Business Aviation & AAM Report

Next-generation proprotor blade and advanced tiltrotor concept show promise.

After completing demonstration flights with its electric air taxi first in the San Francisco Bay Area and then in New York, Joby Aviation is taking the lessons learned into its planning for operations set to begin this year under an FAA pilot program.

NASA is continuing to speed up the rate of X-59 flight tests.

Merlin is expanding its autonomous flight platform into the commercial cargo market with the launch of a new product line called Condor.

Iridium has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the Aileron space-based air traffic surveillance system that it hosts on its satellite network.

Complex operations enabled by regulatory waivers and deviations under an FAA pilot program are expected to shorten the time from type certification to operational readiness for commercial electric taxi operations.

Hal Shevers, founder and chair of Sporty’s, died May 12, the company announced. He was 90.

Otto Aerospace has moved into detail design of the Phantom 3500 business aircraft, advancing its plans to exploit drag-reducing laminar flow technology.

Aviation services company Metrea is gearing up to demonstrate its Fireswift aerial firefighting aircraft to European governments in the coming weeks.

Bombardier has launched an accelerated training program here designed to help aircraft maintenance technicians obtain FAA Airframe and Powerplant certification.

Beta Technologies is advancing conforming aircraft and propulsion systems for certification testing.

Battery exhaustion after encountering poor weather was the reason the Skydweller large solar-powered UAS was lost in the Gulf of Mexico on May 4.

The UK’s National Police Air Service (NPAS) has been granted funding to buy additional helicopters, in addition to aircraft already on order from Airbus.

Archer says it is pursuing a restricted type certificate for its Midnight eVTOL in the UAE that could enable operations in Abu Dhabi ahead of full FAA certification.

AIRO unveils Jaunt UAS with five-fold range increase, adds ISR variant for military and civil uses and targets delivery by 2027.

Egypt’s first SAF plant secures $142.9m financing, aiming to produce 200,000 metric tons of biofuels annually with Shell as a key partner.

Wheels Up’s first quarter financial performance is not surprising.

The United Arab Emirates’ General Civil Aviation Authority and Archer Aviation have agreed to move approval for the Midnight eVTOL to a restricted type certificate program.

Embraer has selected India’s Bharat Forge as a new supplier of forged raw materials for its aircraft.

LanzaTech has selected North Sea Port in Ghent, Belgium, as the site for the EU’s first commercial-scale, alcohol-to-jet sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) plant.

Hyundai partners with KAI to develop eVTOL aircraft, refocusing on advanced air mobility after restructuring Supernal and pausing its S-A2 air taxi program.

RTX’s Collins Aerospace is expanding a facility in Largo, Florida, to accelerate production of radars for the FAA’s air traffic control modernization push.

The preowned business aircraft market showed both resilience and discipline during the first three months of 2026 despite geopolitical and economic uncertainty.

Wisk Aero is accelerating its Gen 6 autonomous eVTOL flight test campaign after successfully flying a second full-scale aircraft.

During the first quarter of 2026, Embraer’s executive jet division recorded higher shipments and revenue.