At the National Business Aviation Association-Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (NBAA-BACE) in Las Vegas, Supernal said it will work with FBO network Clay Lacy Aviation to prepare the latter’s sites for eVTOL air taxis. Separately, the manufacturer signed a deal with Blade Urban Air Mobility with an eye toward refining and creating hypothetical routes for its flagship design.

Supernal’s SA-2, unveiled in January, is designed for a pilot to fly as many as four passengers in urban areas such as Miami or Los Angeles, the firm’s planned launch markets. Taking off vertically like a helicopter but cruising on fixed wings, it will have an initial range of about 60 sm (52 nm) and cruise at 120 mph (104 knots) at around 1,500 feet agl. The aircraft’s zero-emission and low-noise operation is another key selling point.

At NBAA-BACE from Tuesday to Thursday, Supernal will take attendees into a virtual reality space at Henderson Executive Airport (KHND) to give them an idea of the flying experience both for pilots and passengers.

The manufacturer at the event also announced a collaboration with Clay Lacy Aviation, its first official FBO partner, that will prepare the firm’s locations for eVTOL aircraft.

The strategy of working with FBOs to electrify their terminals is not uncommon in the nascent eVTOL space. Clay Lacy—the lone FBO accredited by the NBAA as a Sustainable Flight Department for its use of environmentally friendly infrastructure—is also installing infrastructure for eVTOL manufacturers Joby Aviation and Overair, for example.

Joby, Archer Aviation, Beta Technologies, and Lilium have similar arrangements with Atlantic Aviation. Archer and Beta are further working with another FBO network, Signature Aviation.

“Availability of infrastructure will be critical to scaling the AAM industry, and this partnership is the latest step in ensuring the ecosystem is thoughtfully designed for future commercial eVTOL operators,” said Diana Cooper, chief partnerships and policy officer for Supernal.

The manufacturer’s five-year agreement with Clay Lacy Aviation will focus on how to integrate eVTOL into existing airport operations, namely by devising standards and procedures for ground handling, battery management, and maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO). Supernal will further assist Clay Lacy Aviation with the installation of power and charging systems.

The partners will initially focus on the FBO network’s sites at Orange County Airport (KSNA) and Van Nuys Airport (KVNY) in Southern California, where Supernal plans to launch near the end of the decade. Later on, they will take what they have learned from those locations to prepare Clay Lacy Aviation’s broader network.

“Supernal and Clay Lacy share strong commitments to sustainable aviation, safe and efficient operations and a superior passenger experience that benefits the communities we serve,” said Scott Cutshall, president of real estate and sustainability for Clay Lacy Aviation.

Cutshall and Cooper on Wednesday will discuss how FBOs more broadly can prepare for electric air taxis on a NBAA-BACE panel that also includes representatives from Joby, Beta, and the North Carolina Department of Transportation.

Separately, Supernal announced a three-year partnership with Blade, an operator of primarily helicopters that offers private, on-demand flights in New York City and a few other markets.

The partners will create hypothetical New York City routes to plan for air taxi, organ transplant transport, and other future eVTOL services. They will also look for “advantageous commercial arrangements in geographies of mutual interest”—such as a network in Southern California that combines Supernal’s eVTOL and Blade’s air charter broker platform.

“Our goal is to make aviation more accessible by preparing to adopt eVTOL aircraft,” said Melissa Tomkiel, president and general counsel of Blade. “In combining Blade’s expertise with Supernal’s forward-thinking innovations, this partnership is poised to accelerate AAM development and enable quiet, safe, and emission-free transportation.”

Supernal will help guide Blade’s plans to launch an AAM offering with technical and operational support. Blade in return will provide feedback on Supernal’s aircraft design, safety, passenger comfort, and potential to operate across multiple markets.

“It is critical we collaborate with experienced commercial partners like Blade to ensure our eVTOL’s cabin features align with passenger expectations for comfort, safety and efficiency in the next generation of inter-city mobility,” said David Rottblatt, senior director of strategy and commercialization at Supernal.

A Supernal-Blade network could fly passengers and cargo between Blade terminals at heliports and airports. At NBAA-BACE, for example, Blade is offering private helicopter flights between Henderson Executive Airport and the Las Vegas Convention Center, providing a glimpse of what a Supernal eVTOL route may look like.

