Explore every episode of the podcast The Allplane Podcast

The decarbonization of the aviation industry will require huge amounts of investment.

If we focus on sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) alone, the amount of capex that will be required is staggering. Take Europe, for example, that will need over 100 new SAF production plants by 2030 if the aviation industry is to meet the EU’s ambitious SAF adoption plans.

No wonder, then, that some of the most prominent initiatives to channel fresh investment towards this field have come from inside the industry.

The Sustainable Flight Fund, set up by United Airlines through its United Airlines Ventures investment arm, is the largest venture fund in the world dedicated specifically to SAF investment. Interestingly, it is not a single-company effort, since, to back this project, United has assembled a broad coalition of fellow investors from across the commercial aviation ecosystem, including some airlines that are its direct competitors.

Mukul Hariharan, a former airline pilot turned venture capitalist, is the managing partner of United’s Sustainable Flight Fund. He has come to the podcast to talk about it and about its investment philosophy.

So, tune in, for a short but interesting conversation with one of the main players in the SAF investment scene!

Right as the commercial aviation industry gears up for the 2024 edition of the Farnborough Air Show, I got on Zoom with Jon Sindreu, one of the top journalists out there that knows the industry best.

Perhaps because, in addition to his strong focus on aviation, Jon covers also range of sectors through the popular “Heard on the Streat” section on the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), he is able to offer a no-nonsense view from outside the aviation industry bubble.

So, my idea for this episode was to review, together with Jon, some of the key macro trends that are shaping the commercial aviation industry: the future of the OEM duopoly, increasing consolidation in the European airline sector and, very importantly, the race to decarbonize the industry.

Is there going to be enough SAF around to comply with the different governmental and EU mandates? How to get more SAF to the market fast? And, last but not least, is advanced air mobility the disruptive technology that we are being told it will be or is it all just hype?

If you are looking for a fresh and outspoken voice on these matters you will possibly like Jon’s very straightforward talk.

So, join us in this conversation in which we try to leave no stone unturned!

Richard Gaona is one of the key players in the global executive aviation industry.

The once president of Airbus’ Executive Aircraft division is currently leading one of the most unique operators in the highly sophisticated world of private aviation.

Richard is the President and CEO of Comlux, a company like no other.

The uniqueness of Comlux is not due to the fact that it operates at the highest end of a market.

No, even if its fleet includes some of the world’s largest and most luxurious private jets and its customer list, some of the world’s most successful businessmen, artists, sportsmen, heads of state and royalty, this is not the main reason it stands out from the pack.

What sets Comlux apart is the its rather holistic approach combining under its umbrella pretty much all the services that a private jet owner may need: from aircraft trading and brokerage, to cabin completions, from maintenance and technical services to on-demand charters and aircraft management.

What’s more, not content with that, Comlux has also been instrumental in the design of a new aircraft type, the Airbus TwoTwenty, which has de facto created a new category within the executive jet industry.

In this episode of the podcast, done in partnership with Comlux, Richard Gaona shares some insights about the fascinating and exclusive world in which Comlux operates in: the top tier of corporate aviation.

But with Richard we also talk extensively about the new TwoTwenty aircraft, the corporate version of the state-of-the-art A220 airliner, a project that is very dear to him, since Comlux has had a major role in its development from its inception.

The idea behind the TwoTwenty is that you can combine the economic and operational performance of a purpose-built business jet, with the spaciousness of an airliner.

Comlux delivered (and operates) the first TwoTwenty to Dubai based luxury hospitality group FIVE in the Spring of 2023 and will be fitting the cabins of the next sixteen of the type that Airbus produces.

So, tune in for an in-depth conversation about one of the most fascinating companies operating right now in commercial aviation!

Pere Suau-Sánchez has a long track record of academic and operational research in the commercial aviation industry, he’s a Senior Lecturer in Air Transport Management, Cranfield University (UK) and an Associate Professor in Business and Economics, Open University of Catalonia (Spain), he also acts as an independent advisor to aviation industry companies and stakeholders and is a regular media host talking about aviation and transportation.

I called Pere Suau-Sánchez, to learn more about his research of different scenarios that the aviation industry may be facing post-pandemic, which he has outlined in a recent paper published in the Journal of Transport Geography “An early assessment of the impact of COVID-19 on air transport: Just another crisis or the end of aviation as we know it?”

An unprecedented situation such as Covid-19 required that we gathered, here on the podcast, an unprecedented line-up of expert professionals to discuss about its consequences for the airline industry, and most particularly in everything that concerns the communication and PR side of it.

So, rather than a one-to-one interview, this episode is a bit unusual in that we have a panel discussion to talk about the hottest topics in airline communications and PR in these very convoluted times.

In this episode we talk with Jay about the process through which he came up with some of the most original cabin designs in the executive jet industry, about how his previous experience in the automotive industry has influenced his work and also about new ideas Embraer is pushing, such as a personal air mobility vehicle concept and a high end office chair.

If you are interested in aviation, design and, more generally, in beautiful, original things, go get your ear plugs and a calm, quiet place to listen, because you certainly will enjoy this episode!

Helicopters is one area of the aviation industry that, I must admit, I know less about than I would like to. This is why I invited one of the persons out there that knows most about them to speak on this episode of the podcast.

