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Andre Stein, Eve Air Mobility CEO, talks about the work the company is doing to set up advanced air mobility (AAM) operations around the world. Its merger with Zanite Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company on May 10, which makes it a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange.
Credit: Lee Ann Shay
What are the details of the concept of operations developed for AAM in Miami-Dade County, Florida? The idea is to understand the whole operation and create a concept of operations (CONOPS) that allows us to design the best vehicle for the missions, the best solution for traffic management, and the best service and support solutions. At the same time, we’re doing this together with the community, and you can start creating blueprints. The concept of operation about Miami is not only about Miami, but it's also about understanding how this future operation will work. It's not there yet. It’s not like developing a new aircraft for an existing market--the market is new, the regulatory environment is new, the technologies are new--so understanding how that can work and doing that with the local community and key partners is the key to getting it right. Given that each community is different, how can blueprints from one city be applied to other cities? It's definitely not a copy-and-paste, to your point. Miami is not our first one. We’ve done something similar that was focused on urban air traffic management in Melbourne, Australia. That was the first concept of operations paper issued. We are doing something similar in London, with several partners including other OEMs, Heathrow and London City airports and the regulatory authority. In February, we announced something similar in Japan, with the regulatory authority and Japan Airlines. Last year in Rio de Janeiro, we went one step beyond discussing CONOPS and flew a helicopter for a month from the east part of town to the international airport. We used an existing helicopter, but we simulated pricing points that could be used for urban air mobility. That will be very different in Rio than it will be in New York. But as you start to see the differences and patterns, a lot of the solutions can be interchangeable straight away or they can be a blueprint for thinking about what the differences are. We can look at the lessons learned in Rio, Melbourne and Miami. What are the similar pain points and what are the differences? Noise certification, with which you need to comply, is straightforward. But, how do you measure what’s really bothering the community related to noise? Is it really just takeoff or is it the general flying over the city they’re worried about? A big benefit of eVOTLs is that they fly very quietly. Engaging with the community early on helps, as does showing them blueprints for other cities. You don’t have to start from scratch. How do you leverage Embraer’s existing support network--which includes business, commercial and military aircraft--for Eve Air Mobility? It’s similar to what we’re doing for product development in a way. We have agreements in place with Embraer to access its aftermarket, but also to develop services. In the same way you develop an aircraft, you develop services, such as a training syllabus, to support it. So, Eve is the face to the customer for urban air mobility, but we can leverage all the existing know-how of Embraer, as well as the people inside, as part of our overall deal with Embraer. Eve’s eVTOL flying demonstrator was supposed to be ready at the end of 2021, so it’s delayed from what was originally announced. Is there an obstacle or is it part of the building block methodology? It is the building blocks. Again, it’s a marathon and if you skip steps, then you may have something that looks good, but there’s a flaw. The tricky part is really the software that controls it and that's something that we've been flying since July 2020. What are your major milestones between now and the first delivery of 2026? One that was achieved recently was the acceptance by ANAC [of Brazil] on the certification process. That's a big milestone. It's not only the vehicle itself, but defining the concept of operations, the service and support and the traffic management solutions. These are deliverables that will come before the entry into service, as they are agnostic. We don’t need to have the aircraft in service to deliver the support solutions, which could even be for other OEMs or for other parts of the ecosystem, such as vertiport operators. There are a lot of opportunities. On the technical side, we expect to have the proof of concept to full scale. We have been doing ground tests, and soon we should see it fly. But one thing that differentiates us, based on the lessons learned, is really focusing on the building blocks before moving ahead. We do not rush because it’s a marathon. For instance, we’re doing a lot of work on the software behind it, which is part of the critical path and something that we can leverage due to [Embraer] know how. Embraer is on the fifth generation of fly-by-wire, for example.
—Lee Ann Shay is Aviation Week’s executive editor, MRO and business aviation. She is based in Chicago.