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Clay Lacy Mission Statement

The company’s website lists the following values: Strive for excellence, thoughtfully improve, and do the right thing. 

Clay Lacy in the News

Clay Lacy Prepares to Open Waterbury-Oxford FBO Summer 2024
Clay Lacy Aviation’s newest FBO and hangar complex at Waterbury-Oxford Airport (KOXC), which serves New York City and the greater Northeast, is nearing completion and scheduled to open this summer. 

Clay Lacy Aviation, Overair Partner to Bring Air Taxis to Southern California
The FBO network and infrastructure developer will install vertiports and electric chargers and work toward an air taxi concept of operations.

A Life in Pursuit with Clay Lacy
In a long and storied career, Clay Lacy Aviation has notched extraordinary experiences in commercial and business aviation, the military, and air racing.

Clay Lacy Job Openings on FindaPilot.com

• Gulfstream 650 Captain in White Plains, NY
• Pilot Challenger 350 in Seattle, WA
• Gulfstream GIVSP Captain in Los Angeles, CA
• Global 6000 Captain in Van Nuys, CA
• Gulfstream G650 Captain in Los Angeles, CA
• Gulfstream G650 Captain in Van Nuys, CA

More Clay Lacy Resources:

• Clay Lacy career site
• Facebook
• X (Twitter)
• Instagram
• LinkedIn
• YouTube

The post Employer Profile: Clay Lacy Aviation appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Now for this week’s top story:

Clay Lacy Aviation to Bring Electric Air Taxis to FBOs

What happened? Clay Lacy, the famed aviator, is thought to have flown more hours on turbine aircraft than any pilot in history. But Clay Lacy Aviation, the company Lacy founded (and no longer has any association with the founder), is looking to fly electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft and other futuristic designs out of its FBO network in Southern California in partnership with Overair.

Old dog, new tricks: Clay Lacy Aviation is one of the oldest private jet charters and fleet operators in the Western U.S., with two full-service FBOs in Southern California and a third in the works on the East Coast. But the experienced provider is embracing the new generation of advanced air mobility (AAM) aircraft, such as Overair’s Butterfly eVTOL air taxi.

The partnership will center around the development of vertiports at Clay Lacy Aviation’s John Wayne Airport (KSNA) and Van Nuys Airport (KVNY) locations, as well as a concept of operations for Butterfly and other AAM aircraft that could fly in the region. Overair has similar agreements with Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (KDFW) and the city of Arlington, Texas.

Air taxis for all: This week’s collaboration follows Clay Lacy Aviation’s agreement with Joby Aviation to install the latter’s global electric aviation charging system (GEACS) at John Wayne. Overair, however, has backed the combined charging system (CCS) standard widely used by electric ground vehicles and endorsed by the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA).

Both GEACS and CCS are designed to be universally accessible to electric aircraft—each could charge Overair’s Butterfly, for example. But Joby has clashed with some of its air taxi rivals, with each side asserting their framework as the industry standard. Clay Lacy Aviation, though, plans to build electric infrastructure at its FBOs that will support both charging system proposals.

Quick quote: “Clay Lacy Aviation is committed to installing the electrical infrastructure to support all makes and models of electric aircraft, both fixed wing and eVTOL, to encourage the adoption of electric flight. In planning our new FBO development at John Wayne Airport, we are speaking with multiple OEMs and our local utility provider to ensure that the electric infrastructure we build out can support both CCS and GEACS charging protocols,” Scott Cutshall, senior vice president of strategy and sustainability at Clay Lacy Aviation, told FLYING.

My take: Joby and CCS-supporting competitors, such as Archer Aviation and Beta Technologies, each argue their proposed framework will be the sole industry standard. They may be right about there being one winner—major OEMs and operators will probably design and plan for one standard rather than both. It’s just easier that way.

But what if they’re wrong, and both standards can coexist? Clay Lacy Aviation and Overair appear to believe in a multipolar world, with both GEACS and CCS infrastructure fitting into the ecosystem. Atlantic Aviation, another FBO network, recently partnered with Joby, Archer, and Beta to install both kinds of chargers at its sites. These moves may be contingency plans should one system supplant the other. But either way, FBOs are building infrastructure to support both.