Charlotte Pedersen manages one of the top helicopter operators in the VIP segment. That is helicopters that cater to the rich and famous of the world. As a matter of fact, most of these helicopters may complement a private jet and a yacht as part of ultra high network individual’s mobility package.

Charlotte has also a long career in the helicopter world and, more generally, in aviation, both in the private sector, where she’s served at several companies and boards as well as in the public sector. In fact, she started with a stint at the Royal Danish Air Force flying the mighty Sea King and flying the Queen of Denmark on occasion!

With Charlotte we talked about the business of operating luxury helicopters all over the world, about new trends in rotor wing aircraft and, of course, about how Covid-19 has impacted the helicopter industry.

One of the great things about aviation is that, as an industry, it attracts a fair number of entrepreneurs and dynamic personalities.

This is the case of our guest today. Carl Legein is a serial aviation entrepreneur. He is the founder of Belgium-based The Aviation Factory, which manages a portfolio of aviation businesses.

Vizion Air, for example, is a virtual carrier that operates ad-hoc services for specific collectives, like, for example, the European Parliament. But The Aviation Factory stable of brands include also an executive aviation booking marketplace, companies that provide services to passengers on the ground, specialized charter providers, logistics operators and, last but not least, a company offering flights in WW2-era aircraft such as the P-51 Mustang, “the Cadillac of the Skies”!

Ladies and Gentlement, take your seats, because we are going to speak today about aviation entrepreneurship with Carl Legein!

Today’s guest, Magadalena Osowska works a senior cabin crew for one of the major Gulf carriers. She is constantly shuttling between different continents and time zones. She has even flown on some repatriation flights during this exceptional pandemic period. We have talked about this, of course, in the hope of getting a glimpse of what travel looks like in these exceptional times.

But today’s episode is, more generally, about cabin crew life, both from a professional - ever wondered how you can start a career as cabin crew and what the career path looks like? - and practical perspective - how do you organize your life when you are constantly flying long-haul?

True, air travel accounts for quite a small share of overall carbon emissions (in the region of 2-3% currently), but nevertheless its high profile and visibility make it an obvious target for climate campaigners.

The good news: there is an ever growing number of initiatives from within and outside the aerospace industry that aim to tackle this issue, with electric propulsion for aircraft getting most of the attention.

The bad news: electric may not be the most promising technology when it comes to moving towards a greener aviation industry.

Our guest today, aeronautic engineer and former fighter pilot Bjorn Fehrm, has studied thoroughly a number of different technologies that attempt to get green airliners up in the air.

Bjorn has crunched the numbers and has drawn some conclusions about what the thinks are the most realistic perspectives in the field of green flying. He’s summed it up in a series of 20 blog posts full of detailed information and analysis about environmentally-friendly propulsion technologies.

The title of the series “Why e in ePlane shall stand for environment, not electric” already gives you some clues about where this is going.

Ready to listen what these are and the implications for the future of air travel?

Executive aviation has the allure of the uber-exclusive.

While private jets remain the ultimate status symbol, entrepreneurs like former RAF pilot Adam Twidell have been working hard to make them more accessible. The company he co-founded with his wife, PrivateFly, has brought transparency and convenience to executive jet booking.

In this episode of the podcast, I speak with Adam about private jets, but also about his entrepreneurial journey and the way PrivateFly has leveraged digital channels to carve for itself a place at this very exclusive segment of the industry and how it launched the wildly popular “most scenic airport” contest, that got massive media coverage worldwide (disclaimer: I have been a member of the jury a couple of times!).

Airliner procurement often involves thinking 20 years in the future. Is this still possible? With the aviation industry in complete turmoil, we wanted to find out how the different aircraft manufacturers and aircraft programmes around the world…

Addison Schonland is the co-founder of AirInsight, a consultancy and media business (with whom I have had the chance to collaborate on several occasions) and someone that knows the aviation inside out.

It is always interesting to speak with him to get the pulse of the industry and this is exactly what I’ve done in this second episode of the Allplane podcast…

Sal Artigas is a commercial pilot and aviation entrepreneur. In this episode he will give us some insights about life as a pilot, flying turboprops in places as different as the Maldives and Northern Ireland. We will also speak about his experience setting up a helicopter operator in Barcelona and his popular youtube channel, where hundreds of thousands of visitors check some really cool airport approaches…

Jay Sorensen is one of the world’s top experts in airline ancillaries.

Every year, Jay’s firm, IdeaWorksCompany, produces a comprehensive report about the state of airline ancillaries, a piece of work that has become the reference in this field, the Yearbook of Ancillary Revenue.

As someone that tried to read IdeaWork’s ancillaries yearbook as soon as it comes out, I was keen to have Jay on the podcast to talk about this very important component of many airlines’ business model.

What are the ancillaries that are driving the most revenue? Which ancillaries are now focusing the attention of the airlines? Is it realistic to think of airlines, first and foremost, as retailers, as some in the industry pretend?

We talk about all these matters and some more on this week’s episode of the podcast…!

Addison Ferrell is Director, Infrastructure and Head of Americas at Skyports, one of the world’s leading vertiport developers.

Vertiports will be an essential element of the upcoming advanced air mobility revolution. Will they be more like airports or like metro stations? What sort of experience can we expect to have there are travellers? What are the barriers of entry in this sector?

