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Vertical Aerospace

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.

Wisk, with wings to glide, picks skids not wheels

Elan Head·October 7, 2022

Log-in here if you’re already a subscriber This post appeared as part of our Three Points Newsletter on October...

Funding top-offs come into focus as eVTOL developers continue drive to certification

Elan Head·May 18, 2023

Log-in here if you’re already a subscriber Release DateMay 18, 2023Funding top-offs come into focus as eVTOL developers continue drive...

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.

Special Report: The number at the center of an eVTOL safety debate

Elan Head·January 9, 2023

Vertical CEO makes $50 million wager on flight test progress

Elan Head·January 22, 2024

Log-in here if you’re already a subscriber HEAR FROM THE AIR CURRENT Leave this field empty if you're human: Vertical...

Visualizing eVTOL startups’ cash burn

Elan Head·December 6, 2022

Log-in here if you’re already a subscriber How much juice do the key eVTOL entrants have left in their tanks?...

Three Points: The last 747, eVTOL cash burn, China and the B-21

Jon Ostrower and Elan Head·December 7, 2022

Boeing rolls-out final 747 EVERETT — It was the one-thousand five-hundredth and seventy-fourth — and final — time a 747...

Archer settles on four blades for its eVTOL lifting props

Elan Head·June 11, 2025

Log-in here if you’re already a subscriber HEAR FROM THE AIR CURRENT Leave this field empty if you're human: Loading...

Archer in June 2021 unveiled its Maker technology demonstrator on the heels of its merger agreement with Atlas Crest Investment Corp. and backed by a partnership with United Airlines that helped fuel the company’s lucrative public offering.

Three Points: CFM’s RISE strategy, Archer’s Maker unveil, a return to flying

Jon Ostrower·June 14, 2021

GE Aviation and Safran laid out their post-pandemic strategy, a broad technology development plan called RISE aimed at low-emission propulsion for commercial aviation in the 2030s. In a ceremony befitting the cinematic legacy of Southern California, eVTOL entrant Archer unveiled its Maker technology demonstrator. The well-funded start up is part of an industry gold rush that looks a lot like aerial entrepreneurs of the 1920s. Your humble correspondent returned to flying again after 470 days on the ground. But who's counting?