Elan Head, Author at The Air Current

Three Points: Buffett units bet on UAM, Chorus acquires Falko, U.S./U.K. bilateral eVTOL cert

Elan Head·March 9, 2022

NetJets and FlightSafety International – both units of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway – have jumped into the electric vertical take-off and landing market, announcing plans for a strategic partnership with the German eVTOL developer Lilium. Buffett’s aviation investments have been stretched across the aerospace chain and with varying success. Chorus Aviation is acquiring Falko Regional Aircraft, kicking off a fresh round of consolidation in the leasing space -- this time among those who focus on regional aviation. The Federal Aviation Administration and U.K. Civil Aviation Authority have started working toward a bilateral agreement for the future certification and validation of eVTOL aircraft. It’s a post-Brexit signal that the CAA is not looking exclusively to Europe for guidance.

Making sense of aviation’s vibe shift to hydrogen

Elan Head·February 23, 2022

Less than four months after the Federal Aviation Administration rolled out its 2021 Aviation Climate Action Plan, the agency’s official blueprint for achieving net-zero aviation emissions by 2050 is already starting to look dated. The plan relies overwhelmingly on sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) as the principal pathway for reducing the U.S. aviation sector’s greenhouse gas emissions. It is plainly dismissive of hydrogen, stating: “we do not expect hydrogen-powered aircraft to make a significant contribution toward achieving net-zero aviation emissions by 2050.”

Three Points: Joby’s crash, FAA’s Dickson resigning, EK231 update

Elan Head and Jon Ostrower·February 17, 2022

Joby Aviation's lead test aircraft crashed on Feb. 16, kicking off an NTSB investigation that could have implications for the aggressive timeline the company has embraced to be the first eVTOL company to fly passengers in 2024. FAA Administrator Steve Dickson has resigned. The U.S.'s top aviation regulator was about half way though his five year term. His dealings with Boeing will be the defining characteristic of his time at the agency. The UAE offered its preliminary report on the bizarre circumstances around Emirates 231. The brief report confirms much of The Air Current's reporting on the Dec. 20 botched takeoff out of Dubai.

What a safety debate about self-driving cars means for self-flying aircraft

Elan Head·February 9, 2022

The safety case for autonomous vehicles is weaker than it has been made out to be — both on the ground and in the air.

Three points: Exhausted Gulf pilots, Wisk’s pilotless ambition, United’s new academy

Elan Head and Jon Ostrower·February 2, 2022

Reuters took a close look at Qatar Airways and claims its pilots are making around crew scheduling in the wake of the pandemic, which significantly resized the airline. The result is a broader discussion around fatigue and the risk of cockpit mistakes that should serve as context given other recent incidents, including Emirates 231. Boeing is betting on Wisk to be its pathfinder to autonomy, so how does the eVTOL entrant plan to do it? United Airlines formally launched its own flight academy, giving aspiring pilots a private certificate and a leg up to an eventual job flying with the airline. Yet, there are still very real obstructions that are clogging the pipeline of pilots.

Absent 797, Boeing bets on Wisk’s autonomous moonshot

Elan Head and Jon Ostrower·January 24, 2022

For Wisk and its major backers, it’s all or nothing — and if the startup can win a fully-autonomous certification, it offers Boeing a bridge to adapt those technologies to its next-generation airliners, a goal it has eyed since at least 2017.

Approaching first flight, Eviation’s Alice readies to test FAA

Jon Ostrower and Elan Head·January 20, 2022

Eviation’s progress as the first all-new passenger commercial airplane exclusively powered by batteries is being closely watched as a technical, economic and regulatory pathfinder for the wider adoption of electric flight.

The daunting economics of taking an air taxi to work

Elan Head·January 19, 2022

These findings imply that the first wave of eVTOL developers should focus less on pitching their services as a daily commuting solution, and more on a mix of use cases that can support a practical and profitable roll-out. There’s a chicken-and-egg element involved in scaling UAM: driving costs low enough to create the demand that will drive costs down even further. While there are additional hurdles to scale (such as coordinating thousands of low-altitude flights per day in congested urban airspace) economics will be front and center in establishing this new industry’s viability, and the evidence suggests that if you build a system for commuters alone, they won’t come.

Eviation's Alice doing ground engine runs at Arlington Municipal Airport in Washington state at dusk in January 2022.

Three Points: Washington’s evolving cluster, insight on autonomy, visualizing twin-aisle history

Jon Ostrower and Elan Head·January 14, 2022

With Eviation's maiden flight fast approaching, the Washington state aerospace cluster is evolving as it becomes a focal point for green aviation aspirants and increasingly untethered from the enormous industrial gravity created by Boeing. Before the eVTOL gold rush took shape, the National Research Council in 2014 explored how autonomy could transform aviation, but with a sober and realistic view on making it possible. Its findings are even more relevant in 2022. Since 1969, only 13 western twin-aisle aircraft types have been certified by just four manufacturers. We visualized the production history of each one and the more than 9,500 that have been delivered to the world's airlines. The data illustrates the story more than a half century of unimaginable successes, stark failures and an incredible boom and bust.

Three Points: Allegiant’s 737 Max buy, eVTOL’s certification race, revisiting EK231

Jon Ostrower and Elan Head·January 7, 2022

At first glance, the purchase of 50 new-generation aircraft looks out of character for Allegiant Air, here's why it jumped on the Boeing bandwagon. There's a rivalry brewing between eVTOL entrants Joby Aviation and Archer. The quiet war of words over certification milestones are increasingly important to watch as both eye 2024 for regulatory approvals and the bragging rights for first to fly paying passengers. Emirates 231 wasn't the only incident of its kind. There's no global system of incident reporting -- and that's what makes independent aviation journalism so important.

Embraer SPAC deal reflects changed funding landscape for eVTOL developers

Elan Head·January 4, 2022

When Embraer spinoff Eve on Dec. 21 confirmed plans to combine with Zanite Acquisition Corp., it became the sixth company in the urban air mobility space to link up with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). Rather than speak to the continued strength of SPACs, however, the deal illustrates the funding vehicle’s decline as an ample source of outside capital — even as it cements Embraer’s strategy of using partnerships to expand into new markets.

TAC Explains: What’s a SPAC?

Elan Head·January 4, 2022

Although much of the shine has worn off them at the beginning of 2022, SPACs have successfully funneled billions of dollars to early-stage technology companies, including multiple aerospace startups — giving them the capital they need to supercharge research and development and take experimental concepts through certification.

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