How The Aftermarket Is Prepping For Electric Aviation

Eyeing sustainability goals, the aviation industry has increasingly pursued efforts to transition toward electric power and away from fossil fuels. Innovators are developing electric engines and aircraft, while ground support equipment manufacturers are incorporating more electric technology to reduce their carbon footprints.

As these technologies proliferate, the aftermarket will need to prepare to support an increasingly electric aviation future. From electric propulsion retrofits to repairs and maintenance of electric aircraft platforms, manufacturers, MROs and aviation maintenance technician schools are all trying to lay the groundwork to support these emerging markets.

Electrifying Aircraft

A test stand taking shape at Wright Electric’s base in Malta, New York, exemplifies the vision—if not the reality—of the electrification of aviation. On the stand is a fan module from a Honeywell LF507-1F turbofan, which is to be powered by Wright’s WM2500 2-megawatt motor to test the performance of an electric jet engine.

Wright is targeting the retrofit of regional jets and turboprops. An initial target is the BAe 146/Avro RJ family of 80-100-seaters, powered by four LF507s. But in reality, electrification is starting much smaller, with two-seat trainers and nine-seat commuters, because of battery limitations and certification challenges.

The first electric engine to be certified—the Safran ENGINeUS 100B1, approved by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) in February—produces up to 150 kW and powers the Aura Aero Integral E and Diamond eDA40 trainers, now in flight testing, as well as the in-development Bye Aerospace eFlyer 2.

The motor also will power French startup VoltAero’s Cassio 330 hybrid-electric five-seater and Chinese newcomer TCab Tech’s E20 piloted four-passenger electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing air taxi. Safran plans to expand the ENGINeUS 100’s power to 180 kW and extend applications to 19-seaters.

Approval of the ENGINeUS 100 paves the way for EASA CS-23 certification of the Diamond Aircraft eDA40, expected this year, and Aura Aero Integral E, anticipated in 2026. This remains the biggest hurdle, as it requires certification of the battery system, supplied in both cases by Electric Power Systems (EPS).

While Safran’s ENGINeuS 100 was certified under EASA’s special condition (SC) E-19 for electric and hybrid propulsion systems, the path to battery certification is not as clear. The route EPS is attempting for its EPiC battery is technical standard order authorization, which then could be reused on other aircraft.

The other approach is to certify the battery system under the aircraft’s CS-23 (or FAA Part 23) type certificate. This is the path Swiss battery startup H55 is taking with its electric propulsion system for the Bristell B23 Energic two-seater, aiming for EASA certification in 2026.

A new U.S. startup, ZT1 Technologies, is planning a third approach. The Seattle-based company is working with Liberty Aerospace to electrify the XL2, a Part 23-certified two-seat trainer. ZT1 plans to certify the electric motor and battery system together under FAA Part 33 rules for aircraft engines. This would reduce the regulatory burden on other airframers wanting to electrify their aircraft, the startup says.

Two-seaters like the eDAQ40 and XL2 are Level 2 aircraft under CS-23/Part 23 regulations, presenting the easiest point of entry to certified electric propulsion. Level 3 aircraft with up to nine seats and Level 4 with up to 19 face more rigorous scrutiny but are the next port of call for electrification.

While the ubiquitous Cessna Caravan has emerged as the most popular target for propulsion retrofits, be they battery-, hybrid- or hydrogen-electric, the first effort to break into commercial aviation actually involves the nearly 80-year-old De Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver.

Canadian operator Harbor Air is working with H55 and propulsion developer MagniX to electrify its six-passenger Beaver seaplanes, intending to begin commercial flights by the end of 2026. Harbor Air is blazing a trail for the industry, particularly in understanding battery behavior in operation.

But electric propulsion likely will earn its spurs on the Caravan. U.S. startup Ampaire is aiming for FAA certification testing of its Eco Caravan hybrid-electric conversion, while Spanish-Australian newcomer Dovetail Electric Aircraft plans to fly a battery-electric Caravan by year-end and achieve service entry by 2027.

Dovetail is part of a Spanish government-supported program that aims to have a hydrogen-fuel-cell-powered Caravan ready for flight by year-end. Dovetail and Spanish aeroengines company ITP Aero are the major partners in the project, which is funded through the Center for the Development of Industrial Technology and led by Spanish aerostructures supplier Aciturri.

U.S.-UK startup ZeroAvia has selected the Caravan for the first application of its ZA600, a 600-kW hydrogen-electric powertrain sized to replace the popular Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A turboprop. ZeroAvia is targeting FAA certification of the electric propulsion system by 2026 and the fuel-cell power-generation system with the UK Civil Aviation Authority, seeking service entry by 2027.

