AAM Set to 'Change the World,' Say Innovators at BACE
“How quickly the world has changed,” said moderator Cyrus Sigari, executive chairman and co-founder of jetAviva and co-founder and managing partner of AAM venture capital investment firm UP.Partners, before introducing panelists yesterday at the NBAA-BACE 2021 Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) keynote session. The panelists lead companies that are bringing new technologies and solutions to AAM.
They explained what is happening and what’s coming in an inspiring session that evoked events from the debut of “The Jetsons” on television 60 years ago to William Shatner’s journey to space aboard Blue Origin on the day of the forum.
All agreed that in getting public acceptance of AAMs, “the biggest issue is noise,” as Melissa Tomkiel, president of Blade Urban Air Mobility, noted. Aircraft these companies are developing all incorporate quiet technology, in addition to electric motors, dramatically reducing sonic impacts.
She called for “partnerships with government and municipalities” to reduce burdensome fees to promote greener eVTOL solutions.
They all also agreed vertical integration is “critical” for manufacturers, as Eric Allison, head of product at Joby Aviation, said, with each company developing their own aircraft, engines, and operational support “to connect engineering and production, and quickly bring aircraft to market and keep up the cycle of innovation.”
As determined as my boss, AIN editor-in-chief Matt Thurber, was to win, there was absolutely no way he was going to beat me in a race between the Las Vegas Convention Center’s West Hall and Henderson Executive Airport (KHND). That’s because he was driving a late-model Ford Escape and I was flying in Blade Urban Air Mobility’s Airbus EC130 operated by Maverick Helicopters. Since Tuesday and in partnership with NBAA, Blade has been operating helicopter shuttles for NBAA-BACE attendees. NBAA and Blade are pitching the shuttle flights as a demonstration of what urban air mobility (UAM) can offer.
It took Thurber 30 minutes while I flew over him in early evening traffic. For me, it was an approximately 15-minute journey, cruising at 130 knots, from the time I climbed into the helicopter outside the north end of the West Hall and stepped out of it next to Blade’s chalet at the BACE static display.
Flying at 350 feet agl, the short ride provided a beautiful backdrop of the mountains surrounding Las Vegas. After touchdown and upon exiting the helicopter, a Blade golf cart shuttled us to the company’s chalet. There, we were offered a choice of beverages, including adult libations of which I was able to indulge while Thurber was still making his way to KHND.
Under its recently announced multifaceted sustainability plan, Embraer flew the four aircraft it is showing this week at the NBAA-BACE static display on sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) or its equivalent using book-and-claim. In August, the Brazilian aircraft manufacturer established a series of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) targets, ranging from carbon neutrality by 2040 to inclusivity and the launch of its zero-emission Eve eVTOL by 2026.
“We have an opportunity to reshape the future,” Embraer Executive Jets president and CEO Michael Amalfitano said during a media breakfast on Tuesday at NBAA-BACE. “Our vision is to reimagine mobility,” emphasizing the use of sustainability to achieve this effort.
To help reach the aviation industry's goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, Embraer is developing products, services, and other sustainable technologies, including the use of electrification, hybrid, hydrogen, sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), and other energy alternatives. The company further will offset residual emissions through efficiency projects, available alternative energy, or advancing technology.
Embraer has also collaborated with Avfuel and to bring Neste MY Sustainable Aviation Fuel to Melbourne Orlando (Florida) International Airport (KMLB). Avfuel delivered the fuel to Sheltair Melbourne for storage and handling and Embraer Executive Jets is using it for demo flights.
An initial 8,000-gallon delivery of a 30 percent SAF blend occurred in mid-July, and a second similar load was delivered earlier this month.
With data from the full third quarter, JetNet iQ provided an update on its business jet market briefing Tuesday at NBAA-BACE, saying market mood is at the “strongest optimism we’ve ever measured in 11 years.” JetNet iQ creator Rolland Vincent said that sentiment was derived from responses from 500 survey participants. Seventy-eight percent of respondents said business aviation was past the low point in the cycle.
While optimism may be strong, Vincent said supply is not keeping pace with demand. “The supply chain is struggling. We’ve got unprecedented labor issues [and] nobody’s talking about it.”
He said during 2020, suppliers shed large chunks of their workforces. “We have not recovered. I’ve talked to Tier 1s, Tier 2s, people who supply the Honeywells and the Gogos and the others of the world…and they’re telling us they’re struggling to get back up. So as an industry, it’s great to see the mood but we’re very much watching the supply.”
In terms of aircraft orders, JetNet’s forecast calls for increased orders for light and the middle part of the jet market. The updated forecast calls for 8,529 business jet deliveries worth $244.9 billion in revenue between 2021 and 2030. Of those deliveries, 42 percent will be for small jets while 24 percent will be for midsize jets. Large jets will account for 34 percent of deliveries during that period.
CAE Partners on Single-pilot Jet Training Insurance
Canadian flight-training provider CAE announced a new partnership with Starr Insurance this week at NBAA-BACE in Las Vegas. The first-of-its-kind program aimed at single-pilot jet owners will combine a rigorous 18-month training cycle and insurance for them.
The curriculum will consist of scenario-based simulator training, flight training data monitoring, in-aircraft mentoring, and upset prevention and recovery training. Participants will learn in classroom simulators and aboard aircraft through mentoring sessions with specially-trained and experienced instructors.
“Aircraft owner pilots of single-pilot jet aircraft are a particularly difficult class to insure,” said Kyle Sparks, Starr Aviation’s senior v-p and chief underwriting officer, adding these aircraft are complicated machines to fly, even for professional career pilots. “CAE’s rigorous professional flight-training regimen will help owner pilots fly safer, and the extensive flight behavior data we’ll get from the program will ensure more accurate insurance underwriting.”
Trainees are introduced to the tools used by professional pilots to increase safety through all aspects of the flight, including safety management system features like flight risk assessments and practical threat and error management. With an emphasis placed on mitigating loss of control in flight, students will learn how to increase recognition and prevent such situations as well as develop appropriate recovery skills.
CAE group president Nick Leontidis said the program “makes insurance more accessible to pilots by providing them with comprehensive safety training."
Airbus Corporate Helicopters has seen its order numbers rise in the aftermath of the Covid pandemic. At a press conference this week at NBAA-BACE, Frederic Lemos, head of the airframer’s helicopter unit, noted that in 2020 it received 62 orders worldwide including 22 ACH125s, 19 ACH130s, four ACH135s, 15 ACH145s, and two ACH160s.
The medium-twin ACH160 received its certification last year from EASA and has since added approval from Brazilian and Japanese authorities. While its FAA certification is still pending, Airbus Corporate Helicopters already has five orders on its books for the helicopter in North America.
In the first half of 2021, the company received 43 orders, good for a 50 percent increase year-over-year. According to the company it now claims a more than 50 percent market share in deliveries in the private aviation segment since 2014.
In North America, the manufacturer received orders for 13 new helicopters in 2020, and for the first half of this year it has garnered orders for nine. Since 2018, half of its orders in North America have come from new customers, and the company now claims a 30 percent market share there.
The digital flip-through issues of AIN’s award-winning NBAA Convention News are now available online. It’s a great way to quickly scan the news from NBAA-BACE 2021, whether you’re in Las Vegas attending the show or watching from afar.
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