These are all questions I wanted to ask an expert like Addison, because there is still so much of the advanced air mobility experience that is still pretty much being defined as we speak.

In this regard, Skyport’s vision emerges as being particularly relevant, since the firm is active in all continents and has been involved in some of the most advanced projects in this field, such as the one taking shape in Dubai, to connect the Emirate’s main nodes with a network of vertiports.

So, tune in for a fascinating conversation with one of the experts that is actively shaping the future of the advanced air mobility experience!

The seaplane industry could not remain off trend.

Electrification is driving a wave of innovation in aviation and George Alafinov, the scion of a family of seaplane designers, is making sure it does not skip one of the oldest branches of the industry.

True, seaplanes may have fallen out of fashion in the post-war years. The advent of the jet era, the availability of airports on land and the maintenance requirements of aircraft operating in salty water led to this category of aircraft being sidelined. But Jekta’s founder is taking a new approach, using composites and electric propulsion to create the seaplane of the future.

In this episode of the podcast we discuss the pros and cons of seaplanes with George Alafinov and we talk also about the large order Jekta recently secured in India, where regional aviation is on the rise.

Tune in to learn how Jekta is pioneering technologies that could lead to a seaplane renaissance at a time when the industry is looking for versatile, clean and efficient aircraft for regional air transport

Marc Piette is the founder and CEO of Xwing, a California-based company that is developing a system that allows aircraft to fly fully autonomously, from gate to gate without human intervention.

This may sounds like science-fiction to some, but it is certainly not. Already back in 2021, Xwing demonstrated this technology by successfully completing one of such autonomous flights.

This is a potentially disruptive technology that I was very curious to learn more about, so I invited Marc to the podcast to try to understand a bit better what they are doing at Xwing.

in our conversation, we review the basics of autonomous flight and the technologies that Xwing is developing and integrating to make it possible. We also talk about Marc’s entrepreneurial journey, from the moment he arrived in the US from Belgium, his trajectory in the tech industry and the foundation and growth of Xwing.

Tune in for a fascinating chat about what could be the future of aviation several years and decades from now!

Things we talk about in this episode:

Jenny’s professional background

What is Cranfield Aerospace Solutions

What is the relationship between Cranfield Aerospace Solutions and Cranfield University

Why Cranfield Aerospace Solutions has pivoted towards the search for sustainable technologies in aviation

The Britten-Norman deal

Project Fresson

The role of Cranfield Aerospace Solutions in the UK’s sustainable aviation ecosystem

As used as I am in reviewing all sorts of innovative ideas in aviation, the concept that Magpie Aviation presented a few weeks ago really caught my eye.

Is this even possible? This was my first reaction when learning about the system to get an electric aircraft to tow, mid-air, a passenger aircraft to its destination that the guys at Magpie have devised.

Fortunately, I had met Magpie’s Damon Vander Lind and Andy Goessling, CEO and CTO of Magpie, respectively, at an event in Nice just a few days prior.

So, I got in touch to try to get them on the podcast asap in order to learn more about this truly original concept to decarbonize aviation.

So, I was on the line with, Damon and Andy, shortly after and the result is this podcast episode, where we talk about this revolutionary concept, its pros and cons and how Magpie Aviation plans to bring it to fruition.

By the way, they also share some details about the real flight tests they conducted recently over the Nevada desert (see video in the show notes).

So, don’t miss today’s episode if you wish to get a glimpse of what out-of-the-box thinking really means when it comes to tackling the problem of emissions in the aviation industry!

This year’s edition of EBACE was all about sustainability, or at least that’s what the program of activities focused on.

The executive aviation industry is well aware of how it is being increasingly perceived by the public opinion in a context of climate alarm and, believe it or not, it is taking the matter very seriously.

Interestingly, and perhaps counterintuitively, there seem to be strong synergies with another segment of the aviation industry that is part of the solution: the sustainable flight innovators. In fact, the prevailing technological and market conditions make it likely that the first use cases of new propulsion technologies will be in what is currently labelled as private aviation.

Besides that, EBACE is also a great forum to meet fellow aviation professionals from across the globe, including quite a few that have been here on this podcast before.

So, I thought it would be a good idea to do a special episode with two of them, Adam Twidell, who was here on episodes and Morell Westermann, who did so in episodes .

Both have a long experience in the field of aviation, besides the fact that they are both extremely articulate and great speakers, so their insights are always very valuable.

So, in this episode I speak much less and I let both Adam and Morell share their impressions and insights from EBACE: what was interesting and what not and how the concepts, aircraft and technology that were exhibited at EBACE will shape the future of air mobility by making it greener.

So, tune in for a fascinating debate between two great minds of the aviation industry!

TNMT is the research and analysis arm of Lufthansa Innovation Hub, which is, in turn, the innovation arm of the large German airline group.

If you are into aviation tech, TNMT’s newsletter is a must. I have been a subscriber for quite some time and have even collaborated, through AeroTime, in one of its editions.

This is why I had long wanted to invite TNMT’s head of research, Ivan Terekhov, here to the podcast, to ask him about the many interesting tech developments that are transforming aviation and travel, but also because I am really fascinated by the work they do at TNMT.