What follows the Caravan is an open question. Ampaire is designing a hybrid-electric conversion for the Beechcraft King Air, while Dovetail is developing a hydrogen-electric retrofit for the popular twin-turboprop. Australian startup Stralis is working to make the Beechcraft 1900 the first application of its hydrogen-electric powertrain. ZeroAvia, meanwhile, is using a 19-seat Dornier 228 as a testbed.

In the longer term, programs are underway to electrify larger regional turboprops, beginning with 40-50-seaters, such as the De Havilland Canada Dash 8 and the formerly Dornier, now Deutsche Aircraft, D328.

MagniX is converting a 50-seat De Havilland Canada Dash 7 to hybrid-electric propulsion under a NASA electrified powertrain flight demonstration program. ZeroAvia is developing the larger ZA2000 hydrogen-electric powertrain, which it plans to flight-test on the 70-80-seat Dash 8-400. ATR has abandoned development of a hybrid-electric version of the ATR 72, but Europe’s Clean Aviation research program is looking to resurrect plans to flight-test a hybrid-electric regional aircraft powertrain by 2029.

That brings us back to Wright Electric’s test stand. While an energy storage system capable of giving a 100-seat electrified aircraft sufficient range to be commercially viable is still years away, ground testing of a propulsion system capable of powering a regional jet would be a significant milestone for the industry.

The 7,000-lb.-thrust Honeywell LF507 is representative of propulsion loads in the regional jets Wright is targeting for retrofit with its electric powertrain. Built in partnership with Poland’s REA Space and Rzeszow University of Technology, the dedicated test stand will be used for electric jet engine performance testing and analysis. The LF507-1F fan module has been donated by Executive Jet Support.

With support from CFS Aeroproducts, type certificate holder for the LF507 and earlier ALF502 engines and UK-based BAe 146/Avro RJ maintenance specialist Avalon Aero, Wright converted the fan module to a single-stream configuration compatible with its electric motor.

Initial low-power runs of the test stand will use the first-generation Wright-1A electric motor. The second phase will integrate the WM2500, which can deliver up to 2.5 megawatts of power and has just completed simulated altitude testing in NASA’s Electric Aircraft Testbed. Wright is building a second stand to test the WM2500, driving a propeller from the Lockheed Martin C-130, another early retrofit target for the startup.

Advancing Toward Service

Beyond the electrification of traditional aircraft, the nascent advanced air mobility (AAM) segment has been taking shape. The field has started to narrow as leading players achieve milestones toward service entry. As of May, EHang, Volocopter, Beta Technologies, Joby Aviation and Archer topped SMG Consulting’s AAM Reality Index, which measures companies’ odds of bringing the aircraft to market. All five AAM developers have made progress toward being able not only to fly their aircraft, but to maintain them as well.

EHang, which in March became the first electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing (eVTOL) aircraft manufacturer to receive an operating certificate to fly fare-paying passengers, already has delivered hundreds of its EH216-series aircraft and plans to ramp up production to 1,000 aircraft annually by year-end. The manufacturer has established vertiport facilities in locations such as Hefei, China, and Tsukuba, Japan, and is planning a maintenance support center in Shenzhen’s Bao’an District.

In October 2024, EHang partnered with the Civil Aviation Flight University of China on training maintenance staff. The pair plan to establish a training institution that would jointly offer operator and maintenance staff licenses for large civil uncrewed aircraft systems. Meanwhile, EHang has teamed with a variety of companies to develop MRO support, facilities and standards, including HAECO Group, China Southern Airlines General Aviation Co. Ltd., the Multi Level Group and the Abu Dhabi Investment Office.

Following closely behind is Europe’s Volocopter. After filing for insolvency at the end of December, the company was acquired by Austrian general aviation aircraft manufacturer Diamond Aircraft in March. It has revived efforts to certify the VoloCity eVTOL aircraft by early 2026.

Volocopter is actively hiring aircraft maintenance technicians to establish its Part 145 operations in launch cities. The company previously told Inside MRO it is building up in-house technical operations for service entry and the early commercial phase, but it may consider outsourcing maintenance while scaling up operations. Volocopter also signed a contract in June 2023 to use the popular Swiss-AS AMOS maintenance software for digital maintenance operations.

Close on the heels of Volocopter in the AAM Reality Index are U.S. manufacturers Beta Technologies and Joby Aviation. Beta is aiming for certification of its Alia VTOL aircraft by the end of 2027, while Joby is planning to certify its S4 air taxi in 2026.

According to Mandy Grace, mechanical engineer and team member at Beta, the company’s aircraft are designed for versatility for a range of operators—such as cargo, passenger, medical and defense—so “there is no ‘cookie-cutter’ customer.

