Category: TRANSPORTATION_AVIATION_CN

Delta Air Lines is partnering with Joby Aviation, a leading developer of electric air taxis, to make it easier and faster for customers to get to the airport.
Why it matters: The partnership is an extension of Delta’s strategy to try to differentiate itself from other airlines by offering a more premium travel experience.

The skies could soon be filled with electric, autonomous air taxis, but they'll need a place to take off, land and recharge — hence the arrival of the “vertiport.” Why it matters: These transportation hubs could become critical parts of urban or regional mobility ecosystems, linking fast and convenient air travel to other forms of transit, like airports, buses, trains and ride-hailing networks.
Why it matters: These transportation hubs could become critical parts of urban or regional mobility ecosystems, linking fast and convenient air travel to other forms of transit, like airports, buses, trains and ride-hailing networks.

An underutilized natural resource could be just what the airline industry needs to curb carbon emissions.

Researchers at three institutions—the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and Washington State University—report success in using lignin as a path toward a drop-in 100% sustainable aviation fuel.

United Airlines announced Thursday it will invest $15 million into electric aircraft company Eve Air Mobility and purchase 200 of its electric air taxis with options to buy 200 more.
Why it matters: The airline is heavily investing in electric vertical take-off and landing vehicles (eVTOLs), which could one day provide a cheaper, faster and cleaner mode of transportation.

The vehicles use electric motors instead of combustion engines, need less space for take-off and landing and could be used to taxi passengers or transport cargo around major cities from rooftop to rooftop.

Those innocuous-seeming puffs are responsible for more than 50% of flights’ climate impact and up to 2% of total global warming, and yet very little is known about them beyond academic circles. While airlines have largely focused their climate plans around reducing carbon dioxide emissions associated with air travel, some very simple tricks to reroute flights could cut down on contrails and have huge — and immediate — climate benefits.

Next-generation aircraft companies are increasingly turning to the U.S. Defense Department to accelerate their path to commercial flight.
Why it matters: It can be difficult to earn regulatory approval — not to mention public acceptance — of newfangled flying machines like drones, flying taxis or supersonic jets. And investors usually aren’t very patient.
Military contracts can fill near-term revenue gaps and get test vehicles into the sky more quickly, helping to speed commercial development.

As aviation companies develop the first hydrogen-powered jets and electric regional aircraft, a more immediate way to curb the industry’s climate pollution is to burn ​“sustainable aviation fuel.” Made from waste materials such as used cooking oil, landfill gas and forest residue, the fuels can be blended with fossil jet fuel and used in existing engines. The problem is that today’s sustainable supplies amount to a tiny drop: well below 1 percent of global jet fuel demand.

United Airlines Holdings Inc. UAL 1.32%▲ has paid a $10 million deposit for 100 electric flying taxis, a sign that the airline is growing more confident in the nascent technology.
United and a regional airline it partners with last year invested in Archer Aviation Inc. ACHR -4.75%▼ and struck a preliminary agreement to buy up to 200 of the flying taxis that the San Francisco Bay Area-based company is developing. Other airlines and leasing companies have announced their own investments in flying-taxi startups and preliminary orders. But the aircraft haven’t yet been approved by regulators to fly passengers, and customers generally haven’t had to put down cash.

As climate change edges from crisis to emergency, the aviation sector looks set to miss its 2050 goal of net-zero emissions. In the five years preceding the pandemic, the top four U.S. airlines—American, Delta, Southwest, and United—saw a 15 percent increase in the use of jet fuel. Despite continual improvements in engine efficiencies, that number is projected to keep rising.

It’s no secret that travelling by aeroplane is the least environmentally friendly method. Emissions per mile travelled are significantly less efficient than any other form of transport; however, the average person flying on a packed passenger flight somewhat mitigates this impact.