For what it’s worth, both CCS and the North American charging system (NACS) developed by Tesla have been viable options in the electric ground vehicle space. But CCS is slowly losing out as Ford, General Motors, and other large automakers switch over to NACS.

Deep dive: Clay Lacy Aviation, Overair Partner to Bring Air Taxis to Southern California

In Other News…

Historic Astronaut Crew Begins Research at Space Station

What happened? The multinational crew of Axiom Mission 3—or Ax-3, the third private astronaut mission to the International Space Station chartered by Houston-based Axiom Space—arrived at the orbital lab and began conducting more than 30 experiments. The crew will research microgravity, space botany, and even methods of preventing cancer.

Astronauts around the world: A SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule carrying the crew of Ax-3—the first all-European commercial astronaut mission to the space station—docked Saturday morning. The crew, comprising Spanish, Turkish, Swedish, and Italian nationals, joined space station occupants from the U.S., Europe, and East Asia.

The combined crews will work together for two weeks studying a wide array of low-Earth orbit (LEO) activities. Astronauts are exploring how microgravity, for example, affects neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and are even using it to try to prevent and predict cancer. Other studies focus on plant growth, remote planetary exploration, and the effects of zero gravity on astronaut stress.

Deep dive: First All-European Commercial Astronaut Crew Begins Research at Space Station

North American Manufacturers to Ship $1.3B Worth of Electric Aircraft to India

What happened? JetSetGo, an Indian fleet operator and marketplace for private jet and helicopter charters, ordered up to 280 electric aircraft in three separate deals with a combined value of $1.3 billion. Each aircraft—Overair’s Butterfly, Horizon Aircraft’s Cavorite X7, and Electra.aero’s hybrid electric short takeoff and landing (eSTOL)—offers different advantages.

Mix and match: JetSetGo said the combination of the three aircraft will create an “optimal mix” to serve five use cases: airport transfers, regional connectivity, intercity commute, intracity shuttles, and urban air taxis. The agreements lock it into 150 firm orders: 50 from each manufacturer for a combined $780 million. But each includes options for more aircraft.

Overair’s Butterfly introduces two technologies never before seen in eVTOL aircraft, designed to reduce energy demand and enable smoother flights. Horizon’s X7 employs a unique “fan-in-wing” configuration and blends features of a conventional aircraft with an eVTOL. And Electra’s design can take off and land with just 150 feet of runway.

Deep Dive: India’s JetSetGo Orders $1.3B Worth of Electric Aircraft from 3 Manufacturers

And a Few More Headlines:

• Vertical Aerospace founder Stephen Fitzpatrick committed $50 million to keep the air taxi manufacturer liquid through mid-2025.

• NASA and Archer partnered to test electric air taxi battery systems for potential use in spaceflight.

• Electra topped 2,000 preorders for its nine-seat hybrid eSTOL following its agreement with JetSetGo.

• Walmart partner DroneUp became the latest drone delivery firm to earn new flight permissions from the FAA.

• An attempted first lunar landing by a private company ended before reaching the moon as Astrobotic’s Peregrine lander returned to Earth.

On the Horizon…

Chinese-made drones could be transmitting sensitive U.S. information back to China, at least according to the FBI and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). The agencies released a report emphasizing the Chinese government’s outsized control over domestic company data—and urging American firms to avoid buying drones from DJI and other Chinese manufacturers.

DJI, though not specifically named in the guidance, has already pushed back on the allegations and characterizations made by the U.S. government. The company, responsible for an estimated 7 in 10 consumer drone sales worldwide, has been the target of seemingly endless bans from U.S. lawmakers, who have decried its drones as “TikTok with wings.”

As the U.S. attempts to restrict drones, the U.K. is embracing air taxis. The country’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) launched a consultation for vertiport design proposals, with the aim of installing the eVTOL hubs at existing airfields nationwide. As in the U.S., the strategy is to leverage existing infrastructure for early operations of air taxis and other AAM aircraft.