“We’re really focused on following our customers’ leads and ensuring they have everything they need to carry out maintenance operations in the best ways they see fit,” Grace adds.

Many of Beta’s early customers are large global operators with their own maintenance organizations, she notes, so in those scenarios, the startup is focused on enabling the customers’ mechanics to maintain the Alia. “In other situations, our customers will require our help on a more regular basis, so we’re building up internal capabilities and working with industry-best maintenance providers to be able to meet those customers’ needs when they arise,” she says.

Beta has built a multimodal, interoperable infrastructure network, bringing chargers online at nearly 50 sites across the U.S. The company recently flew a production aircraft coast to coast, using many of these sites to power it along the way.

According to Stephen Beams, an FAA-certified mechanic and Beta Technologies team member, Alia’s design has fewer parts and minimal special tooling, which should streamline maintenance.

“When it comes to our spares program, we’re taking a similar approach to our overall maintenance operations and planning for flexibility,” Beams says. “We are prepared to provide customers with whatever they need, whether that’s having spare parts accessible to maximize uptime of their aircraft, having spare parts in the region for specific events or even having Beta manage their spares needs.”

Instead of opting for third-party maintenance software, Beta is developing an in-house platform that “is designed to be a one-stop shop for access to all the digital tools and technical data mechanics need for both Beta and our customers as it relates to maintenance and aftermarket operations,” Beams says. The platform will incorporate customers’ maintenance data, flight planning needs, charging availability and status, and network optimization.

“As we add to our customer base and prepare for our first aircraft deliveries to customers later this year, we continue to build out our maintenance and aftermarket service,” Grace says. “Our customers are key in this process, telling us exactly what they want and need in order to operate their aircraft in a way that best suits their networks and teams.”

According to Bonny Simi, Joby’s president of operations, the company is taking a holistic approach to maintenance and building capabilities in-house. “We’re really uniquely positioned to do that because we’re vertically integrated, meaning we design, build and operate the aircraft, so our maintenance team is involved throughout the whole process,” she says. “If we don’t build the MRO, it just won’t exist. We’re the only team right now that knows how to maintain our aircraft.”

Joby expects its maintenance operations to differ somewhat based on location-specific requirements and infrastructure. The company is working with infrastructure providers such as Skyports, but Simi says Joby can electrify existing locations such as airports, heliports and fixed-base operators (FBO). She expects most maintenance on aircraft and components to take place at these types of locations and overhauls more likely to be done at Joby’s main base in Marina, California.

“We anticipate doing overnight maintenance every single night because our aircraft will have such high utilization,” Simi says, noting that Joby’s S4 has a 100-mi. range. “You can have a centralized MRO in a location such as New York or Los Angeles, where the aircraft will come and sleep overnight. Maintenance gets done there, and then they go back out. There will be mobile maintenance vans that will be able to go to any of the vertiports.”

While Joby has not yet determined specifics of maintenance staffing, Simi says it will be similar to airlines “where you’ll staff with a certain ratio of mechanics per airplane.” The company is focused on hiring experienced technicians, primarily from nontraditional backgrounds such as general, experimental or military aviation, “because you need to be very adaptable,” she explains.

Simi says the S4 is providing “terabytes of data . . . far more than what normal aircraft in commercial service [provide],” which Joby is using as the basis for building predictive maintenance capabilities. The company has built a flight maintenance tool that technical staff can access on an iPad to manipulate, monitor and test aircraft systems, reducing inspection time.

Ahead of Joby’s plans to launch operations in Dubai next year, the company is focused on hiring and training maintenance staff while building and refining maintenance manuals. Simi says Joby has selected an MRO site in Dubai and is partnering with the United Arab Emirates’ Roads and Transports Authority to prepare it. After that, the startup will go through the same process for its U.S. launch in New York and Los Angeles.

Archer, which rounds off the AAM Reality Index Top Five, also plans to use its FAA Part 145 repair station certificate and capabilities to maintain its Midnight eVTOL air taxi, which the startup aims to bring into service in the U.S. in 2026. The company’s approved OEM partners will service certain aircraft parts produced by third-party suppliers.

“Maintainability has been a consideration throughout the design and development of Archer’s Midnight aircraft and vertiport infrastructure,” says Alan Tubbs, director of maintenance. “Archer’s maintainability engineering team has closely partnered with the aircraft design, software and data science teams to provide practical input to develop an aircraft that can be safely operated and efficiently maintained.”

Tubbs says Archer plans to have each regional network of vertiports supported by airframe and powerplant (A&P) certified technicians, plus additional technical staff.

