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Concerns Raised Over the Ability of the FAA to Efficiently Certify eVTOLs

A hearing on aviation safety took place this week, during which concerns were raised about the certification processes developed by the FAA and their ability to enable imminent operations for innovative types of aircraft. (Photo created using DALL·E 2)

The certification processes created by the FAA may not be efficient and modern enough to enable the timely approval of a slew of new technologies under development, such as electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, Congress was warned during a hearing on aviation safety.

Testifying this week before the House of Representatives Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) President and CEO Pete Bunce said, “The current certification process was developed in the 1960s and reflects an era when aircraft were simpler.”

He added that the FAA “takes a document-centric approach that is very transactional in nature … In the 1960s, the processes did not envision the extent of computer modeling and simulation that the industry is capable of today. Nor did it envision the highly integrated complex aircraft that achieve today’s safety standards.”

Bunce told lawmakers that the wave of new aviation technology on the horizon “has not been seen since the dawn of the jet age.”

During questioning from lawmakers, FAA Acting Associate Administrator for Aviation Safety, Dave Boulter, said the agency is aware of the need to speed up certification processes. “The pace of technology has increased, but the pace of our processes have not,” he conceded, adding that his “number one goal” is to make the certification process faster without compromising safety.

As Congress debates legislation to reauthorize the FAA before the agency’s current authorization expires on Sept. 30, 2023, Boulter said lawmakers should focus on changes that could make the FAA “more agile” and streamline “all the hoops we jump through.”

Advanced air mobility (AAM) companies such as Joby Aviation and Archer Aviation are seeking to have their passenger air taxi eVTOLs certified by the FAA by the end of 2024, allowing entry into service in 2025.

Bunce noted that the FAA has promised to promulgate its “powered-lift” special federal aviation regulation by December 2024 to establish operational and pilot requirements for commercial eVTOL operations—needed to allow the aircraft to operate even after gaining FAA type certification.

“This is the FAA’s announced completion date, which is necessary to enable the expected entry into service of initial AAM aircraft,” Bunce said. “[Congress] should hold the FAA to that commitment.”

He proposed that Congress put “in place an interim solution that would allow for this new category of ‘powered-lift’ aircraft … to operate commercially under specified existing regulations if the FAA fails to publish these rules by the deadline.”

US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) chair Jennifer Homendy, also speaking at the House hearing, said smooth airspace integration needs to be a high priority. “The integration of high-volume drone operations, advanced air mobility aircraft, commercial airliners, general aviation aircraft, and commercial space vehicles all together in the National Airspace System is increasing the complexity of airspace operations and management,” she explained. “This diverse platform of operations will also require enhanced—and in some cases, all new—skill sets and capabilities as the complexity and breadth of operations grows.”

House Aviation Subcommittee Chair Garret Graves (R-Louisiana) cautioned that the next decade will present a challenge to the FAA. “In the next 10 years, the aerospace industry will involve an ever-increasing number of drones, the introduction of [eVTOLs], the reintroduction of civil supersonic aircraft, and the expanded use of commercial space transportation vehicles,” he said, adding: “Our regulatory organizational structure must adapt if we’re going to safely integrate new entrants into the market.”

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Heart Aerospace Joins Air New Zealand’s Mission Next Gen Aircraft

Heart Aerospace, a Swedish electric airplane developer, announced that it is a long-term partner of Air New Zealand’s Mission Next Gen Aircraft initiative. (Photo: Heart Aerospace)

Air New Zealand has recently selected Swedish electric aircraft developer Heart Aerospace as another one of its partners for developing a brand-new electric regional airliner. This long-term partnership will allow Heart Aerospace to work closely with Air New Zealand as it develops new, efficient regional aircraft to be utilized on short domestic flights.

Air New Zealand is its country’s largest carrier, with just over 100 aircraft in operation. While it flies many wide-body and mainline narrow-body aircraft such as the Boeing 787 Dreamliner or A320 Family, the carrier also operates many short-haul, domestic flights using regional aircraft like the ATR 72-600 and the Bombardier Q300. However, as these fleets age (especially the Q300 fleet, which has an average age of 15.8 years), the airline is using innovation to identify and help create modern, environmentally-friendly replacements for existing aircraft.