Leading a small team of researchers, Ivan has been instrumental in turning TNMT’s publications in a reference in this field.

In this conversation we learn a bit more about TNMT’s methodologies and about Ivan’s views of some of the most talked about (or “hyped” in some cases, if you prefer!) technologies in aviation right now.

Tune in for a comprehensive and well informed overview of the current aviation tech scene!

As Europe is trying to get people off planes and into trains out of environmental concerns, Dr. Klaus Radermacher stands out as a contrarian voice.

We are calculating it wrong!…says this engineer and consultant, who, in the last few years has taken a keen interest in the topic of sustainable mobility.

Is the train really a better alternative to the plane? Which mode of transportation is most efficient over short, medium and long distances? Should we keep building more high speed rail infrastructure to get people to fly less? These are some of the questions that Dr. Radermacher addresses in an episode of the podcast rich in facts and data.

The conclusions Dr. Radermacher reached after applying his analytical framework to this consequential debate may not please everyone. They provide, however, a valuable viewpoint that should be taken into account if we wish to make the best possible use of the available resources to tackle one of the most pressing issues we face as a society.

This was a long, but fascinating conversation, to the point that we have already agreed on retaking it where we left it some day soon, because there are so many segues and derivations of this line of thought that they could not all fit in a standard episode.

In the meantime, tune in for what is possibly one of the most thought-provoking episodes to date of this podcast!

Mikhail Kokorich is a serial entrepreneur operating at the technology frontier of aerospace.

Following a string of successful business launches in areas such as satellite technology, his latest venture, Swiss-based Destinus is developing an hypersonic aircraft capable of linking different continents at speeds five times faster than sound.

This may sound outlandish, but there is currently a wave of startups that taking advantages of advances in materials science and renewed interest among the world’s governments in hypersonic capabilities in order to explore this potentially disruptive technology.

I really appreciated Mikhail’s straightforward and not-mincing-words style in addressing some of the aspects of hypersonics development, from the role of military research projects to the sustainability angle.

This direct, hands-on approach is also evident in some of the startup’s latest milestones. Far from working on abstract concepts, Destinus is already testing some small-scale prototypes (not hypersonically yet!) and is creating a network of partners across Europe (for example, it recently received a €13M grant from the Spanish government to further its research in this field). Some new tangible developments are expected in the next few months.

So, how long before we are able to hop across the Atlantic in a couple of hours?

Tune in for this fascinating conversation (despite my voice still ailing from a cold!) about one of the most exciting aerospace technologies currently under development!

When it comes to the passenger experience and the product most airlines offer to their passengers, Jeff O’Neill has pretty strong opinions.

Not for nothing, Jeff, who was already on this podcast back in 2020, is the founder of Zephyr Aircraft Seat and has been patiently working to bring to fruition what he sees as the future of the Premium Economy class.

The Zephyr seat is as revolutionary as it looks: a stacked seat concept that allows passengers to lay down flat to sleep without having to pay a fortune for a fancy business class seat. Now, this idea is, of course, a departure from the canon of the industry, which won’t face an easy path to become a reality.

If airlines have tended to be traditional in its approach to seating, this doesn’t discourage Jeff, as well as other creative minds in this industry from continuing to pursue what he regards as a necessary update of the passenger experience.

After years of investment by airlines in perfecting the business class cabin, has the time come for a rethink of the premium economy and economy class experiences?

We talk with Jeff about all this and he also shares some tips and insights about his favourite airline products currently in the market, both premium and economy.

So tune in for a fascinating conversation about what makes for a great airline cabin product and passenger experience!

Omer Bar-Yohay is the president of AutoFlight.

AutoFlight is as close as it gets in the eVTOL world to a global company: founded and headquartered in China, where it has its manufacturing facility, its design and development team and some of its major investors are located in Germany and its operational testing grounds in the California.

Although, perhaps it hasn’t got, so far, as much press as other major eVTOL players, AutoFlight has been collecting some notable successes: in February 2023, AutoFlight’s Prosperity set a new record for a nonstop eVTOL flight, 250km on a single battery charge (beating by 2km the previous record-holder, Joby) and just a few days later it announced a massive 205-strong aircraft order from EVFLY, a firm that intends to launch eVTOL operations in Southeast Asia, Middle East, and Africa before the end of this decade.

But what I also found quite interesting is that Omer defines himself first and foremost as a realist, so I was really keen to learn his views about the eVTOL euphoria we are living through and get a realistic assessment of the market situation and the prospects for eVTOL developers from an experienced industry insider like him.

There are certainly few people out there with as much direct hands-on experience of the new forms of air mobility that are taking shape!

So tune in for a fascinating conversation with Omer Bar-Yohay, president of AutoFlight!

Hemant Mistry, our guest today, is the director of energy transition at the world’s top airline industry organisation, IATA, which gathers nearly 300 airlines from all over the world.

With Hemant we review the strategy of priorities that IATA has set for its members and the industry’s position in matters such as the sustainable fuel mandates being introduced, for example, by the European Union.

But IATA’s task is not all about coordination among its members and lobbying, there are also a number of practical initiatives we talk about, such as IATA Connect, which provides a useful and easily shareable framework for airlines and other players in the air transportation and travel market to assess their carbon footprint, a necessary first step to take action to mitigate it.

