Productivity Metrics for Business and Regional Aircraft

The need to measure the relative value of business and commercial aircraft and how the designer/analyst can formulate an initial idea of what should constitute a satisfactory array of aircraft design specifications is presented. This is achieved firstly through the establishment of relevant productivity indexes using key target parameters or macroscopic objective functions. To complement this, a new primal objective function construct designated as the Airframer Paradigm is reviewed in order to ascertain how much a given set of design specifications are worth to the market. Finally, an overview of how new technologies and utility features affect the value of aircraft as well as an assessment of design philosophies for the present and future are discussed.