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Industry Strategy

Disconnecting Russia from aviation’s world order came gradually – then all at once

Jon Ostrower·February 28, 2022

Denial of aviation is a weapon that predates the 21st century battlefield. Yet, with the return of war to Europe, it is also aviation’s Achilles’ heel. With it comes a cascading series of immediate and longer term consequences in the skies as commercial and industrial links are quickly broken after decades of cultivation following the fall of the Soviet Union.

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.

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.

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.

Climate challenge to aviation sets huge expectations for sustainable fuels

Dan Catchpole and Jon Ostrower·October 5, 2021

Airlines rally new climate targets at IATA’s annual meeting, puts onus largely on sustainable fuel production to meet 2050 carbon neutrality goal.

X-Wing comes to light as major new Airbus demonstrator program

Jon Ostrower·September 16, 2021

The Air Current has focused recent months extensively reporting on Airbus’s, until now, secret research effort to completely re-wing a Cessna business jet and rapidly accelerate a suite of new advanced flight control technologies -- including a foldable wingtip designed to flap freely in turbulence and maneuvers.