So, tune in for a sharp and concise overview of how the main organization representing the airline industry views the future of sustainable flight.

Ivor von Dartel left the comfort and security of a corporate job at Airbus to develop an all-electric battery-powered aircraft.

Munich-based Vaeridion is one of the most promising players in the emerging field of electric aviation. The 9-seater, 500km-range electric aircraft that Ivor’s team is working on is designed to shuttle travellers, carbon-free, across the sort of short to medium range distances that nowadays are often covered by road transport.

Launching a new aircraft from scratch is, of course, a formidable and very capital intensive endeavour, but the advent of new propulsion technologies opens a blue ocean of opportunities for those willing to take on the challenge.

With the electric aviation scene gathering momentum, I thought it was the right time to touch base with Ivor and find out more about the background of this project, his own personal motivations to lead it and the milestones and perspectives ahead of the Vaeridion team.

Tune in for an inspiring tale of entrepreneurship as well as a glimpse of what could be future of air mobility in years to come!

Gregory Davis heads one of the most talked-about startups of the electric aviation era.

In fact, Eviation was already cool when almost no one was talking about electric aircraft and aviation sustainability.

The super sleek lines of its Alice commuter aircraft are due to the fact that this truly clean-sheet aircraft has been designed around the batteries, making a truly electric-native aircraft.

in this episode of the podcast we review with Gregory the latest developments since he took the reigns of Eviation in early 2022, including, of course, the Alice’s first flight in September 2022, but many other things as well.

We talk about the earlier story of the company since it was founded in Israel in 2015, its current order book and commercial prospects and the different use cases use cases and versions of the Alice that Eviation’s team is working on.

When can we expect the next flights of the Alice prototype? When is it expected to get certified? When is it expected to enter commercial service?

You will have to listen to today’s episode to get the answers direct from Eviation’s Greogry Davis!

This is not the first time that Morell Westermann visits this podcast.

Those of you that were around in 2020, when we were just taking off, might remember how Morell Westermann and Malik Aziz explained here their record-setting electric flight across the whole length of Germany.

Well, Morell is back at record setting, this time, at aeroFriedrichshafen, in Southern Germany. Europe’s largest general aviation show, will have a special opening act with the arrival of what is intended to be the largest formation of electrically-powered aircraft ever to fly together.

Electric aircraft from all over Europe will gather at an airfield in the canton of Sankt Gallen, Switzerland, and cross the water of Lake Constance to make a coordinated arrival at the show.

This will be a remarkable feat in itself, but I thought that was also a good excuse to invite Morell back to the podcast in order to take the pulse of the electric aviation industry from a pilot’s perspective.

In addition to his work as a technology and innovation consultant and key note speaker, Morell is a keen and experienced aviator and a very active member of the, still small, but growing electric aviation community. We may even call him an evangelist of electric flight!

So, tune in for an overview of a movement that is starting to transform the way people fly!

If you are into sustainable aviation, chances are that you have come across ZeroAvia some way or another.

This fast growing startup, which is developing hydrogen fuel-cell powertrains for aircraft, has been making headlines pretty much every other week.

From its Californian roots, ZeroAvia is now operating across five separate locations in the US and the UK and has raised funds from some of the most prominent names in the global business community, including the likes of Amazon, Shell, Bill Gates’ investment fund Breathrough Energy Ventures, the IAG Group, American Airlines and United Airlines, to name just a few. Moreover, it has also standing partnerships with a whole range of aerospace and technology companies, such as Textron and PowerCell.

The star role of ZeroAvia in the green aviation ecosystem is not something exactly new, in fact we already did an episode, back in 2020, with the firm’s CFO, Katya Akulinicheva.

But so much is going on that I thought that, two years after that first episode, it was time to invite ZeroAvia’s founder and CEO, Val Miftakhov, to come to the podcast and share some details of where his company is at now and what are the next milestones we should keep an eye on.

We also talk, of course, of Val’s earlier entrepreneurial experience, building, quite literally, electric cars out of his garage, and review some of the key aspects of the hydrogen-powered technology that ZeroAvia is working on and that have driven recent decisions such as the acquisition of UK-based fuel cell technology company HyPoint.

So, tune in with a wide-ranging conversation with one of the World’s green aviation leaders!

JetBlue Ventures is one of the earliest and most prolific early stage investors in the aviation and travel technology space.

It is now common for many large airlines to have their own in-house venture arm, but when it launched, back in 2016, JetBlue Ventures was one of the pioneers in this space, together with Hangar51 (of the IAG Group) and Cockpit Innovation (of El Al). Fast forward to today and JetBlue Ventures is invested in more than 40 companies, ranging from advanced air mobility to hospitality software. JetBlue Ventures focuses on projects aiming to make the travel journey more seamless and convenient, as well as in technologies that drive efficiency and sustainability in the travel ecosystem, with 1,000 startup projects being reviewed every year.

How does an airline-affiliated venture capital firm conduct its business? How does it differ from the more generalist venture firms? Which are the hottest trends and companies that are currently focusing the attention of investors in travel and mobility.

There’s no one better to answer these questions than Stephen Snyder, managing director of JetBlue Ventures.