“These Archer team members will support the regional network from an operating base at a centrally located vertiport, which will have an inventory of spare parts, materials, storage, ground support equipment, tooling and staff necessary to service the Midnight, aircraft charging and other day-to-day operations,” he says.

“Each regional team will be equipped to execute Archer’s maintenance program up to heavier maintenance visits,” Tubbs adds. “Any aircraft-on-ground events in the region will be addressed by using a specially equipped support vehicle when required. The team also will accomplish assembly and disassembly of the aircraft for transport to support repositioning between operating regions or to a heavy maintenance facility.”

Archer plans to use both in-house digital maintenance applications and third-party software, such as Trax’s eMRO and eMobility suites. Tubbs says the company’s own operational software has been designed to provide a seamless interface across operations, pilot and maintenance teams.

 

Training Considerations

When it comes to training AAM technicians, most eVTOL developers seem to be keeping their cards close to their chests rather than working directly with aviation maintenance technician (AMT) schools. In a fast-developing and competitive market, this is likely due to concerns about intellectual property.

Tubbs says all of Archer’s technical operations maintenance team members “will undergo a rigorous training regimen covering aircraft-specific safety, technical and human factors” coursework, including general familiarization with Midnight systems and programs covering specific systems, advanced troubleshooting, avionics, high voltage, composites, quality and inspector certifications, and airworthiness release.

Beams says Archer is following its customers’ leads “with the intent to make training as economical, seamless and tailored to their unique needs as possible.” The company plans to offer a maintenance training program at its headquarters in Burlington, Vermont, as well as a “train the trainer” program so customers can eventually train their own maintenance teams.

“We’re hiring mechanics, but because there is no such thing as eVTOL training for mechanics, we have to create it,” Simi says. “So they go through our program, and then they go through in-house, on-the-job training.” While Joby could “hire a freshly minted A&P,” she points out that graduates of AMT schools are not likely to learn much about how to maintain an eVTOL aircraft, so the company is taking a more hands-on approach by either hiring people under its Part 145 organization to start as maintenance repairmen and build experience or to hire apprentices into its light sport maintenance program.

Simi says Joby recently became only the third company to offer such a program in the U.S. The startup’s pilot academy uses light sport aircraft, so apprentices hired into the program “work on our aircraft in the academy and then transition over to the [Part] 145 and then over to our S4,” Simi says. “It’s a nice career path from ab initio all the way through to maintenance, and they have very bespoke training specifics for working on eVTOLs.”

Joby also has developed a four-week maintenance training program for its S4 akin to a general familiarization course, which it continues to update and deliver to new hires. At the end of 2024, the company completed an analogous training program with the U.S. Air Force as part of its existing contract with AFWerx Agility Prime.

When asked whether Joby would consider working with any Part 147 maintenance schools in the U.S. to adapt curriculum for eVTOL aircraft, Simi says this would depend on changes to the FAA Airman Certification Standards (ACS).

“The schools have to keep a pretty minimal syllabus to keep costs down, so it’s pretty difficult for them to spend a full month on battery technology, electric distributed systems and propulsion systems when none of that will go to credit toward the ACS,” she says. However, Simi says Joby has received heavy interest from Part 147 schools in creating special course modules or talking to students about eVTOL aircraft.

Meanwhile, Part 147 schools in the U.S. have ramped up efforts to adapt curricula so graduates can be more prepared for AAM aircraft. A Clemson University project funded by a grant from NASA and the FAA has been working to identify required technician competencies to maintain eVTOL vehicles and conducting a gap analysis to see where the current Part 147 curriculum falls short.

During the recent Aviation Technician Education Council Annual Conference, project stakeholders presented some initial findings that highlighted areas of need, including high-voltage safety protocols, battery maintenance, advanced avionics and digital systems, software and integrated systems, and composite materials and advanced manufacturing.

Kyle Tubbs, program manager at Wichita State University’s National Institute for Aviation Research, highlighted how composite parts could present challenges in an aircraft-on-ground situation. “We’re fairly well equipped to deal with repairs in an MRO situation, but as these technologies evolve and these aircraft are more numerous, we need to start looking at the ability to repair thermoplastic materials,” he said. “If we’re off-site and cannot get to an MRO, what do we do to prepare that unit on the ground? How do we certify that repair?”

Zackary Nicklin, director of aviation maintenance at St. Cloud Technical and Community College, expressed skepticism that AAM developers would have the bandwidth “to take anybody off the streets and turn them into a technician” as the market scales up.