From this cause sprouts Air New Zealand’s Mission Next Gen Aircraft, a program that collaborates with several aviation technology and manufacturing companies with the goal of creating a zero-emission regional aircraft. The group hopes to have a demonstrator flight—for either cargo or passenger operations—as early as 2026. While Air New Zealand has curated the program, it has gained partners across the world, namely Airbus, ATR, Embraer, and Universal Hydrogen. This consortium will use electric and hybrid-electric technology to make sustainable flight a reality in New Zealand.

In addition to Embraer’s joining the Mission Next Gen Aircraft initiative, Air New Zealand signed an agreement to join Embraer’s Energia Advisory Group this week. “Having Embraer as one of our long-term partners will grow our collective understanding of zero emissions aircraft technology as it develops and will give them the confidence they are developing a product that’s viable for us,” commented Air New Zealand’s Chief Sustainability Officer Kiri Hannifin.

“Having Embraer as one of our long-term partners will grow our collective understanding of zero emissions aircraft technology as it develops.” (Photo: Embraer)

Heart Aerospace’s biggest contribution to the Mission Next Gen Aircraft program may be the ES-30. This electric aircraft is designed to operate regional flights while carrying approximately 30 passengers. Driven by electric motors, the aircraft will have a range of 200 kilometers (about 124 miles) when flying solely on electric power. However, the ES-30 has the potential to fly up to 400 kilometers (about 259 miles) with 30 passengers or even up to 800 kilometers (about 500 miles) with 25 passengers.

Both parties have expressed enthusiasm and optimism for this partnership. Anders Forslund, co-founder and CEO of Heart Aerospace, explained, “Air New Zealand is truly leading the way with its efforts to reduce emissions from air travel, and we are impressed by the diligence with which they approach this challenge. We could not be prouder to have been selected as a long-term strategic partner on their journey towards net zero. At Heart Aerospace we say the real innovation is getting it done, and together we will.”

Beyond this program, Heart Aerospace has made additional milestones toward sustainable flight that make it a perfect fit for Mission Next Gen. With the assistance of investments from major players in the industry like Air Canada, Mesa Air Group, Saab, and United Airlines Ventures, the company has already performed the first flight of a scale model of its ES-19, a regional aircraft that will be able to fly 19 passengers without emitting any carbon.

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Business Aviation Shows Recovery and Growth in 2022

“We began 2022 in arguably the strongest position business aviation had ever been in, activity wise, but we ended 2022 with some of the first activity losses since the pandemic began to loosen its grip on air travel.” (Photo: Argus)

Argus International recently released its 2022 North American Business Aviation Review. Argus is a leader in creating technology to provide aviation services and insights that enable better business and operational decisions. In its new report, the company presents data and statistics that provide insight into current trends in business aviation.

Overall, despite several years of disruptions, it seems that business aviation is growing again. Total flight activity in 2022 increased by 15.5% from 2019 levels and 5.1% from 2021 levels. Furthermore, total flight hours also increased by 22.1% from 2019 and 10.6% from 2021 levels. More flights and flight hours demonstrate not just the industry’s comeback from the pandemic, but further growth beyond pre-pandemic levels.

Argus also analyzed specific flight categories to determine which types of travel were responsible for the industry segment’s growth. Compared to 2021 volumes, Part 91 operations (which are essentially non-commercial operations with fewer regulations) saw both an increase in flights and total hours, with 7.9% and 10% growth respectively. Meanwhile, Part 135 flights (mainly commercial operations, like charter flights) have also seen increases in both the number of flights and total flight hours, seeing 1.3% and 4.9% respectively relative to 2021 levels. In total, 2022 saw 2,116,021 hours of Part 135 operations, a significant increase of 99,757 hours from 2021’s and 786,292 hours from 2020’s levels.

Several of the largest operators are responsible for a significant portion of the total flights. NetJets, a private business jet company, accounted for the largest amount of the flights. With the largest fleet of private jets in the world, the company had 511,224 flight hours in 2022. The next largest operator, FlexJet, was a distant second place in terms of flight hours. It clocked in at 183,548 hours in flying—64% less than NetJets. Wheels Up, Executive Jet Management, and Solairus Aviation are the third, fourth, and fifth largest companies respectively, each flying only a fraction of NetJet’s hours.

The busiest airport for business travel in 2022 was Teterboro Airport (TEB), which saw 73,564 departures last year. This figure was up 17.6% from 2021 levels. Teterboro Airport is located just west of New York City in northern New Jersey, making it a convenient gateway to one of the country’s largest economic hubs. Following Teterboro are West Palm Beach (PBI), Dallas-Love Field (DAL), White Plains (HPN), Van Nuys (VNY), Las Vegas (LAS), and Centennial Airport (APA) near Denver.