Finally, European Commission officials this week said they intend to release a draft of the first comprehensive European space law by March. The finer details of the legislation are largely a mystery, though the expectation is it will address safety and sustainability concerns and harmonize space regulations across European Union member states.

Mark Your Calendars

Each week, I’ll be running through a list of upcoming industry events. Here are a few conferences to keep an eye on:

• 11th Annual eVTOL Symposium—February 6-8 in Silicon Valley, California
• Drone Show Korea 2024—March 6-8 in Busan, South Korea
• World’s Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Conference—March 17-19 in Jerusalem
• AUVSI Xponential 2024—April 22-25 in San Diego 
• Vertical Flight Society’s Forum 80—May 7-9 in Montreal

Tweet of the Week

Want to see your tweet here next week? Have comments or feedback? Share your thoughts on X (formerly Twitter) and tag me (@jack_daleo)! Or check out FLYING’s media accounts:

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I want to hear your questions, comments, concerns, and criticisms about everything in the modern flying space, whether they’re about a new drone you just bought or the future of space exploration. Reach out to jack@flying.media or tweet me @jack_daleo with your thoughts.

The post FBOs, Meet AAM appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Soon, a very different kind of Butterfly—the electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) air taxi from manufacturer Overair—may grace the Golden State’s skies following a partnership between Overair and Clay Lacy Aviation. The FBO network and infrastructure developer is working with the manufacturer to introduce advanced air mobility (AAM) services across Southern California.

The core focus of the strategic collaboration will be on vertiports and a concept of operations for Butterfly and other AAM aircraft. Clay Lacy Aviation will spearhead the development of electric charging infrastructure and operational logistics.

“Ultra-quiet, all-electric aircraft bring the promise of convenient and efficient transportation, easing traffic congestion and reducing travel times,” said Scott Cutshall, senior vice president of strategy and sustainability at Clay Lacy Aviation.

Overair, meanwhile, will bring expertise in aircraft integration, certification, and maintenance, as well as flight path planning and user and vertiport software. The manufacturer will also work to get the public on board for AAM services.

“AAM is an ideal addition to Southern California’s transportation network, creating a new option for fast, safe, and quiet transportation in the region,” said Valerie Manning, chief commercial officer of Overair. “We have been working with our partners at Clay Lacy [Aviation] for over a year and are delighted to announce our shared plan. We are confident that this strategic collaboration will leverage our respective strengths.”

Standing up vertiports will be a key component of the partnership, providing Clay Lacy Aviation hubs out of which to fly Butterfly. The vertiports figure to feature heavily in Overair’s concept of operations for AAM services in the region, which will dictate exactly how Butterfly and other air taxis fly.

Overair completed its first full-scale Butterfly prototype in December, joining a handful of manufacturers to have actually built an eVTOL design. The aircraft—designed to fly a pilot and up to five passengers on 100 sm (87 nm) zero-emission trips, cruising at 174 knots—is expected to begin flight testing this year.

“As we continue to make strides developing Butterfly, we’re also focused on partnering with infrastructure leaders to ensure that operations using this new mode of transit can be scaled quickly and efficiently,” said John Criezis, head of mobility operations at Overair.

Overair and Clay Lacy Aviation intend to install electric charging infrastructure across Southern California, starting with the latter’s FBO locations at John Wayne Airport (KSNA) in Orange County and Van Nuys Airport (KVNY) in Los Angeles. 

According to the partners, their intent is to cover the broad needs of all AAM operators rather than a single standard. Overair, for example, is one of many eVTOL manufacturers that signed onto the General Aviation Manufacturers Association’s (GAMA) endorsement of the combined charging system (CCS) standard for electric aviation.

CCS is designed to support all electric vehicles, ground or air. It’s the most widely used global standard for electric ground vehicles but is steadily losing out to Tesla’s North American charging system (NACS) alternative. For air taxis, Joby Aviation is pushing its global electric aviation charging system (GEACS) as the industry standard.

A pair of CCS supporters—Archer Aviation and Beta Technologies—have publicly clashed with Joby over which system should be adopted universally. Clay Lacy Aviation, however, intends to build infrastructure that fits both proposals.

