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!

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!

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!

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!

Our guest in this episode is Billy Thalheimer, founder and CEO of REGENT, a startup based in Rhode Island developing a wing-in-ground vehicle that will make it possible to fly fast and sustainably between coastal cities before the end of this decade.

A wing-in-ground vehicle (WiG) is a type of craft that flies just a few meters above the surface of water making use of a draft-reducing aerodynamical effect.

As a matter of fact, wing-in-ground vehicles are not new, the Soviets had a go at them during the Cold War, and some entrepreneurs have tried to make them work in the past. What’s new with REGENT’s project, though, is that they are using some novel technologies, such as retractable foils to overcome some of the traditional limitations of this type of craft, such as their limited maneuvrability and sensitivity to high waves. What’s more, REGENT is designing its craft to be electrically powered, which means they will also allow for sustainable travel.

The Seaglider, such is the name of the ground-in-wing vehicle REGENT is working on, will fly over water at 180 mph, way, way faster than traditional ferries. So, it is not surprising that ferry operators are among the first to place orders for the Seaglider.

Airlines have also shown interest in the Seagliders. Some of them, like Japan Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines, have even invested in the project, adding their names to a list of A-class investors that includes the likes of Mark Cuban, Peter Thiel and aerospace and defense giant Lockheed Martin.

Last but not least, the Seaglider has also caught the eye of the US Marine Corps at a time when it is reviewing its strategy for an Indo-Pacific area of operations that is simmering with geopolitical tensions.

But how long will we have to wait to see REGENT’s Seagliders in action? How is the experience of traveling in a Seaglider going to be like?

No one better to answer all these questions than person behind the REGENT Craft project! Tune in to listen to Billy Thalheimer share his insights about this new and revolutionary mode of transportation!

Is the air cargo market ripe for its own technology revolution?

Aleksey Matyushev and his team at Natilus are certainly doing their bit to make it happen.

A graduate of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Aleksey has been working at the cutting edge of aerospace technology for quite some time, both on civilian and military projects.

He is the founder and CEO of Natilus, a Californian startup that is working on a family of truly disruptive blended-wing-body freigther aircraft that are also designed with autonomous flight capabilities and hydrogen propulsion in mind.

A tall order, for sure. But Natilus has secured the backing of quite a few prominent technology investors as well as some major players in the air cargo industry.

The Natilus project encapsulates also some of the themes that the broader aerospace industry faces in decades to come: go for a clean-sheet design or not? should commercial aircraft be autonomous or remotely operated? what’s the role of hydrogen in the future of aviation?

We talk about all this and some more with Aleksey in this episode of the podcast!

Charles Everett is the Director of Aviation at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, a public organization set up by these two states in order to manage key pieces of infrastructure, including the ports, some tunnels and roads and, importantly for this episode of the podcast, New York’s airport system.

More than 144 million passengers pass every year through the airports under the responsibility of the Port Authority, which include JFK, La Guardia and Newark-Liberty, and this number is set to increase in coming years and the three of them complete massive redevelopment works.

Over $30 billion dollars have been invested in the last few years in rebuilding and expanding airports capacity at all major airports in the New York area, something that is also expected to bring about a very significant upgrade of the passenger experience.

So, on today’s episode, we are going to review, together with Charles, each of these projects and discuss how the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is preparing for a future in which sustainability take center stage and new forms of air mobility are start to shape the way we move around.

Tune in for a detailed overview of New York’s airport system and how it is investing to reclaim its position as one of the world’s major air travel nodes!