In 2022, despite significant recovery, the business aviation industry still faces several trends that present obstacles to its growth. The industry is still struggling to acquire and retain personnel. Furthermore, some international requirements continue to change, which could adversely impact operations. Beyond personnel and legal challenges, business aviation companies must also focus on retaining customers won over from airlines.

Looking ahead to 2023, Argus believes there are four main areas that will impact the industry: challenges with personnel, supply chain issues, changes with Part 91 flying, and the possibility of a global recession. While Argus admits that measuring personnel and supply chain issues is difficult, things like more relaxed international regulations could bolster Part 91 flying even as it faces a potential global recession.

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OPINION: The Impact of Open-Source Software on the Aviation Industry

The use of open-source software often comes with hidden security and maintenance risks. (Photo: Markus Spiske on Unsplash)

This article was contributed by Matthew Arnow, Head of Public Sector Solutions at Tidelift.

How Avionics Firms Using Open-Source Software Should Prepare as Government Cybersecurity Deadlines Approach

Over the past decade, all industries—including the aviation industry—have seen a large increase in the amount of open-source software being used in applications. Open source has, in many ways, become the modern software development platform, with some studies showing that upwards of 90% of applications contain open-source components.

Open-source usage is increasing for good reason. Open source increases developer productivity, accelerates development and deployment, and reduces application development costs. However, it often comes with hidden security and maintenance risks including internal open-source security and maintenance and external open-source software supply chain resilience challenges.

Growing number of software supply chain attacks

We’ve seen a barrage of open-source software supply chain related vulnerabilities over the last few years. Starting with Heartbleed in 2014, there has been a steady increase in critical vulnerabilities, including Log4Shell, Spring4Shell, and most recently, Text4Shell. Log4Shell in particular had a significant financial impact across the board with one federal cabinet department reporting that they dedicated 33,000 hours to the vulnerability response. Each vulnerability continues to highlight the need for organizations to implement proactive approaches to maximizing the health and security of the open source powering their applications.

The U.S. government is now taking action to set higher cybersecurity standards

These continued vulnerabilities have exposed the nation’s critical infrastructure to potential attacks by bad actors. The government has taken notice, and in May 2021 the White House issued Executive Order 14028. This order was designed to use the U.S. government’s substantial purchasing power to level up the entire software industry’s cybersecurity standards.

As directed by the Executive Order, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) published specific guidance on secure software development standards (including for third-party software) in the following documents:

The NIST Secure Software Development Framework (SSDF), SP 800- 218 (Feb 2022)
NIST Software Supply Chain Security Guidance (Feb 2022)

Additionally, in September of 2022, the Executive Office of the President, Office of Management and Budget announced memorandum M-22-18. Per this memorandum, any organization that sells software to the government will be required to self-attest that their software complies with the NIST guidelines as soon as June 2023 for critical software and September 2023 for all other software. Moving forward, federal agencies will only be able to procure software provided by software producers who attest to complying with the NIST guidance and U.S. federal agencies will require software producers to provide a software bill of materials (SBOM) and documented processes to validate code integrity. Further, self-attestation will be the minimum level required, but some agencies may make risk-based determinations that a third-party assessment is required due to the criticality of the software.

Impact on the aviation industry

Open-source software has already experienced large-scale adoption in the aviation industry, as it has in most other industries.

At the same time, the aviation industry has also seen its share of software-related issues. Most recently, the FAA issued a ground stop order as a result of what appeared to be a software maintenance-related breakdown costing taxpayers and the airline industry millions of dollars and unquantifiable lost time. Southwest Airlines’ recent software-related holiday meltdown that led to significant delays and cancellations is another example of the important role software plays in keeping the aviation industry running smoothly and on track.

While neither of these examples are specifically related to open source, with open source playing an increasingly prevalent role in the aviation industry, and increasing government regulations around cybersecurity coming, preparing for and planning in advance for software maintenance and security issues in open source will take on even more prominence.

The critical role of open-source maintainers in complying with government cybersecurity guidelines

Companies in the aviation industry selling software to the government that include open-source software components need to pay particular attention to federal self-attestation requirements outlined above as they continue to emerge. To comply with self-attestation requirements, organizations must better understand the security practices of the open-source software they are building into their applications.

Yet the so-called open-source software supply chain is not a traditional supply chain in that open-source maintainers typically do not have a business relationship with their users and license their software “as-is” with no warranty. Because many open-source maintainers are volunteers, expecting them to do more work to ensure their components meet these new standards is not a given.

