The Allplane Podcast

If you are into sustainable aviation, chances are that you have come across ZeroAvia some way or another.

This fast growing startup, which is developing hydrogen fuel-cell powertrains for aircraft, has been making headlines pretty much every other week.

From its Californian roots, ZeroAvia is now operating across five separate locations in the US and the UK and has raised funds from some of the most prominent names in the global business community, including the likes of Amazon, Shell, Bill Gates’ investment fund Breathrough Energy Ventures, the IAG Group, American Airlines and United Airlines, to name just a few. Moreover, it has also standing partnerships with a whole range of aerospace and technology companies, such as Textron and PowerCell.

The star role of ZeroAvia in the green aviation ecosystem is not something exactly new, in fact we already did an episode, back in 2020, with the firm’s CFO, Katya Akulinicheva.

But so much is going on that I thought that, two years after that first episode, it was time to invite ZeroAvia’s founder and CEO, Val Miftakhov, to come to the podcast and share some details of where his company is at now and what are the next milestones we should keep an eye on.

We also talk, of course, of Val’s earlier entrepreneurial experience, building, quite literally, electric cars out of his garage, and review some of the key aspects of the hydrogen-powered technology that ZeroAvia is working on and that have driven recent decisions such as the acquisition of UK-based fuel cell technology company HyPoint.

So, tune in with a wide-ranging conversation with one of the World’s green aviation leaders!

JetBlue Ventures is one of the earliest and most prolific early stage investors in the aviation and travel technology space.

It is now common for many large airlines to have their own in-house venture arm, but when it launched, back in 2016, JetBlue Ventures was one of the pioneers in this space, together with Hangar51 (of the IAG Group) and Cockpit Innovation (of El Al). Fast forward to today and JetBlue Ventures is invested in more than 40 companies, ranging from advanced air mobility to hospitality software. JetBlue Ventures focuses on projects aiming to make the travel journey more seamless and convenient, as well as in technologies that drive efficiency and sustainability in the travel ecosystem, with 1,000 startup projects being reviewed every year.

How does an airline-affiliated venture capital firm conduct its business? How does it differ from the more generalist venture firms? Which are the hottest trends and companies that are currently focusing the attention of investors in travel and mobility.

There’s no one better to answer these questions than Stephen Snyder, managing director of JetBlue Ventures.

With Stephen we talk about the place of JetBlue Ventures in the Silicon Valley venture capital ecosystem and about some of the latest ventures and projects that his team has invested in and what caught their interest. Stephen also shares his experience as an entrepreneur, with a project in the airport retail space, and how this helped him better understand the challenges startups face when operating in the hyper-competitive travel sector.

As it couldn’t be otherwise, sustainability is also a central topic in our conversation, since this is one of a top investment themes for JetBlue Ventures and one in which they have made several major bets.

If you are into aviation and travel innovation, venture capital or entrepreneurship tune in because in today’s episode Silicon Valley meets the aviation industry!

Patrick Edmond is the managing director of Altair Advisory, a consultancy firm providing expertise and advice to the commercial aviation industry.

Patrick has a long and broad experience that encompasses airlines, airports, aircraft leasing, aviation tech and, of course, consulting services, which gives him a great vantage point on the industry.

I had been following Patrick for quite some time, since he is an avid commentator with numerous publications on social media and other platforms, covering relevant current aspects of the aviation industry. So I thought it was about time he came to the podcast to talk about some of the hottest topics right now in aviation and share some of his insights.

In our conversation we cover quite a lot of ground, with a particular focus on the drive towards sustainability and its implications for regional aviation, a segment of the industry that is of particular interest to him.

So, make yourselves comfortable, and get ready for a fascinating chat with a world-class expert in the business of commercial aviation!

LanzaJet is the sustainable aviation fuel spin-off of the almost eponymous LanzaTech, an American firm that is developing and deploying technologies to turn different sorts of feedstock and waste, into biofuels.

Of the different processes and pathways available to make sustainable aviation fuel, LanzaJet is focusing on the Alcohol-to-Jet one, which uses ethanol previously produced from organic feedstocks.

LanzaJet’s technology has caught the eye of some of the most prominent corporate players. I am not talking only of airlines, such as British Airways, which is also an investor in LanzaJet, but also firms like Shell, Suncor and Microsoft, to name a few.

Because the world can’t get enough sustainable aviation fuel right now, LanzaJet is currently busy planning to open a string of plants across the world. Two plants are already under way in the US, with another one in the UK coming up next and other projects in Europe and Asia also in the pipeline.

Breakthrough Energy, a decarbonization fund set by Bill Gates, is also supporting LanzaJet’s vision and recently announced it was gibing it a $50M grant to help accelerate these projects.

What have all those major companies seen in LanzaJet? What is the outlook for the sustainable aviation fuel market? How can the Alcohol-to-Jet production technology help decarbonize flying?

Join me for an in-depth conversation about LanzaJet and the future of the sustainable aviation fuel industry, with Jimmy Samartzis, CEO of LanzaJet!

Michael Barnard is one of the most outspoken experts in the field of renewable energy and decarbonization technologies and, as it couldn’t be otherwise, has also had a close look at the different projects that are claiming to take aviation towards the path of sustainability.

In this long and gripping conversation, Michael doesn’t mince words when talking about some of the trends and themes that are sweeping through the world of aviation, from eVTOLs to hydrogen.

