United Airlines Makes Investment That Could Revolutionize Travel
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Nearly every major industry is facing public pressure to find ways to reduce their carbon footprint, and the airline industry is no exception.
The commercial aviation industry is reported to be responsible for nearly 3% of global carbon dioxide emissions. In response, the industry has vowed to find ways to offset and reduce its carbon use, and those steps include making their planes more fuel efficient, making their routes more efficient and retiring gas-guzzling older models.
The aviation industry is built on innovation, and United Airlines (UAL) has now made a big move by investing in a company that it hopes will help reduce the company’s overall environmental impact, while also potentially opening up new markets.
United Airlines Takes a Stake in Company
United Airlines has invested $15 million into the Embraer-backed Eve Air Mobility (ERJ) company, as reported by Airline Weekly. As part of the deal, United has ordered 200 of the company’s electric air taxis, and has options on 200 more.
Also known as eVTOLs, these craft, which can typically hold four people, are capable of electric vertical takeoff and landing; think of them as smaller versions of helicopters that you can hail for citywide travel.
United’s plan is for the air taxis to connect airports to highly populated urban centers within roughly 60 miles of the airport. The goal is to make it so passengers can make those trips nearly carbon-free.
In a statement, United Airlines Ventures President Mike Leskinen said that eVTOLs are “going to change the way we work and live and, in some cases, where we live,” and “The more we have studied this market … the more convinced we are that this is going to revolutionize the commuter experience in densely populated urban areas.
“This is decarbonizing the trip to and from the airport,” he added. He equated the cost of an air taxi ride to roughly that of an Uber Black. So pricey, but not inaccessible.
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Eve could potentially begin delivering its vehicles to United in 2026.
It’s not United’s first investment in the space. In February of 2021, United placed an order for $1 billion of Archer Aviation’s (ACHR) planned eVTOLs. Last month it made a $10 million pre-delivery payment to Archer which hopes to have the aircraft certified by the end of 2024.
United has been partnering with a number of different companies lately to find ways to reduce its carbon use. It’s teamed up with the private bus operator Landline in its Denver location to offer trips between Breckenridge and Fort Collins, Colo, as lower costs and lower emissions, and last year it, along with Mesa Air Group, placed a potential 200-aircraft order with Gothenburg, Sweden-based Heart Aerospace for an electric 19-seat regional aircraft.
The Federal Aviation Administration has not certified any aircraft powered by electric propulsion for commercial flight.
United Airlines
Air Taxis Are Not Ready For The Market, Yet.
The air taxi industry has been a closely watched upstart for a while now. Last year, Apple lost three engineers central to its ongoing self-driving car project to the Silicon Valley companies Joby Aviation Inc. (JOB) and Archer.
There are still a number of obstacles standing in the way of the air taxi industry, however. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has been extremely slow and deliberate in its actions in the wake of the botched certification of the Boeing 737 Max aircraft. Two of the planes were involved in fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019, which were tied to automatic control system issues.
Many industry watchers are skeptical the airlines will get approval anytime soon for electric aircraft. There are also technology issues still to be worked out, including the development of an air traffic framework that will manage multiple small aircraft in crowded skies over big cities.
Still, many analysts are hopeful that whenever the taxis get flying, it could be a huge growth industry, as Morgan Stanley has estimated that the urban air mobility market could be worth as much as $1.5 trillion by 2040.
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