The critical questions organizations should be asking themselves are:

How do we attest to the security practices of open-source software we use, but is produced and maintained by volunteer maintainers?
Do the volunteer maintainers have all the support they need to understand these new guidelines and practices?
Are they able to commit the time and effort needed to do the work of implementing the necessary guidelines and practices?

The aviation industry should look for solutions that are built around open-source maintainers and the critical role they play both now and into the future. The best way to ensure the industry has reliable answers to these questions is by providing financial and non-financial support to open-source maintainers so they have the time and incentives they need to undertake the work needed to align their projects with the ever growing body of security and maintenance standards required by the industry and government alike.

Matthew Arnow is Head of Public Sector Solutions at Tidelift. He previously engaged directly with consumers and large enterprises in the mobile technology space for 17 years.

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Qatar Airways Cargo Enters Strategic Partnership with FLYR Labs

In a new partnership, Qatar Airways Cargo will use advanced technologies from FLYR Labs to forecast capacity and optimize services. (Photo: Qatar Airways Cargo)

A new strategic commercial partnership between Qatar Airways Cargo and FLYR Labs was announced this week. Qatar Airways Cargo launched its “The Next Generation” initiative last year which includes digital transformations and new products to meet the current needs of the air cargo industry.

The strategic partnership with FLYR Labs will serve to advance The Next Generation initiative. Qatar will leverage FLYR Labs’ advanced technologies—such as deep learning—to forecast cargo capacity and demand. Qatar Airways Cargo will also be able to optimize its commercial decision making with artificial intelligence technologies from FLYR.

FLYR has developed a cloud-native decision intelligence platform that uses deep learning technology to address the complexities of the air cargo industry through AI-based automated revenue management. The platform, called the “Revenue Operating System,” processes the context behind airline data to help commercial organizations to make more informed decisions.

Guillaume Halleux, Chief Officer Cargo at Qatar Airways Cargo, commented that the partnership will provide crucial insights for unlocking new opportunities. “We are resolutely committed to remaining at the forefront of our industry by embracing the latest technologies, and our partnership with FLYR is the most recent example of this,” Halleux remarked in the press release.

Last month, Halleux commented on the success of The Next Generation initiative: “Launching The Next Generation has allowed us to bring an entirely new perspective to everyone involved in the air cargo value chain.”

Alex Mans, founder and CEO of FLYR, also commented on the collaboration with Qatar Airways Cargo, saying, “We jointly believe that FLYR’s advanced AI technology will drive the industry forward, accelerated by this partnership, to unlock exceptional results and bring renewed sophistication to forecasting and revenue maximization at the heart of commercial operations.”

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Trends in Mobility: Electric Aircraft, Drone Delivery, and Autonomous Flight

Macro and micro trends in mobility for the year ahead are explored in a new report from UP.Partners. “Unlocking the next wave of opportunities will require disruptive innovation in multiple dimensions of technology, infrastructure, supply chain, and human resources.” (Photo: UP.Partners)

The investment firm UP.Partners just released a report detailing current micro and macro trends in mobility. The “Moving World Report” explores the rapid progress in innovation for the transportation industry. It also analyzes some of the future opportunities for the industry, such as hypersonic flight, a circular economy for lithium-ion batteries, and lunar exploration.

Cyrus Sigari, co-founder and Managing Partner of UP.Partners, remarked in a statement, “Technology is disrupting aviation, [and] EV adoption is accelerating at rapid pace. Yet, the mobility sector has emerged as the largest CO2 contributor in the U.S. As many opportunities as there are in this rapidly transforming industry, there are even more challenges to be addressed.”

Global greenhouse gas emissions related to transport are likely to increase by another 11% by 2030 unless certain actions are taken. (Photo: UP.Partners)

Sigari continued, “Transforming the moving world by moving people and goods cleaner, faster, safer, and at lower costs is a shared mission among governments, investors, and entrepreneurs alike. It is our hope that industry leaders and their teams will use the Moving World Report as a guide to confront the challenges and unlock the opportunities that lie ahead.”

The report claims that global greenhouse gas emissions related to transport are likely to increase by another 11% by 2030—unless governments take decisive action on climate change initiatives. Aggressive innovation practices from industry leaders are also needed in order to reduce emissions and to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

Progress and innovation in transportation has been driven by over $475 billion in venture capital funding for mobility startups over the past 10 years. “Mobility has been one of the fastest growing tech segments across the Venture Capital landscape over the past decade—a strong indicator of the accelerating innovation dynamics driven forward by startups shaping the future of the moving world,” the report states.