Michael has also taken the bold step of publishing his forecasts about the evolution of air traffic demand all the way up to the year 2100, a prediction which diverges considerably from those made public by official industry bodies and other analysts and that he aims to revise regularly as new data comes available.

He also shares some insights about what he sees are promising areas of growth in sustainable aviation. Not for nothing he is an advisor to several startups that are developing solutions in the field of electric aviation.

Whether you agree or not with Michael’s views on the industry, what I am sure is that today’s episode won’t leave you indifferent, it may even make some uncomfortable, but will certainly provide food for thought to anyone interested in the different projects, technologies and companies that are currently trying to shape the future of aviation for decades to come.

Tune in for a rather unconventional and, straightforward chat about sustainable aviation!

Today’s podcast guest is leading a firm that is truly unique in the aviation world.

Tom Grundy, CEO of Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV) will possibly chastise me for talking about the airship comeback.

The Airlander, the world’s largest aircraft by some measures, may look, from the outside, like one of those classical airships of the pre-War era, however, as listeners of this episode shall soon learn, it presents some notable differences as well, the result of almost a century of progress in aerospace and materials sciences.

The airship, as we all know, fell out of favour decades ago, what’s different this time, then? In our chat, Tom explains some of the amazing capabilities of present day hybrid air vehicles like the Airlander: very low fuel consumption, almost no infrastructure needs, long range and super long endurance. Even the low speeds it is capable of can also be an advantage at times, like when it is used for luxury air tours or loitering reconnaissance missions.

The Airlander 10, the first model that HAV has developed has already announced its launch customer, Spanish airline Air Nostrum, but Tom’s team area already working on a much larger version that will meet the needs of freight operators operating in areas of the world with limited land transportation options.

I am sure many of you, just like me, can’t wait to see these giant Airlanders flying around…in the meantime, tune in for a fascinating conversation with Hybrid Air Vehicles CEO Tom Grundy!

We are living through an almost unprecedented wave of aerospace innovation. From eVTOLs to new propulsion technologies, the world is awash with new projects, designs and concepts.

How many of them will pass the certification process?

This is a question that I’ve been pondering for a while and this is the reason I welcomed the chance to do this episode in partnership with AFuzion, a leading boutique consultancy firm that helps aerospace companies get their certification process right.

Few people know the world of aircraft certification as well as Vance Hilderman, AFuzion’s founder.

A long time entrepreneur and author (he’s written one of the reference technical books on aircraft certification), in this episode of the podcast Vance delivers a proper masterclass on the topic of aircraft certification.

What are the challenges that eVTOL designers face to get certified? What are the key elements that they must take into account? Which potential points of failure do regulators look at? How does the time-frame and procedure to get a new aircraft design certified look like?

We talk about all these and many more questions concerning the somehow complex, but very essential, world of aircraft certification.

Tune in to this episode of the podcast to get some first hand insights of the aircraft certification process as well as some valuable pieces of advice, all directly from one of the world’s top experts in this field!

Alon’s career spans several decades in, both, military and civilian aviation. He’s been at the helm of all sorts of aircraft, from F-16s to the Dreamliners, which he currently flies for Israeli airline El Al.

But, while Alon’s flying career could surely provide material for several episodes, the reason he’s here today on the podcast is the Simplifly App, a tool he and his partners have developed in order to help people fight their fear of flying.

A surprisingly large number of people suffer fear of flying to some degree. This is something Alon realized after quite a few people in his circle sought advice about how to address this issue.

Alon would soon find himself organizing workshops for people that wished to overcome their fear of flying. But, in person events, are, of course, limited in scale and reach. If fear of flying is so widespread, why not scale it up with tools and channels that allowed him to reach many more people at any one time?

The next step, thus, was to launch Simplifly, an app that helps people address their fear of flying through a series of lessons and interactive features that allow you to communicate with qualified pilots in order to seek answers and advice on this matter.

So, today’s podcast is about Alon’s entrepreneurial journey, but also about a broader topic, the fear of flying and the ways those that experience it can overcome it.

And, as a bonus, listeners of this podcast will benefit from an exclusive present: FREE access to the Simplifly premium features by entering a promo code that Alon will reveal during our conversation!

The recent covid pandemic has exposed how fragile the aviation and, more generally, the travel sector are to external shocks.

What’s more, things get particularly messy when each country starts implementing its own measures and health requirements.

The confusion and uncertainty resulting from this maze of regulations is often more damaging than the measures themselves.

This is why some in the aviation industry have been pushing for an international framework that provides clarity and predictability to those that need to travel in troubled times.

Our guest today, Jean-Marc Bourreau, has been instrumental in the elaboration of a Policy White Paper on Harmonized Travel Requirements that the Saudi Civilian Aviation Authority (GACA) will present at the annual ICAO plenary session that will take place between the end of September and beginning of October this year.

Jean-Marc is an experienced aviation consultant, currently a partner at Consulum, a government advisory firm that is assisting the Saudi government in its quest to make of Saudi Arabia one of the global hubs of the aviation industry.

I learned about the harmonised travel requirements initiative earlier this year at the Future Aviation Forum in Riyadh, where it was publicly presented, so I invited Jean-Marc to come on the pod so that he can share some more details about this project and what it might mean for air travellers.