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So why the shift to aviation? While I’m not a tea leaf reader when analyzing people’s career shifts, I have a few thoughts.
Let’s face it, if you want to work on the next mode of transport (considering I’m not counting on ahyperloopgoing live anytime soon), my bets are on vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft (orhydrogen VTOLs).
2021 has been an excellent year foreVTOLfunding withArcher aviation, Joby, and their competitor Lilium, going public through special purpose acquisition companies akaSPACs. While the numbers weren’t necessarily as high as anticipated, they still retain strong market interest.
Earlier this year, United Airlines placed anorder for $1 billionof Archer’s aircraft with the option to buy additional ones for $500 million of aircraft.
Further, if we talk about personnel bringing valuable expertise and experience, I’m equally interested in the appointment of Paul Rinaldi.
He’s a former President of the National Air Traffic Controllers’ Association (NATCA), to Joby’s Advisory Board.
His appointment is a huge boon in terms of certification, scaling manufacturing, and laying the groundwork for planned initial passenger operations in 2024.
Specialist skills accelerate time to market
It’s been a cat and mouse game between Joby and Archer as to who will be the first to receive FAA eVTOL certification.
Last week, Archerannouncedit had achieved a Special Airworthiness Certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) covering its Maker demonstrator aircraft. This is the final threshold to begin off-ground operations. Thus, Archer remains on track to conduct its first hover flight test in the coming weeks.
Given themomentum we’re seeing in eVTOLs, it might not be that surprising talented people are jumping on the bandwagon. We’ll likely see them take the skies in next two to three years, although most likely just for cargo at first.
But that definitely supersedes any Apple car timelines — if we ever see a car at all. So changing teams makes sense.
Story byCate Lawrence
Cate Lawrence is an Australian tech journo living in Berlin. She focuses on all things mobility: ebikes, autonomous vehicles, VTOL, smart ci(show all)Cate Lawrence is an Australian tech journo living in Berlin. She focuses on all things mobility: ebikes, autonomous vehicles, VTOL, smart cities, and the future of alternative energy sources like electric batteries, solar, and hydrogen.
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