“Mobility has been one of the fastest growing tech segments across the Venture Capital landscape over the past decade.” (Photo: UP.Partners)

Since 2020, a majority of venture capital funding has gone towards last-mile delivery, electric vehicles, and autonomous driving. Advanced air mobility startups have received 5% of all venture capital funding for the larger mobility sector (since 2020), according to the report from UP.Partners.

The authors of the report also state, “Early-stage startup companies in mobility have remained resilient. In terms of the type of early-stage mobility firms that look the most promising, startup companies with a so-called ‘hardware-as-a- service’ (HaaS) model appear to be the hidden winners of the past year.

“HaaS mobility firms—those providing hardware, software, maintenance, and other services in one package for a monthly (recurring) fee—have seen their average first-time VC deal tickets jump to $10.5 million USD in 2022.”

These conclusions are based on analysis by UP.Partners using data from Silicon Valley Bank and PitchBook Data Inc.

The report outlines six major technological trends that are disrupting the aviation industry. These include electric aircraft, hydrogen aircraft, autonomous flight, eVTOLs, sustainable aviation fuel, and cargo drones. For the eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing) sector, the ten most-funded companies are Archer, Volocopter, Joby, XPENG, Lilium, BETA, Eve, Vertical Aerospace, Blade, and EHang.

Some of the leaders in the eVTOL industry, according to analysis based on information collected from PitchBook Data Inc. and press (Photo: UP.Partners)

“As the length of cruising range increases—meaning they can fly longer distances—eVTOLs become increasingly more energy efficient than their automobile counterparts,” the report claims.

Innovations in autonomous flight technology have been gaining momentum. The pilot shortage that the commercial airline industry is experiencing underscores the need for developing advanced technology that is autonomous.

The post Trends in Mobility: Electric Aircraft, Drone Delivery, and Autonomous Flight appeared first on Avionics International.

Collins Leads Effort To Develop Power Distribution Technologies For Electric Aircraft

Collins Aerospace will be coordinating the development of electric power distribution technologies as part of the EU’s Clean Aviation HECATE project. (Photo: Collins)

A steering committee led by Collins Aerospace, charged by the European Union to study high-voltage electric power distribution technologies for regional aircraft, aims to develop hardware to be ground tested by 2025.

The project falls under the EU Clean Aviation Joint Undertaking. The Collins-led program has been named HECATE, which stands for “Hybrid-ElectriC regional Aircraft distribution TEchnologies.” While Collins will head the project’s steering committee, Safran will serve as technical coordinator.

A consortium of 37 European aerospace companies and universities across 10 countries will contribute. The companies include Airbus, Diehl Aerospace, Leonardo, and Thales. The Clean Aviation Joint Undertaking is providing €34 million ($36.7 million USD) in funding, while €6 million is coming from UK Research and Innovation.

Collins said its Applied Research and Technology unit in Ireland will lead the coordination of HECATE. Collins facilities in the UK and Germany will develop power conversion and secondary distribution technologies.

Collins Principal Technical Fellow-Electrification Todd Spierling told Avionics International in an interview that the project will likely culminate in ground tests. “The end goal is to have actual hardware and a ground lab,” he explained. “We’ll have the power converters and the cabling … It’s not just paper studies. It’s not PowerPoint slides. It’s going to ultimately be functional hardware.”

The project is focused on regional aircraft because the lower weight and shorter range flights mean less propulsion power is needed compared to a mainline airliner. “Folks are in agreement that smaller aircraft is where electrification is going to happen first,” Spierling said. “The battery technology is closer to being what it needs to be” to power a smaller aircraft.

With EU nations, particularly France, pushing to transfer short-haul airline routes to trains, an electric regional aircraft could enable environmentally sustainable short-range flying, he said.

“There’s certain cost and environmental benefits” with electrified aircraft operating between cities relatively close in proximity, he explained. “So, I think you’re going to see [electrification] introduced first on smaller aircraft at the the lower end of the market operating shorter ranges. Ultimately, then transitioning to large commercial aircraft.”

EU Clean Aviation Joint Undertaking Executive Director Axel Krein said, “Technological innovations and disruptive aircraft concepts will be the linchpin to achieving climate-neutral aviation,” adding: “The launch of the HECATE project marks the start of a collaborative sprint towards higher efficiency and lower emissions for European aviation.”

