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Airlines lend brands for cheap eVTOL shares

Elan Head·March 29, 2022

While such deals across the rising eVTOL industry seemingly represent a new aerospace business model in which customers have a stake in the overall success of the product, a detailed review of securities filings and other fine print by The Air Current reveals a far more transactional arrangement. Airlines are lending their branding and credibility in exchange for a possibly lucrative piece of a buzzy market, regardless of whether or not an aircraft will be delivered or even formally ordered.

Regional aircraft recovery stalls after early pandemic rebound

Courtney Miller·January 6, 2022

Today, the same intuition that initially drove the networks to preserve breadth – the points on route maps – through flying smaller aircraft has shown a recent shift away from the regional aircraft. The recent new trend signals a potential change for the regional aircraft industry, and for the small communities that rely on a connection to the world’s aviation system.

How a regional aircraft is flown today will define its prospects tomorrow

Courtney Miller·August 4, 2021

There’s no one definition of a regional airline and that shows in the pandemic’s rebound. TAC Analysis continues its exploration of which types of regional airlines are excelling in the pandemic era, which are struggling, and what this means for the various aircraft types operating at each.

The pandemic didn’t stop Breeze, it gave David Neeleman a new business model

Jon Ostrower·May 10, 2021

Breeze Airways is on the verge of reality. The nascent airline is readying its route structure and going through its proving runs with the Federal Aviation Administration. The plan to find a new U.S. home for Azul’s sunsetting E190s predates COVID-19, but David Neeleman finds himself with inexpensive aircraft and a shifting lessor business model made for crisis.

The global aircraft fleet recovery is a tale of trifurcation

Courtney Miller·April 21, 2021

The global airline fleet is not recovering evenly. With global scheduled capacity up over 92% from April 2020, that metric serves better to illustrate just how terrible last April was than how good we find it in 2021. Compared to 2019, the global fleet is producing 53% fewer seat-miles. We’re a long way from where we were before the pandemic.

Three Points: Dash 8-400 pause, flying on Mars, miniaturizing the long-haul cabin

Jon Ostrower·February 17, 2021

De Havilland Canada's time building the Dash 8-400 turboprop in Downsview is coming to an end as the company plans to indefinitely pause production, but is leaving the door wide open to start again to begin a new for a post-COVID-19 rebound in demand. The fourth rock from the sun is slated to become the solar system's second planet to host a powered flight. Perseverance and Ingenuity arrive on Mars on February 18. As single-aisle jets like the Airbus A321XLR take on roles once assigned for long-range twins, the more narrow cabin is going to be a battleground for increasingly complex passenger systems in the fight against commodification.