The most interesting person in the first commercial eVTOL launch may not be the pilot, the regulator, the mayor at the ribbon cutting, or the executive standing beside the aircraft. It may be the underwriter. The aircraft may have completed its test program. The regulator may have signed off. The … [continued]
Chatgpt generated illustration showing the tension between certification cost curves and urban air mobility scale.
The question around electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aka Jetsons air taxi certification has shifted. It is no longer about whether regulators will create a pathway. Both the FAA and EASA have done that work. The FAA finalized powered lift operational rules in 2024 and published Advisory Circular 21.17-4 … [continued]
Valo makes its U.S. debut as Vertical shares plans for electric air travel routes in and out of Manhattan with Bristow and Skyports Infrastructure The routes would cut multi-hour journeys to minutes by air Valo will be on public display at the Classic Car Club in NYC on 23 January … [continued]
Electric air taxis may be a dead end idea. I think they probably are. Except in some niche, limited markets and applications. To be honest, though, Saudi Arabia may be one of those markets, and authorities there certainly seem to think so. The country’s aviation regulator, General Authority of Civil … [continued]
ChatGPT generated: Grounded eVTOL aircraft at a stalled test site reflecting the sector’s contraction.
The recent collapse in eVTOL stock prices after the irrational blip in early 2025 is not an isolated event. It is the latest step in a long repricing of a sector that promised rapid disruption but has delivered slow progress, heavy burn rates, and no certified passenger aircraft in the … [continued]
ChatGPT generated image of China’s integrated heavy-lift drone and regional air mobility operations.
When Brunei quietly announced that it would recognize the airworthiness rules of China’s Civil Aviation Administration, it seemed like a bureaucratic footnote. But the decision is a bellwether. By accepting CAAC certification as valid within its own jurisdiction, Brunei effectively declared that it trusts Chinese aviation regulators as much as … [continued]
ChatGPT generated image: A grounded eVTOL prototype sits neglected in a hangar, coated in dust and pigeon droppings, a stark symbol of stalled aviation dreams
Supernal’s decision to pause work on its eVTOL aircraft is a signal that the sector is entering a different phase. Hyundai created Supernal with strong funding, a long timeline, and a clear plan to bring a five-seat air taxi to market around 2028. If a global automaker with significant resources … [continued]
Archer’s Midnight eVTOL Aircraft Will Seek to Integrate Across the LA28 Games through Transporting VIPs, Fans, & Stakeholders, While Electrifying Vertiport Take-off-and-Landing Hubs for Key Venues LOS ANGELES—Today, Archer (NYSE: ACHR) announced that it has been selected as the Official Air Taxi Provider of the LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games … [continued]
ChatGPT generated panoramic image of an evtol like the Volocopter rusting in a field, with pigeons roosting on it
The inevitable is occurring in the dead end space of Jetsons urban air mobility fantasies. Two more origami rotorcraft have left the vertiport for the great airplane graveyard in the sky as Volocopter disappears and Airbus drops its program. Volocopter was founded in 2011 in Bruchsal, Germany. Initially named e-Volo, … [continued]
One of the leading electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft companies in the world, EHang, recently completed a demo flight of its autonomous (pilot-free) EH216-S, which is capable of carrying human passengers, in downtown Shanghai. “It served as an excellent backdrop to demonstrate the exceptional capabilities in convenience, safety, … [continued]
