OneSky Flight’s Halo business unit has placed an order for 200 Eve eVTOL aircraft. With deliveries expected to start in 2026, the developmental urban air mobility vehicles are seen as the next step in OneSky’s strategy of providing a door-to-door solution for private air travel. Initial Halo services are planned for New York and London.
OneSky is a part of entrepreneur Ken Ricci’s Ohio-based Directional Aviation Group. Eve Urban Air Mobility Solutions is an established Embraer-backed developer of eVTOL aircraft. The companies refer to the purchase agreement as a partnership, and Halo, the rebranded version of a U.K.-based management company OneSky acquired last month, is considered the launch customer for Eve eVTOLs.
Ricci cites a 15-year business plan that involves three tranches of five years each. The first is to explore further linking of current helicopter services and infrastructure with Directional’s business jet offerings, which include everything from managing individual private jets to selling jet cards. He said package deals with rotorcraft services could be offered as early as later this year.
The next phase would involve transitioning from conventional helicopter technology to eVTOL aircraft such as the Eve. That infrastructure would continue to rely on existing heliports, however. The final phase would expand takeoff and landing sites to include rooftops and other convenient locations.
“Eve Urban Air Mobility Solutions is an established Embraer-backed developer of eVTOL aircraft.”
An “established developer?” Okay. If they’re so “established,” what actual “development” do they have to show for it?
More press releases; more vaporware.
Fair point, but I would also say it’s all relative. Compared with other developers (which, as you point out, is all that any of them are, so far), the Embraer backing is significant, not only for the financials, but for the manufacturing and service infrastructure support. And Embraer points out it has a track record at disrupting markets (regional jets and business jets).
One commentator recently suggested Avweb have a vapor-wear category for electric air taxis, flying cars, and Lotus Esprit submarines (I added the last one;-).
I agree.
Add me to that list, too, Bill.
This UAV thing on Avweb is getting like Facebook … we’re gonna have to get some fact checkers to inform the aviation public that what you’re reading is likely “vaporware.” In fact, now that I think about it, Avweb is now making itself complicit in many of these schemes to separate investors from their money by printing this stuff.
“Tranches”? Had to look that up. Turns out it has multiple meanings; one relates to financials and bonds, but urbandictionary has this:
>”tranch (trănch) n.
1. The all-purpose seasoning of salty language. It can be used to replace any number of off-color terms that sound similar (wench, tramp, trench, ranch, trash, etc.) or where ever a new expression is needed. Slang-salad.
“You naughty little tranch!”
“Look at that tranch slaunching around.”
“Jeezus, I thought that skeevy tranch salesman would never leave.”
“Aww, it smells like tranch in here.”<
OK, that sounds about right.
“OneSky Partners With Eve As Launch Customer for eVTOLs” Really?
Apparently a partnership today is a press release for an “order” of 200 unicorn flying things that don’t exist, have no regulations for certification, not enough technology to be feasible, and yet has another deliver date timetable set in the stone of hope. A modern partnership seems to be made upon virtually nothing. This entrepreneur has spent nothing other than the time it took to formulate the press release. It’s a promise to buy when the unicorn magically appears. Embraer’s name has led speculations of credibility that the unicorn will somehow appear. That is a modern aviation partnership.
In the meantime, the press release explains the considerable use of existing technology, aircraft, locations, hardware, and software as if this guy has a better use of an old, dated mousetrap.
Avweb is just simply reporting another aviation “partnership”. No reason to kill the messenger for the message. They are not aiding and abetting another unicorn sighting by reporting about another typical, modern, aviation press release. Seems like aviation is a breeding ground for unicorns.
Well, maybe for stillborn unicorns.