Aerospace

At the Dubai Airshow, Archer and the Abu Dhabi Investment Office announced their plans to make the United Arab Emirates Archer’s first international launch partner. Electric air taxi operations will start in Abu Dhabi and Dubai in 2026.

Investors have plowed billions of dollars into eVTOL ventures but now many are running out of cash. Listen in to hear the latest on the plight of Lilium and Volocopter.

Cancellation of the U.S. Army’s scout helicopter program is driving focus on UAS and uncrewed teaming.

The OEM’s two-decade experiment in remote management has failed.

FAA forecasts US airline enplanements will grow 2.4% per year over next 20 years to 1.32 trillion in 2044 vs 922b in 2023, and projects US mainline jet fleet will increase from 4,832 in 2023 to 6,894 in 2044 and regionals will rise from 1,772 to 2,000. US air cargo traffic will grow 3% per year to 88.8b RTMs in 2044 as freighter fleet will grow to 1,899 aircraft vs 968.

Stuart Simpson to Chief Executive Officer of Vertical Aerospace, London.

DAE had $69.7m pretax profit on $343.6m revenues in 1Q24 vs $73.5m on $315.2m in 1Q23; it says 100% of its 2024 orderbook has been placed (100% of 737-8s on order for 2025 are placed). It also completed 92 maintenance checks.

ALTAIR acquired RESEARCH IN FLIGHT (computational fluid dynamics software).

NASA on May 1 selected nine companies for a dozen concept studies aimed at expanding the exploration of Mars.

Large suppliers maintain cautious optimism that production-line struggles will be short-lived and are not a precursor to lower long-term production rate targets

The company plans to issue 20.8 million shares, with an offering price to be posted on May 27, according to a financial filing with the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

Lilium CEO Klaus Roewe has slammed German politics for putting the future of the company and the infant advanced air mobility sector in jeopardy.

Vertical Aerospace has announced the appointment of Stuart Simpson as new CEO, replacing founder Stephen Fitzpatrick, who will join the company’s board of directors.

ArcosJet considers the UAE as one of the most promising markets for advanced air mobility and expects the region to become a launching pad for eVTOLs in the near future.

Jazeera Airways in Q1,2024 recorded a break even in operations, and reported a net loss of KD 2.7 million ($8,754 USD).

The Royal Aeronautical Society has released a briefing paper that serves as a “pre-mortem approach” to eVTOL safety, attempting to anticipate challenges.

The Alia eVTOL makes the first piloted full transitions between vertical and horizontal flight.

The country is shaking up space exploration, commerce and the broader geopolitical picture.

Collaborative Combat Aircraft and Survivable Airborne Operations Center selections favor private companies as major primes set sights on larger awards.

Swiss electric propulsion developer H55 has announced the commercialization and opening of the orderbook for the Bristell B23 Energic.

ROBINSON HELICOPTER secured FAA approval for new empennage design for 2-seat R22, which includes a symmetric horizontal stabilizer and tailcone; design is now standard on new aircraft and available as a retrofit kit for in-service R22s.

Phill Godfrey to Chief Sustainability Officer of Collins Aerospace.

Rod Zastrow to President and Chief Executive Officer of Bye Aerospace, Denver.