 --> 00:26:07.359
You know, your journey is going to be through the military.
00:26:07.599 --> 00:26:13.680
As you do that, you should find joy and enjoyment in what you're doing each and every day to the degree that you can.
00:26:13.920 --> 00:26:17.279
And that is infectious and that will breed success.
00:26:18.880 --> 00:26:22.799
One thing I feel like is the biggest problem is building the team.
00:26:23.039 --> 00:26:28.720
What do you look for in people when you're building a team and you're trying to look to create something meaningful?
00:26:29.119 --> 00:26:30.000
I love that question.
00:26:30.160 --> 00:26:41.359
So any human relationship, whether it's a business relationship, whether it's a family relationship, whether it's a religious relationship, any relationship to be successful has to be based on a foundation of trust.
00:26:41.599 --> 00:26:45.519
So the first thing I look at is are do we trust each other?
00:26:45.759 --> 00:26:48.720
Is there genuine integrity and character in the room?
00:26:48.960 --> 00:26:57.440
Because without that, if you build, if you build any organization on a foundation that is not based on character and trust and integrity, it will not succeed.
00:26:57.680 --> 00:26:58.640
It will implode.
00:26:59.039 --> 00:27:16.960
If you have those strong basic fibers at the foundation, then even when you make mistakes, and everybody building any organization will make mistakes, you recover from them, you learn from them in an environment of honesty and truth, and then you go on and you repair from those mistakes.
00:27:17.200 --> 00:27:20.559
So it is about trusting the people that you're building the team with.
00:27:20.799 --> 00:27:25.039
It's about, you know, the intelligence and integrity, all of that stuff.
00:27:25.200 --> 00:27:27.519
But it it's got to be a shared common vision.
00:27:27.839 --> 00:27:28.640
It does.
00:27:28.960 --> 00:27:30.559
Well, that's all I have for today.
00:27:30.640 --> 00:27:34.640
Thank you very much for coming out, and I appreciate you taking the time talking to us.
00:27:34.960 --> 00:27:37.759
My pleasure, and all I can say, Nick, is you have a bright future.
00:27:37.920 --> 00:27:38.319
Thank you.
00:27:38.480 --> 00:27:44.640
Find joy, find satisfaction, find fulfillment in it, and um let's talk in another twenty or thirty years.
00:27:44.720 --> 00:27:46.880
If I'm blessed around to be around for that.
00:27:47.200 --> 00:27:48.240
Let's stay in touch.
00:27:48.480 --> 00:27:48.880
Thank you.