With Stephen we talk about the place of JetBlue Ventures in the Silicon Valley venture capital ecosystem and about some of the latest ventures and projects that his team has invested in and what caught their interest. Stephen also shares his experience as an entrepreneur, with a project in the airport retail space, and how this helped him better understand the challenges startups face when operating in the hyper-competitive travel sector.

As it couldn’t be otherwise, sustainability is also a central topic in our conversation, since this is one of a top investment themes for JetBlue Ventures and one in which they have made several major bets.

If you are into aviation and travel innovation, venture capital or entrepreneurship tune in because in today’s episode Silicon Valley meets the aviation industry!

Patrick Edmond is the managing director of Altair Advisory, a consultancy firm providing expertise and advice to the commercial aviation industry.

Patrick has a long and broad experience that encompasses airlines, airports, aircraft leasing, aviation tech and, of course, consulting services, which gives him a great vantage point on the industry.

I had been following Patrick for quite some time, since he is an avid commentator with numerous publications on social media and other platforms, covering relevant current aspects of the aviation industry. So I thought it was about time he came to the podcast to talk about some of the hottest topics right now in aviation and share some of his insights.

In our conversation we cover quite a lot of ground, with a particular focus on the drive towards sustainability and its implications for regional aviation, a segment of the industry that is of particular interest to him.

So, make yourselves comfortable, and get ready for a fascinating chat with a world-class expert in the business of commercial aviation!

Sustainability has become a central topic in aviation, but are airlines prepared for this conversation?

Elizabeth Maclean and Mike Evans are the co-founders of Herdwick Communications, a consultancy firm that advises airlines all over the world.

With Elizabeth and Mike we speak about the reputation crisis and public relations storm that the aviation industry is facing in the face of climate change and how airlines should be communicating about sustainability.

What can airlines say when they are being accused of wrecking the climate? How can airlines avoid greenwashing and end up being sued because of overpromising or misrepresenting their sustainability initiatives? Why so many airlines have opted for greenhushing instead?

Elizabeth and Mike share their views on the matter and the basics of the model they have developed to help airlines deal with these increasingly pressing matters.

Check it out!

LanzaJet is the sustainable aviation fuel spin-off of the almost eponymous LanzaTech, an American firm that is developing and deploying technologies to turn different sorts of feedstock and waste, into biofuels.

Of the different processes and pathways available to make sustainable aviation fuel, LanzaJet is focusing on the Alcohol-to-Jet one, which uses ethanol previously produced from organic feedstocks.

LanzaJet’s technology has caught the eye of some of the most prominent corporate players. I am not talking only of airlines, such as British Airways, which is also an investor in LanzaJet, but also firms like Shell, Suncor and Microsoft, to name a few.

Because the world can’t get enough sustainable aviation fuel right now, LanzaJet is currently busy planning to open a string of plants across the world. Two plants are already under way in the US, with another one in the UK coming up next and other projects in Europe and Asia also in the pipeline.

Breakthrough Energy, a decarbonization fund set by Bill Gates, is also supporting LanzaJet’s vision and recently announced it was gibing it a $50M grant to help accelerate these projects.

What have all those major companies seen in LanzaJet? What is the outlook for the sustainable aviation fuel market? How can the Alcohol-to-Jet production technology help decarbonize flying?

Join me for an in-depth conversation about LanzaJet and the future of the sustainable aviation fuel industry, with Jimmy Samartzis, CEO of LanzaJet!

Michael Barnard is one of the most outspoken experts in the field of renewable energy and decarbonization technologies and, as it couldn’t be otherwise, has also had a close look at the different projects that are claiming to take aviation towards the path of sustainability.

In this long and gripping conversation, Michael doesn’t mince words when talking about some of the trends and themes that are sweeping through the world of aviation, from eVTOLs to hydrogen.

Michael has also taken the bold step of publishing his forecasts about the evolution of air traffic demand all the way up to the year 2100, a prediction which diverges considerably from those made public by official industry bodies and other analysts and that he aims to revise regularly as new data comes available.

He also shares some insights about what he sees are promising areas of growth in sustainable aviation. Not for nothing he is an advisor to several startups that are developing solutions in the field of electric aviation.

Whether you agree or not with Michael’s views on the industry, what I am sure is that today’s episode won’t leave you indifferent, it may even make some uncomfortable, but will certainly provide food for thought to anyone interested in the different projects, technologies and companies that are currently trying to shape the future of aviation for decades to come.

Tune in for a rather unconventional and, straightforward chat about sustainable aviation!

Today’s podcast guest is leading a firm that is truly unique in the aviation world.

Tom Grundy, CEO of Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV) will possibly chastise me for talking about the airship comeback.

The Airlander, the world’s largest aircraft by some measures, may look, from the outside, like one of those classical airships of the pre-War era, however, as listeners of this episode shall soon learn, it presents some notable differences as well, the result of almost a century of progress in aerospace and materials sciences.

The airship, as we all know, fell out of favour decades ago, what’s different this time, then? In our chat, Tom explains some of the amazing capabilities of present day hybrid air vehicles like the Airlander: very low fuel consumption, almost no infrastructure needs, long range and super long endurance. Even the low speeds it is capable of can also be an advantage at times, like when it is used for luxury air tours or loitering reconnaissance missions.