The post Collins Leads Effort To Develop Power Distribution Technologies For Electric Aircraft appeared first on Avionics International.

OPINION: A More Efficient Solution for Business Travel

Travel remains critical for business growth, with 82% of UK businesses surveyed by American Express saying that business travel plays a key role in driving revenue, profitability, and enabling growth. (Photo: Lygg)

The following article is contributed by Roope Kekalainen and Jari-Jussi Viinikkala, co-founders of Lygg—a regional air mobility startup.

Business travel is on the rise. As the world has emerged from the pandemic, organizations are starting to embrace the many benefits of traveling again. Yet, while the numbers are going up, there is a significant pain point: business travel is increasingly onerous.

Business travelers expect a better, more seamless experience than they’re currently receiving. This desire will only become more acute as companies look to cut costs, meaning less convenient travel, lengthy absences from family, and grueling flight connections. We are already seeing business travelers migrating to economy class as budgets are tightened. For example, Air France revealed more than 50% of business class passengers are now travelling for leisure or personal convenience, not for business.

Simply put, most people believe that conventional business travel is a grind. Additionally, concerns around the environmental impact of flying have grown as nations look to meet UN sustainability goals. This has created a gap in the market for stress-free, private, and more sustainable door-to-door service solutions for business travel. Indeed, by utilizing smaller, more efficient regional airports, the answer is at our fingertips.

The shifting landscape

Deloitte research indicates that spending on corporate travel remains 50% below pre-pandemic levels. However, the report also predicts that companies should settle into post-pandemic business travel norms in 2023, not as high as pre-pandemic but higher than current levels. According to Deloitte, “Leaders know in-person interaction can be a key component of innovation and growth and will be glad to see more employees get face time with clients and one another.”

In addition, a Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) report predicts business travel will continue to rise into next year, with 78% of travel managers surveyed expecting the number of business trips taken at their company to be higher or much higher in 2023 than in 2022.

Also, a trend that shouldn’t be surprising is that travel remains critical for business growth, with 82% of UK businesses surveyed by American Express saying that business travel plays a key role in driving revenue, profitability, and enabling growth. The survey also indicates that 77% of the respondents indicated that their business suffered due to the limited ability to travel during the past two years.

While business travel may mean growth, it doesn’t necessarily mean happy employees. In fact, 55% of travelers surveyed by American Express say their overall wellbeing suffers when they travel too frequently, and 71% said they would leave their role if their employer didn’t prioritise their wellbeing during their trips. A separate SAP Concur survey of 3,850 business travelers across 25 global markets found that 23% of people would look for a new position if their travel schedule didn’t improve.

These reports should raise considerable alarm. Businesses have a duty of care to be offering better travel solutions. After all, a happy workforce means a more productive workforce.

To improve the business travel experience and meet climate goals, the aviation industry needs to focus on a more tailored flying experience that addresses sustainability issues at the same time.

Sustainability at the forefront

Before looking at those more personalized options, it’s important to remind ourselves just how critical it is that business travel pivots to a more sustainable approach. In Europe, corporate travelers comprise about 12% of customers but are responsible for 30% of emissions. Companies are increasingly taking sustainability seriously, with 88% of GBTA members, plus 100 external stakeholders, saying tackling climate change is the top priority for the business travel sector.

These concerns aren’t only in the boardroom, with 71% of UK business travelers worrying about the environmental impact of their trips. In addition, 78% indicate they are more conscious of their carbon footprint when traveling than previously.

So, where does that leave the aviation industry? While most commercial planes are too heavy to be electrified and fly long distances, smaller aircraft used in regional air mobility are ideal for electrification. Since the electric aircraft industry is expected to grow 14% by 2030, we will see regional airports act as hubs for short-haul flights.

In fact, United Airlines recently announced it expects commercial electric aircraft to come on the market in 2028 in the form of smaller, 30-seater planes that serve regional travel. And in Europe, Sweden and Denmark have committed to making all domestic flights fossil-free by 2030, while Norway wants all short-haul flights departing from its airports to be electric by 2040. In the UK, a 2019 study found that 2.7 million tonnes of CO2 could be saved if domestic flights were electric.

There is much work to be done to decarbonize aviation, and the answers to this issue are complex. While there is no one-size-fits-all approach for cleaning up the aviation industry, the electrification of short-haul flights will be a critical part of flying us to a zero-emission future.

