Advanced Air Mobility

Joby Aviation has received its FAA Part 135 air carrier certificate, allowing it to begin aircraft operations ahead of the planned 2024 launch of commercial air taxi service with its S4 electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing (eVTOL) vehicle.

The pressure on the nascent advanced air mobility industry to move forward on certification is growing, including the industry’s focus on attracting regulatory experts as new hires.

U.S. Sens. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) and Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) on May 23 introduced bipartisan legislation to help communities prepare for the eventual integration of advanced air mobility (AAM) technologies.

BAE Systems has taken delivery of and is preparing flight tests for a Pipistrel Electro Velis electric-powered light aircraft as part of an arrangement with the Slovenian manufacturer. The UK defense company announced in March that it was working with Pipistrel to examine military training applications for electric aircraft. The work is continuing after Textron’s acquisition of the light aircraft manufacturer.

Volocopter has signed a memorandum of understanding with fixed-based operator Jetex to deploy and operate vertiport infrastructure and services for urban air mobility.

The expanded network will have the potential to reach 4 million households and deliver more than 1 million packages a year.

As Lilium wraps up the preliminary design review for its Lilium Jet, the Germany startup has released a new concept image showing the latest configuration of its electric vertical takeoff and landing regional air taxi.

Ground infrastructure will have to evolve to accommodate eVTOLs.

Hybrid Dash 8 batteries; Nuclear-powered spacecraft; Inside Lilium’s eVTOL; Infrared-welded thermoplastics; Forming antennas in space.

Newly publicly traded Eve Holdings, the Embraer spinoff, boosted the Advanced Air Mobility Composite Index dramatically in its second week of trading.

MagniX of Everett, Washington, has named Nuno Taborda as CEO following the abrupt departure of Roei Ganzarski in January.

With AAM operations set to begin in 2024-25, the emerging industry is moving quickly to address infrastructure requirements.

As the AAM OEMs adjust to changes the FAA has made to how it will certify the aircraft, remaining AAM building blocks are taking shape.

Slovenian aircraft manufacturer Pipistrel, now under Textron ownership, plans to grow its workforce and accelerate development of new products, including the Nuuva hybrid-electric uncrewed cargo aircraft.

German eVTOL manufacturer Lilium has signed a formal partnership with its avionics provider Honeywell and Japanese automotive specialist DENSO to co-develop and manufacture electric motors for the Lilium Jet.

UK vertiport developer and drone operator Skyports plans to explore establishing a ship-to-shore delivery infrastructure in Singapore.

Disruptive aviation will require changes to how people learn their jobs, according to Christopher Courtney, director of advanced air mobility at CAE.

Joby Aviation has made its third business acquisition as it works toward certification of its electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing aircraft and launch of commercial air-taxi services in 2024.

French startup VoltAero plans to offer fractional ownership of its planned Cassio family of hybrid-electric aircraft in Europe, beginning with its five-seat Cassio 330.

The European Patent Office has published 37 applications by Lilium which provide new insight into the design of the German startup’s Lilium Jet electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing aircraft.

Surf Air Mobility is to go public through a merger with a blank-check company that values the Los Angeles-based regional scheduled and on-demand charter carrier at $1.42 billion.

Subscale flight test; Nordic electric seaplane; shaped by flow control; and net-zero across the Atlantic.

How a yearly series of experiments in the Utah desert is preparing the Army to incorporate drone swarms into future operations.

May 10 through May 16 proved that going public has its ups and downs, whether a company is a startup or one that’s been around for 100 years.

Industry is left with more questions than answers after the FAA suddenly changed direction on certifying electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing aircraft.