The Airlander 10, the first model that HAV has developed has already announced its launch customer, Spanish airline Air Nostrum, but Tom’s team area already working on a much larger version that will meet the needs of freight operators operating in areas of the world with limited land transportation options.

I am sure many of you, just like me, can’t wait to see these giant Airlanders flying around…in the meantime, tune in for a fascinating conversation with Hybrid Air Vehicles CEO Tom Grundy!

We are living through an almost unprecedented wave of aerospace innovation. From eVTOLs to new propulsion technologies, the world is awash with new projects, designs and concepts.

How many of them will pass the certification process?

This is a question that I’ve been pondering for a while and this is the reason I welcomed the chance to do this episode in partnership with AFuzion, a leading boutique consultancy firm that helps aerospace companies get their certification process right.

Few people know the world of aircraft certification as well as Vance Hilderman, AFuzion’s founder.

A long time entrepreneur and author (he’s written one of the reference technical books on aircraft certification), in this episode of the podcast Vance delivers a proper masterclass on the topic of aircraft certification.

What are the challenges that eVTOL designers face to get certified? What are the key elements that they must take into account? Which potential points of failure do regulators look at? How does the time-frame and procedure to get a new aircraft design certified look like?

We talk about all these and many more questions concerning the somehow complex, but very essential, world of aircraft certification.

Tune in to this episode of the podcast to get some first hand insights of the aircraft certification process as well as some valuable pieces of advice, all directly from one of the world’s top experts in this field!

Alon’s career spans several decades in, both, military and civilian aviation. He’s been at the helm of all sorts of aircraft, from F-16s to the Dreamliners, which he currently flies for Israeli airline El Al.

But, while Alon’s flying career could surely provide material for several episodes, the reason he’s here today on the podcast is the Simplifly App, a tool he and his partners have developed in order to help people fight their fear of flying.

A surprisingly large number of people suffer fear of flying to some degree. This is something Alon realized after quite a few people in his circle sought advice about how to address this issue.

Alon would soon find himself organizing workshops for people that wished to overcome their fear of flying. But, in person events, are, of course, limited in scale and reach. If fear of flying is so widespread, why not scale it up with tools and channels that allowed him to reach many more people at any one time?

The next step, thus, was to launch Simplifly, an app that helps people address their fear of flying through a series of lessons and interactive features that allow you to communicate with qualified pilots in order to seek answers and advice on this matter.

So, today’s podcast is about Alon’s entrepreneurial journey, but also about a broader topic, the fear of flying and the ways those that experience it can overcome it.

And, as a bonus, listeners of this podcast will benefit from an exclusive present: FREE access to the Simplifly premium features by entering a promo code that Alon will reveal during our conversation!

The recent covid pandemic has exposed how fragile the aviation and, more generally, the travel sector are to external shocks.

What’s more, things get particularly messy when each country starts implementing its own measures and health requirements.

The confusion and uncertainty resulting from this maze of regulations is often more damaging than the measures themselves.

This is why some in the aviation industry have been pushing for an international framework that provides clarity and predictability to those that need to travel in troubled times.

Our guest today, Jean-Marc Bourreau, has been instrumental in the elaboration of a Policy White Paper on Harmonized Travel Requirements that the Saudi Civilian Aviation Authority (GACA) will present at the annual ICAO plenary session that will take place between the end of September and beginning of October this year.

Jean-Marc is an experienced aviation consultant, currently a partner at Consulum, a government advisory firm that is assisting the Saudi government in its quest to make of Saudi Arabia one of the global hubs of the aviation industry.

I learned about the harmonised travel requirements initiative earlier this year at the Future Aviation Forum in Riyadh, where it was publicly presented, so I invited Jean-Marc to come on the pod so that he can share some more details about this project and what it might mean for air travellers.

When British airline Flybe folded during the covid pandemic, Josef Mouris had the chance to devote 100% of his energies to the project that had been long time in his mind.

This former Dash Q400 pilot founded Electron, an electric flight startup. Although at first Josef was looking at the actual flying-operational part of the business, he soon realized that the hardware wasn’t quite there yet. So, Electron pivoted to developing its own fully electric aircraft.

The idea is that these light powered aircraft capable of seating 4 passengers will provide a convenient, green and relatively cheap solution for many journeys that currently involve cumbersome itineraries through airports or long overland routes.

In this episode of the podcast, Josef shares his entrepreneurial journey as well as some details of the Electron 5, the aircraft he is developing (and of which already a smaller 2-seater demonstrator exists) as well as of this growth plans.

Tune in for a fascinating conversation with one of the people that are working hard to redefine the future of air mobility and bring forth the advent of zero carbon flying.

Addison Schonland is the co-founder and manager of AirInsight, a digital platform that tracks the commercial aviation industry through a combination of media content and analytical tools.

Addison is one of the most knowledgeable people I know about the state of the aviation industry and he was also one of the very first guests of this podcast when I was just getting it off the ground.

It’s been a while since then and quite a lot has happened in the world, so I thought it was a good idea to call Addison and get him back on the show for another in-depth conversation.

On this episode we cover quite a lot of ground. Addison shares his views on a number of hot topics in the industry, discussing trends in aircraft development and procurement as well as some of the latest moves by established operators and entrepreneurs in areas such as sustainable aviation and new aircraft concepts.