The regional solution

A NASA report from last year outlined that technological advances in aviation mean that utilizing the planet’s 36,000 regional airports will make flights in smaller planes greener and more affordable.

As well as being a breeding ground for electric aircraft, regional airports offer a more efficient and personalized solution to business travel. By taking advantage of the network of regional airports, you can create a door-to-door flight-embedded service with direct connections. These networks will save business travelers time and, by optimizing flights, reduce travel expenditures and carbon footprints, which is crucial with conventional business travel costs set to rise throughout 2023.

What do we mean by optimizing flights? At Lygg, our model aggregates corporate demand for shared routes and destinations. By pooling the travel needs of multiple companies from the same region, we can open up routes from regional airports to their chosen destinations. We can do this for a specific period, whether on a short-term or long-term basis. If any seats are remaining, they will be sold to business travelers to piggyback on the flights.

Flying between regional airports allows direct flights to be scheduled at a time convenient to the businesses making the booking. Providing private transport to and from regional airports, is a far more comfortable curb-to-aircraft experience, which can often be tedious and time-consuming when flying from large airports.

With more simple and comfortable travel experiences, we can not only improve employee wellbeing but help deliver a greener future for the planet and ensure businesses continue to leverage travel to grow and drive revenue. Fundamentally, we believe we are on the path to decentralized, zero-emission private business travel for the masses.

The post OPINION: A More Efficient Solution for Business Travel appeared first on Avionics International.

CTO at Blueprint Power Talks Sustainable Solutions for Reducing Airport Emissions

Nick Schmidt, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at Blueprint Power, offers some perspectives on the topic of decarbonization in the aviation industry in a Q&A with Avionics International. (Photo: Nick Merrick / gb&d magazine)

Nick Schmidt, Chief Technology Officer at Blueprint Power, recently offered some perspectives on their services and technology platform as well as the topic of decarbonization in the aviation industry.

Check out our question-and-answer session with Nick Schmidt below.

Pictured above is Nick Schmidt, Chief Technology Officer at Blueprint Power.

Avionics: How does the Blueprint Power platform work?

Nick Schmidt: We think of airports as “mini cities,” given the number and variety of buildings and transportation operating at airports. Blueprint Power combines its “in-building data analytics” platform with energy advisory expertise to help airport and building operators harness the surplus energy in their buildings to generate new cash flows and help fund carbon reduction and energy resilience goals. We work with customers to identify existing flexible energy capacity, add new capacity, optimize its use, and connect it to energy markets that pay for flexible capacity. Many operators don’t realize that they have options to generate economic, decarbonization, and resiliency benefits at the same time. We can help them implement an approach that aligns with the airport’s preferred combination of goals and adapt it as business needs, energy and regulatory markets change.

What sustainable solutions have been created to reduce emissions at airports?

Schmidt: Airports have good, practical options to reduce emissions for both on-ground and in-air operations.

On-ground solutions primarily reduce emissions by optimizing energy consumption and resiliency for airport buildings and by electrifying vehicle fleets that operate around airports. Airports should first get a good assessment of how much flexible energy capacity they have onsite, so they know where to adjust consumption (to reduce emissions and save money) without affecting operations and where to enroll flexible capacity in local electrical grid programs that pay for it.

Airports can also add distributed energy resources, such as wind, batteries, and solar (subject to U.S. FAA rules and similar on placement to prevent glare), to produce and store clean electricity onsite. This can improve energy and energy cost resiliency by reducing reliance on the electrical grid, generating cleaner energy for operations, and increasing flexible energy capacity that may make airports eligible for new revenue streams. Airports can electrify building systems, such as heat pumps and chillers, to reduce emissions.

They can also add sub-metering with onsite restaurants, hotels, retail stores, and more, which gets these tenants more involved in reducing energy use. Additionally, airports can electrify fleets and add EV charging stations to reduce emissions from their fleets and those of third parties operating at the airport. Airside fleets can take advantage of green/renewable diesel as an intermediate step before full transition to electric vehicles.

In-air solutions address emissions caused by airplanes burning jet fuel. Using sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in airplanes can significantly reduce CO2 emissions over the fuel lifecycle.

What are some of the long-term solutions being developed to help airports in their efforts to achieve carbon neutrality?