“I think they’re missing some things there,” Nicklin said. “You miss the aviation mindset [technicians] get when they come from an A&P school. My recommendation to them is, we’ve got AMT schools producing folks that have most of the skills you need, and we recognize there’s a gap. Wouldn’t you rather train that gap than train the entire process from the beginning?”

It does not necessarily make sense to “have five or six different specialists working on these aircraft, especially when you look at the business model of working out of vertiports,” Nicklin suggested, citing the holistic systems view of AAM aircraft, which have very interconnected systems. “I think we need to rely more on a well-rounded technician, who can isolate faults, whether they’re mechanical, electrical or software-driven, and then maybe rely on specialists back at some type of headquarters to bounce stuff off.”

While Nicklin said he is heartened to see some AAM developers starting to work with local colleges, he would “like to see it a little more widespread.

“[If] they want to see proliferation of this technology and these aircraft across the country and the world,” he added, “the sooner they start introducing those topics in the curriculum—working with different colleges and finding a way to release [information] into the public domain so others can adopt it—the better.”

Supporting Supplies

The next generation of technicians will also need to prepare to work with increasingly electrified ground support equipment (GSE) and tooling.

The electrification of GSE has moved at a steady pace over the past decade alongside wider electrification efforts across the industry. This movement has brought more product innovation and volumes of tooling and equipment to the market, partly driven by the industry’s increasingly conscious sustainability efforts and targeting of greater, less labor-intensive operational efficiency gains.

The broader transformation is on track with industry’s digitalization push, which has produced tools more suitable for this environment. Notable developments include lighter-weight materials, better mobility and integration of sensors or digital tracking systems.

While technological progress is increasingly visible, the level of innovation has been more gradual, rather than disruptive to the segment. “In the past 10 years, tooling has become smarter, lighter and more connected—but the real disruption is still ahead,” says Vincent Cellier, engineering director at Dedienne Aerospace, one of the largest aerospace tooling and GSE providers.

When designing and manufacturing tooling and GSE, specialists increasingly factor electrification into their planning. “Electrification is reshaping how we think about tool design—what used to be powered by air now is quietly and cleanly driven by electricity,” Cellier says. The Toulouse-based company has observed growing demand for electrified GSE across a range of tooling categories—particularly in equipment traditionally powered by pneumatics. Cellier points to aircraft tripod jacks. Historically, these systems were operated pneumatically or manually, but more customers are requesting electric tripods to improve safety, efficiency and ease of use.

Another notable shift has been in engine stands, particularly for newer widebody engine types such as the Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 and 7000. “What used to require manual pumps or pneumatic tools is now increasingly being replaced with battery-powered tools,” Cellier says. “These upgrades reduce operator fatigue, especially in sensitive MRO operations.”

As aviation moves toward further decarbonization, tooling will continue evolving in parallel.

“Electric aircraft will demand new types of maintenance tooling, just as aircraft engines once did,” Dedienne Aerospace Program Director Guillaume Justamon says. “We expect the next wave to include connected tools with embedded diagnostics or usage tracking—bringing tooling into the era of smart maintenance.”

 

Justamon anticipates smarter, more automated tooling solutions to enter the market. “We’re not just talking about replacing pneumatic systems with electric ones; we’re envisioning tools that assist operators with guided procedures, integrated sensors and even robotic actuation for repetitive or high-risk tasks,” he says.

Naturally, this will have long-term implications for the aftermarket and how tooling and equipment are maintained. “Tomorrow’s maintenance tooling won’t just be electric—they’ll be intelligent, connected and built to think alongside the operator,” Cellier says.

More automation is expected beyond electrification as well. “The next technological leap involves the integration of humanoid robots into maintenance operations,” Cellier says. Justamon believes that these robots, designed to mimic human movements and dexterity, could handle tasks in confined or hazardous environments, reducing risks for aircraft technicians. “Their ability to perform tasks alongside maintenance team means that maintenance procedures and tooling will need to adapt.”

While wider adoption of robots in MRO is expected to take at least another decade, Cellier says initial developments and pilot programs are expected within the next five years.

Electrification already has influenced how companies service maintenance tooling and changed technical training and practices. “Just like in the automotive world, technicians working on electric equipment require new skills,” Justamon says. “We now see more demand for electromechanical or electronic profiles—technicians who can troubleshoot wiring systems, control units and battery-powered components.”

Such a shift has led companies like Dedienne to update training programs to keep up to speed with shifting dynamics. “Where a pneumatic system might require standard mechanical repairs, an electric system needs someone who understands electrical diagrams, voltage diagnostics and sometimes software,” Cellier says. “This evolution doesn’t just affect tooling manufacturers. It affects MROs and maintenance crews, who must upskill to maintain next-generation equipment safely and efficiently.”