“Clay Lacy Aviation is committed to installing the electrical infrastructure to support all makes and models of electric aircraft, both fixed wing and eVTOL, to encourage the adoption of electric flight,” Cutshall told FLYING. “In planning our new FBO development at John Wayne Airport, we are speaking with multiple OEMs and our local utility provider to ensure that the electric infrastructure we build out can support both CCS and GEACS charging protocols.”

Joby this week agreed to install GEACS chargers in the New York City region, following a partnership with Atlantic Aviation to electrify FBO terminals in New York and Los Angeles. Both Archer and Beta also signed partnerships with Atlantic to add CCS systems at other company locations. Joby will also install a GEACS charger at Clay Lacy Aviation’s John Wayne FBO.

It’s possible that one system will entirely supplant the other as OEMs and operators pick a side—a scenario that appears to be unfolding in the U.S. electric ground vehicle industry. But whether CCS or GEACS wins out, Clay Lacy Aviation intends to be able to serve both.

Overair’s agreement with Clay Lacy Aviation comes on the heels of similar arrangements with Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (KDFW) and the city of Arlington, Texas, to launch AAM services in the North Texas region. The manufacturer plans to deliver aircraft to customers in India and South Korea, working with local partners to develop infrastructure and operational plans.

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Air taxi manufacturer Joby Aviation on Monday signed a definitive agreement with Clay Lacy Aviation—which operates full-service FBOs at Van Nuys Airport (KVNY) in Los Angeles and John Wayne Airport (KSNA) in Orange County, California—to install the first electric charging system in the region.

The installation will be part of Clay Lacy Aviation’s planned $100 million redevelopment of the FBO terminal at John Wayne Airport, also announced Monday.

“Since our founding more than 50 years ago, Clay Lacy [Aviation] has been committed to improving lives for our community, employees, and clients, leading the industry on safety and service while taking action to reduce emissions in both our ground and air operations,” said Scott Cutshall, senior vice president of strategy and sustainability at Clay Lacy Aviation. “We’re excited to be working with Joby to install Southern California’s first air taxi charger, and we look forward to the greater convenience it will bring to the Orange County community.”

Since replacing Atlantic Aviation as a service provider at John Wayne in 2020, Clay Lacy Aviation has operated out of a temporary facility at the airport. Renovations will comprise two phases: a new terminal and a pair of 37,800-square-foot hangars will come online early this year, with two 35,000-square-foot hangars joining them in mid-2025.

The charger being added to the airfield derives from Joby’s Global Electric Aviation Charging System (GEACS), which the manufacturer released at the end of 2023. The GEACS interface is already in use at Joby’s flight test center in Marina, California, as well as Edwards Air Force Base (KEDW) outside Los Angeles. The company in September delivered its first air taxi prototype to Edwards, where it began crewed flight tests the following month.

According to Joby, GEACS is designed to support safe and efficient operations for all electric aircraft under development, including the company’s own design.

“The charging technology we have developed is optimized to support our whole industry, from air taxis delivering short range city flights to more conventional electric aircraft flying longer distances,” said JoeBen Bevirt, founder and CEO of Joby. “Joby made the specifications for the universal charging interface freely available to the wider industry in November 2023 to help accelerate the transition to clean flight. We’re therefore very pleased to see it being adopted in this key market.”

Joby’s stated goal is to make its service as accessible as possible, using a “safe and ultra-fast” system compatible with any electric aircraft. Accordingly, infrastructure developers and network operators would only need one type of charger to support the entire industry.

Joby’s charger includes multiple DC channels, which can juice up multiple isolated, redundant battery packs at the same time. A coolant system keeps the batteries at an ideal temperature during charging, eliminating the need for onboard thermal management systems.

Notably, the vehicles will communicate with the system directly. Joby will use an Ethernet connection to download flight data alongside normal charging operations, including data on battery charge level and temperature. That means operations won’t be bogged down by ground personnel.

Once complete, GEACS will be published as a freely available interface control specification. But it won’t be the only charging framework out there.

Two rival eVTOL air taxi manufacturers, Archer Aviation and Beta Technologies, partnered to push their own nationwide adoption of Beta’s air taxi chargers, making the announcement within hours of Joby’s. Archer purchased several Beta systems in a show of commitment.