Embedding sustainability into regular operations is good for business. Blueprint Power recommends a staged approach to implementation, so airports can start to reduce emissions fairly quickly and generate value from existing flexible energy capacity to help fund long-term solutions. An essential starting point: airports must be able to monitor building energy consumption at a more detailed, real-time level, so they can manage and adjust it over time to help future-proof their carbon reduction measures. Adding more sophisticated metering and building management technologies can help with this.

Installing distributed energy resources, like solar, wind, and batteries, is a great win because they provide long-term solutions for increasing energy resiliency, reducing carbon emissions, and potentially creating new cash flows for the airport—all at the same time. Electric vehicle support is valuable for emissions reduction and future-proofing as EVs become more commonplace. SAF can also support long-term emissions reduction.

What milestones could be achieved this year?

The international aviation industry is committed to achieving net zero emissions by 2050. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has launched programs for its airline, airport, and ground service provider constituents to support wide adoption of sustainability practices.

In the more immediate future, 2023 should be an important year for transforming policy into action. The U.S. Inflation Reduction Act offers significant financial incentives for states that move quickly on clean energy initiatives. Cities and states, such as New York and California, are increasingly passing legislation that mandates carbon emissions reduction and increased use of electric vehicles. New York City’s Local Law 97 emissions limits kick-in in 2024, for example.

Airports should frontrun building and fleet electrification and optimization projects to take advantage of these unprecedented clean energy incentives, get ahead of local emissions penalties that are coming into play, and secure resources before an influx of late adopters compound supply chain woes.

As electrification increases, electrical grids will become even more constrained. Energy resiliency is becoming a major economic and operational issue, and airports can mitigate constraints and strengthen operations with solutions that enable smarter energy management and onsite renewable energy generation.

The post CTO at Blueprint Power Talks Sustainable Solutions for Reducing Airport Emissions appeared first on Avionics International.

Airbus Launches Two R&D Projects As Part of the European Defence Fund

Airbus is coordinating two defense research and development projects—the European Defence Operational Collaborative Cloud project and the EU Next Generation Rotorcraft Technologies project. (Photo: Airbus)

Airbus recently launched two research and development (R&D) projects which are funded by the European Defense Fund (EDF). The two projects, the European Defence Operational Collaborative Cloud (EDOCC) and the EU Next Generation Rotorcraft Technologies Project (ENGRT), will research and develop strategies to strengthen the autonomy of the EU and to bolster partnerships between member states.

The EDF was established by the EU in 2021 to provide resources for conducting and implementing defense research. In the summer of 2022, the EDF chose 61 projects to fund, including eight projects which Airbus was a collaborator on. Over €1.2 billion has been allocated to the 61 projects. All funded projects will promote collaboration between European researchers and companies in order to strengthen European autonomy and coordination between different geographic areas.

The Defence and Space team at Airbus is leading EDOCC. This project will create a virtual platform to test the interoperability and resiliency of military operations. By cataloging current services and identifying opportunities to increase efficiency, the virtual platform is designed to bolster the cooperation between military units and improve the efficiency of military operations overall.

The second project, ENGRT, is coordinated by Airbus Helicopters. The project’s partners will study military rotorcraft operations and look for key concepts which can improve them. The partners will also look into new rotorcraft technologies, identify the key technologies currently being used, and explore alternative rotorcraft architecture.

Along with the two projects they are leading, Airbus will collaborate on six other projects this year. These include Advanced Radio Frequency Components, Advanced Radar Technologies. Collaborative Air Combat Standardisation, Cyber Threat Intelligence, Enhanced Cockpit, and European Protected Waveform for SatCom. All eight projects will pave the way to a stronger, more resilient, and more coordinated military future.

While they are allocating €1.2 billion to fund projects in 2023, the EU’s goal is to invest €8 billion into defense initiatives and research by 2027. With this funding, they hope to support more projects which strengthen European cooperation between members and bolster the EU’s position as a strategic world leader.

The post Airbus Launches Two R&D Projects As Part of the European Defence Fund appeared first on Avionics International.

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How Avionics Firms Using Open-Source Software Should Prepare as Government Cybersecurity Deadlines Approach

Growing number of software supply chain attacks

The U.S. government is now taking action to set higher cybersecurity standards

Impact on the aviation industry

The critical role of open-source maintainers in complying with government cybersecurity guidelines

The shifting landscape

Sustainability at the forefront

The regional solution

Avionics: How does the Blueprint Power platform work?

What sustainable solutions have been created to reduce emissions at airports?

What are some of the long-term solutions being developed to help airports in their efforts to achieve carbon neutrality?

What milestones could be achieved this year?