Why start-ups aren’t the only game in town for advanced air mobility

LA: How important do you think previous experience in VTOL is going to be in launching new advanced air mobility services? How do you get the message to newly interested authorities that they can be safe, reliable and sustainable?

DS: For Bristow Group, that’s key because we have real experience and pedigree in this industry. Dialogue with authorities is critically important to be able to espouse our message about how, as a sophisticated operator and global company that has been in the business for a long time, we have safely operated in all types of environments and conditions.

We’ve operated aircraft in the Arctic and Antarctic, out of Hammerfest in Norway where it’s dark and icy, there are gale force winds and all kinds of unfavourable conditions. Not only do we fly people offshore in those conditions, we offer life-saving search and rescue capability. That is just one example that showcases the complexity of environments that we can operate in.  

Dialogue with the industry, with local and national governments, and with regulators is critical in demonstrating our understanding of the hazards involved with these services and VTOL aircraft. It’s going to be important that the industry – as early adopters look to these new services – can build partnerships with today’s companies, like Bristow, that have the wherewithal to operate them safely.

Dialogue with the industry, with local and national governments, and with regulators is critical in demonstrating our understanding of the hazards involved with these services and VTOL aircraft

I see existing operators, both helicopter and fixed-wing, who are staples in the industry today – as key players in integrating these emerging technologies; to enable safe, efficient applications of air mobility that can be showcased to the public. That’s part of the modelling for the future – do something small and constrained, and then build it out to forge confidence within ourselves, with industry, with regulators and with the public.

The first thing I thought about when I took up this role with Bristow was what are our core competencies? Those are the roots of the tree. The trunk of the tree is Bristow, our infrastructure, our licence to operate in so many different conditions and countries around the world. The branches that come out of that are where we think we add value. If you look at the top branch, its Bristow as owners and operators of aircraft, that’s what we do best.

If you then take a branch off that, where there are potentially municipalities or OEMs that want to own their own aircraft, Bristow could come in and operate them, or provide maintenance and repairs for components and aircraft, or deliver comprehensive training thanks to the unusual environments we operate in.

Each municipality is going to have unique requirements for approaches, for departures, for regulations, and that’s going to require bespoke training. As the aircraft is built, there will be initial flight training with the CAA and the OEM, and from there is when training for the operation itself comes into play, and that’s what Bristow brings to the table, alongside sales and sales support.

LA: As an incumbent in this space already, what are your views on other types of mobility companies, such as automotive OEMs, looking to diversify into AAM, and provide not only vehicles but systems and infrastructure?

DS: While those types of companies have great manufacturing capabilities and ways to distribute those products – not to mention a healthy balance sheet that can fund the infrastructure – they don’t have the intellectual property that we have. We’re happy to partner with companies like that, and to explore it as a two-way street because they will bring the ability to manufacture at a greater scale, and we bring the operational and safety knowhow.

We hear a lot about flight test certification in this space, but once aircraft have been certified, by the FAA for example, they need to scale in terms of production. That means they’ll also need a production certificate and that requires another set of airworthiness regulators to come in, and for the company to make a different type of investment in infrastructure. The decision is then whether to operate services as the OEM or sell to an operator, which requires operation specifications and an operating license for that particular client. Bristow can help navigate those processes and decisions throughout the entire process.

A lot of people talking about standardisation are thinking of shortening the supply chain and lowering cost. When I hear standardisation, I think safety

The other part of the work we do with OEMs is to become part of the certification process to ensure that what they’re building is going to be commercially viable. There’s not an aircraft, helicopter or aeroplane that I or Bristow have experienced buying that could be taken straight off the production line and put into commercial operation. There are always changes to make, either to make it bespoke for specific operating conditions or change or improve various design aspects that may have changed during the manufacturing process.

If we can do that early and build standardisation into the process, it’s going to be very helpful. A lot of people talking about standardisation are thinking of shortening the supply chain and lowering cost. When I hear standardisation, I think safety. How do we standardise electrical connections, flight control systems, management of the cockpit itself, the maintenance requirements?

LA: From there, what impact does standardisation have on the development of new policy and regulation for these services? How are new market entrants perceived by regulators?

DS: I spend a lot of time speaking with regulators around the globe. Referring back to Bristow’s core competence as a sophisticated operator, regulators have confidence in us. They would rather see experienced operators like Bristow and our peers in this industry be the early adopters versus a start-up that, while it has brilliant people building great products, doesn’t necessarily understand the whole process of operating, of hiring, of building a culture of safety in manufacturing and operations.

These companies are very different to us – they’re process-oriented and focused on lean manufacturing processes. But out in the market, operations are constantly changing and you have to be flexible to meet new conditions. The point of the spear is generally miles away from you, there’s no observation there and the data that you get back is latent – you’re not going to see things real time.

LA: How do you see these new processes and, in turn, new services transferring into the urban environment?

DS: Regional and urban intermodal transportation is going to be vital to the success of these services. The panacea is travelling by electric AAM from the suburbs of one city to the closest international airport, catching a flight to another country, and then using another AAM service to complete your journey at the other end, from the airport to another part of the urban environment.

There’s natural progression towards that vision from our early adoption model. Hardware is being built by innovative people and operators are beginning to work out the different applications they could launch. We’re going to be very creative and innovative to get those services right, and while it is going to require the investment of a lot of capital, we’re confident we’ll see a return on that. At the same time, we have to make sure we’re doing the right thing for the world and make these applications sustainable.

Early aeroplane services weren’t proved out by carrying people, they carried cargo and mail. As the safety record builds and is proven, public interest will grow

The future for these services presents such an exciting opportunity, for B2B and regional and urban mobility services. I would encourage municipalities to watch and work with companies like ours, and partner with us in small networks to build confidence. They can then report back to their constituents the benefits that AAM can deliver to their communities and show that they’ve got experience and evidence that these services can be done safely.

That will completely change the way that municipalities and authorities engage with their communities and their citizens to gain acceptance of these services. Without acceptance there won’t be a long-term future for public-serving applications in the AAM market. I do believe that the industrial marketplace will accept these vehicles, though, because there’s a compelling business case for the likes of logistics networks, big-box distribution, energy companies, or any company that has to move a lot of people or goods.

If it can be done on the industrial side, then it can scale to serve the public, too. Early aeroplane services weren’t proved out by carrying people, they carried cargo and mail. As the safety record builds and is proven, public interest will grow.

Bristow Group is the global leader in innovative and sustainable vertical flight solutions. With over seven decades of experience provide aviation solutions to customers and governments worldwide, Bristow is uniquely positioned to integrate advanced air mobility solutions safely and efficiently to their suite of services.