So, tune in for this long, insightful chat about the present and future of the commercial aviation industry and the main strategic considerations its different actors have to play with.

Felipe Varon started thinking about drones more than 20 years ago when it was far from being a fashionable topic. A lot has changed since then and nowadays there is no shortage of startups working in the field of advanced air mobility (AAM).

While there is no shortage of startups designing new cool eVTOL aircraft, Varon, the firm that Felipe leads, is looking at the broader picture.

In its holistic approach, Varon aims to build the value chain that should allow eVTOLs to take off in Latin America, a region where the potential is notorious, due to the deficiencies in physical transport infrastructure as well as the complicated orography of some countries, like Felipe’s native Colombia.

Varon aims to set the basis of the ecosystem that will need to be in place for advanced air mobility services to become a reality and this is the reason that Felipe defines his project primarily as an infrastructure firm.

In this vertically integrated approach Varon would operate both the vertiports and the fleets that will move people around in several Colombian cities, starting by the seaside city of Cartagena and from there expanding to the rest of the continent. The aircraft would be provided by partner OEMs such as, for example, Jaunt Air Mobility. Tourism would provide the vector for the introduction of eVTOLs, before moving progressively onto other use cases.

In this episode of the podcast, Felipe shares his vision of a Latin America in which advanced air mobility helps sort out many of the regional chronical issues with the lack of adequate infrastructure and we talk about how he plans to do it.

Tune in to zoom into one of the regions of the world that aims to benefit the most from the eVTOL revolution!

Landor is, possibly, the creative agency that has designed the most iconic brands in aviation.

British Airways, Alitalia, Singapore Airlines and Etihad are just a few of the big names of the airline industry that have entrusted their public identity to Landor’s creative minds.

On this episode of the podcast we speak with Ryan Frost, Executive Creative Director at Landor, about the attributes of a great airline brand and we dissect what and how three great British airlines that couldn’t be more different between them - British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and easyJet - have chosen to communicate those attributes.

We also take a look at some iconic projects completed by Landor in the past, not just the world-famous BA “Landor livery”, which was for many years almost like an unofficial national symbol of Britain, but also others that have defined an era in airline branding, such as Alitalia’s, its more modern reincarnation in ITA Airways and Etihad Airways.

How often does an airline need to change its livery? How airline brands have adapted to the changing nature of the air travel business over the last few decades?

We will talk about these and some other aspects of airline brand design on today’s episode of the podcast!

In addition to being a long-time aviation executive and entrepreneur, Paul Perera is, perhaps, one of the most prolific experts out there when it comes to disseminating interesting insights and relevant stories in the domain of aviation sustainability.

Paul is active in the field of hydrogen aviation through, Fluxart, a UK-based startup he co-founded to develop cryogenic motor technology which can boost the performance of hydrogen-powered propulsion systems.

On today’s episode Paul will share some details about how this technology works and its prospects in the near future. And, as it couldn’t be otherwise, we also chat about the broader hydrogen aviation landscape and, most particularly, the efforts to make of the UK a hydrogen-aviation powerhouse.

In the fourth and last episode of this airlines and software cycle, produced in collaboration with SITA for Aircraft, we present you a comprehensive, holistic view of how digital, data-driven tools have become increasingly important to get further efficiency improvements out of airline operations.

Sometimes it’s a relatively small thing, such as not having to carry several kilograms of paper in a flight bag, sometimes it’s truly sophisticated stuff, such as predicting the presence of ice crystals along the flight path with millimetrical precision or calculating the exact optimal flight path among tens of thousands of possible alternatives, but in any of these cases algorithms are the ultimate performance booster.

Tune in to learn about the multiple ways big data and the right software can help you fly better!

Our guest today is Kemal Ahmed, who leads Digital Day of Operations applications at SITA for Aircraft, covering several areas of importance for airline operations, from aircraft to ground communications to weather-optimized flight planning. Kemal provides us with an overview of his work in this field and how the contribution of software to make airline operations more sustainable can not be overlooked.

Simon I. Briceno is the chief commercial officer at Jaunt Air Mobility, an interesting advanced air mobility startup with a rather unique approach: a hybrid eVTOL with fixed wing and a rotorcraft.

Why this unusual configuration? Simon shares some details about the advantages of this approach and how Jaunt’s engineers aim to get the best of both worlds, fixed wing and helicopters, and 100% electric!

Tune in to learn more about this fascinating project that aims to launch in North America as early as 2026.

Keith Mason heads the Centre for Air Transport Management at Cranfield University, in the UK, one of the world’s top, if not THE top, education centers for aviation studies.

Professionals from all over the world head to this educational establishment in the middle of England to learn, research and breathe aviation.

Cranfield University offers graduate degrees covering both the technical and business sides of aviation and it is also heavily involved in some of the most cutting edge research programmes that are right now ongoing in areas such as sustainable aviation and airline digitalization.

Keith Mason has been on the podcast to share some insights about the work that they do at Cranfield and how is it like to study there.

Australian startup Avation H2 is working on an ammonia-powered aircraft. On this episode of the podcast, its co-founder and director, Helmut Mayer, joins us to share the details of this project and discuss the prospects of ammonia as a potential aviation fuel of the future!