eVTOLs/Urban Mobility

Urban air mobility (UAM) company KittyHawk Corporation announced on Wednesday that it will be closing its doors. Founded in 2010 by Sebastian Thrun, the company was backed by Google co-founder Larry Page. KittyHawk’s designs include the Flyer ultralight, Cora autonomous air taxi and Heaviside remotely piloted electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, which was […]

Lirio Liu, the FAA’s new executive director of aircraft certification, tried to soothe concerns of the burgeoning urban mobility industry with a pledge for flexibility in certifying the new aircraft. Liu told the Revolution Aero conference in San Francisco on Monday that there is room in the current regs to accommodate new technologies and the […]

Electra.aero announced last week that it has successfully completed a fully integrated test of its hybrid-electric propulsion system. According to the company, the technology was developed for its nine-passenger electric short takeoff and landing (eSTOL) aircraft concept. Propulsion system testing was conducted at Electra’s facility in Switzerland. “Tightly coupling airframe and propulsion systems is the […]

United Airlines has signed a $15 million investment deal with urban air mobility (UAM) company Eve Air Mobility for the purchase of 200 four-seat electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. The agreement also includes options for an additional 200 aircraft along with laying out plans for joint work on future projects such as studies […]

Another top-floor FAA exec has joined an eVTOL company and hopes to help shape the way the new aircraft are certified. Mike Romanowski left his post as the FAA certification director of policy and innovation to join Archer Aviation as its head of government affairs. Romanowski spent 14 years at the FAA and in the […]

The Air Force is having a look at how it might use eVTOLs and is starting with who’s best for the flight deck. It’s hired Massachusetts consulting company Aptima to figure out what an Air Force eVTOL pilot might look like. “The learnability study will help us not only understand the baseline pilot skills and competencies […]

Bristow group has placed a firm order with electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) developer BETA Technologies for five ALIA-250 eVTOL aircraft. The order also includes options for 50 additional ALIA aircraft. BETA says the ALIA-250 design, which completed its first interstate flight last year, will seat a pilot and five passengers, carry a 1,400-pound […]

Electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft developer Lilium announced at the Farnborough International Airshow that it has formed a strategic partnership with vertical flight solutions company Bristow. The arrangement, outlined in a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MOU), includes plans for Bristow to purchase 50 Lilium eVTOL jets and provide Part 145 maintenance services for […]

Plenty of airlines have made announcements about getting involved in the urban mobility market, but industry newsletter TransportUp says American is the first to actually put some skin in the game. Last year, American said it would buy up to 250 Vertical Aerospace VX4 eVTOLs but like all of those other deals it was PR. […]

Advanced air mobility (AAM) company AIR announced on Tuesday that its AIR ONE electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) prototype has successfully completed its first series of hover tests. The company reports that the aircraft’s systems functioned as designed and its energy use was as predicted throughout the two weeks of testing. AIR says it […]