FutureFlight

The UK government is offering £4.5 million ($6 million) in funding to strengthen the supply chain for power electronics, machines, and drive (PEMD) technology to be used in aviation applications. Grants of between £50,000 and £1 million are being offered by Innovate UK through the agency’s Building Talent for the Future 2 competition for which entries open on January 12.

In the advanced air mobility sector, 2021 has been the first year to see significant numbers of sales commitments for new eVTOL and eSTOL aircraft. While the solidity of these largely provisional order commitments remains in question, it has been eye-catching to witness major airlines including United, American, Virgin Atlantic, Japan Airlines, SkyWest, Azul, Gol, and Republic Airways signaling their intention to incorporate new aircraft carrying just a handful of passengers into their fleets.

EASA this week issued a notice of proposed amendment (NPA) intended to make it easier to certify, manufacture, and operate new types of aircraft—including new eVTOL models—that are not fully taken into account by existing regulations.

2021 has been a year in which four leading eVTOL aircraft pioneers, seeking to bring urban air mobility to Main Street, filed lucrative flight paths via share flotations on Wall Street. Following in the footsteps of Joby, Archer, Lilium, and Vertical Aerospace, Embraer subsidiary Eve on December 21 confirmed that it intends to merge with special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Zanite and seek a New York Stock Exchange listing in the second quarter of 2022.

With hydrogen increasingly gaining favor as an attractive fuel option for aircraft more attention is turning to how it can be supplied in sufficient volumes, and also how it can be produced in a way that supports the industry’s zero-emissions objectives. The aviation sector needs firm assurances that supplies will be cost-effective and meet the so-called ‘green hydrogen’ mark for being environmentally sustainable, taking account of the full production process.

The regulatory framework to govern training requirements for pilots of eVTOL aircraft is still evolving, as are the rules under which the new electric vehicles will be operated in commercial service starting around 2024. Many observers of the regulatory process anticipate the deployment of exemptions to existing rules in the early phase of operations; that’s not to say, however, that work isn’t being done to develop more specific requirements tailored to differentiating performance characteristics of the new aircraft.

Some would say that all the best ideas get recycled periodically. Ride-sharing, planepooling, empty legs­–call these concepts what you will; in the context of air transportation they all hinge on the proverbial no-brainer notion of maximizing utilization of aircraft and their supporting assets, such as airports.

The select group of eVTOL aircraft developers that have so far touched down on Wall Street following a SPAC-merger-based flight path to equity flotations has brought with it some improved visibility regarding the financial realities of the advanced air mobility (AAM) gold rush. Starting last week, we’ve seen the first of the start-ups-gone-public—Archer, Joby, and Lilium—post quarterly financial results for the period ending on September 30, and, predictably, the bottom lines remain resolutely red with the prospect of returns on investment still some three years away.

Wright Electric’s ambitious plans to modernize the venerable BAe 146 regional jetliner with an electric propulsion system are to be advanced with the assistance of Honeywell Aerospace. This week, the start-up announced the opening of a Joint Technical Assessment Phase (JTAP) for the Wright Spirit program, which is expected to lead to a full launch of the program in October 2022.

Lilium, Archer, and Airbus are on a rising tide, according to SMG Consulting's latest assessment of the viability of new aircraft programs in the October 2021 release of its Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) Reality Index. In the case of the two start-ups, the credibility uptick is based on increased funding resulting from their recent Wall Street flotations. For European aerospace behemoth Airbus, the change reflects its unveiling in September of the design for its CityAirbus NextGen four-passenger eVTOL.