Elan Head and Jon Ostrower·
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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.
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.
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.
Jon Ostrower and Elan Head·
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.
Jon Ostrower and Elan Head·
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.
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.
The aerospace newcomers are beginning their transition from ambitious start-ups to brick and mortar businesses with products to build and deliver to market.
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