The companies’ alternative pitch is for electric air taxis to adhere to the combined charging system (CCS) standard, which is used by several U.S. electric car manufacturers—with the notable exception of Tesla, the industry leader. Tesla developed its own standard, the North American charging standard (NACS).

The CCS was endorsed by the General Aviation Manufacturers Association in its Interoperability of Electric Charging Infrastructure report released last year. Both Archer and Beta contributed to the recommendation, as did Boeing’s Wisk Aero, Embraer’s Eve Air Mobility, Lilium, Volocopter, and Overair.

Archer and Beta maintain the CCS is the standard to which the top aviation OEMs are designing for. Joby, meanwhile, has claimed other electric aircraft companies will soon announce their decision to use its standard.

Unlike Joby’s system, Beta’s charger includes a separate coolant mechanism. And because the battery packs in Archer’s and Beta’s designs are in one location, the firms have no need to charge multiple packs at once. Joby’s battery packs are spread across the airframe.

Both Joby and Archer and Beta hope the industry will adopt their in-house system, which would foster some level of dependence upon their tech. For what it’s worth, in the automotive space, Tesla’s NACS—the analog to GEACS—won out, and more manufacturers, such as Ford and General Motors, are switching over from CCS.

“Today’s announcement marks a key moment on the path to delivering our air taxi service in the Greater Los Angeles area,” said Bevirt. “We’re taking concrete steps to ensure the right infrastructure is in place to support our future service and we’re grateful to be working with an industry pioneer like Clay Lacy Aviation to lead the way on bringing sustainable aviation to Southern California.”

Joby’s air taxi will fly a pilot and up to four passengers on routes spanning up to 100 sm (81 nm), cruising as fast as 200 mph (174 knots). The home-to-airport shuttle service is expected to produce zero in-flight emissions and a noise footprint “radically lower” than existing helicopters.

The installation at John Wayne adds the airfield as a node in the company’s Southern California network, Joby said. In partnership with Delta Air Lines, the manufacturer also plans to launch service in Los Angeles, as well as New York City and other airports served by Delta. Los Angeles is scheduled to be one of the company’s earliest U.S. launch markets, with commercial service expected in 2025.

Monday’s announcement follows Joby’s watershed flight in New York City in November, during which it became the first company to complete electric air taxi flights in the city. Germany’s Volocopter also participated. The demonstrations came shortly after New York City announced plans to electrify the historic Downtown Manhattan Heliport (JRB).

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On Tuesday, Eviation Aircraft, a global manufacturer of all-electric aircraft, announced a partnership with Clay Lacy Aviation that will allow people to charge Alice, its all-electric aircraft, at all Clay Lacy Aviation FBOs as part of its network of services.

The partnership is the first FBO agreement for Eviation. It’s in preparation for Alice’s expected entry into service in 2024.

“Now, operators can choose to make the financially and environmentally sustainable choice for their aircraft,” Roei Ganzarski, executive chairman of Eviation, said in a statement. “With partners like Clay Lacy Aviation we are bringing the option of low-cost, clean electric flight closer to more and more communities.”

In 2020, Clay Lacy Aviation developed a comprehensive sustainability strategy to reduce its carbon footprint and the environmental impact of its facilities and its clients. Adding charging services for the nine-passenger, two-crew member, emission-free Alice is another step toward the two companies’ shared vision for a sustainable aviation industry.

“Clay Lacy has long prided itself on industry firsts and we are now adding yet another through our partnership with Eviation,” Brian Kirkdoffer, president and CEO at Clay Lacy Aviation, said in the same statement. “One of those firsts was introducing the first carbon offset program and a robust sustainability strategy in the aircraft management industry.

“We are proud to take that a giant step further with charging the zero-emission Alice at our FBOs.”

Omer Bar-Yohay, CEO of Eviation, said there’s more to come for his company.

“This partnership is just the beginning for Eviation as we look to build out the supporting infrastructure needed to bring electric aviation to life,” Bar-Yohay said. “With a network of visionary FBOs, we can ensure accessible, quick and seamless charging as we march toward a cleaner aviation future.”

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Sustainability in aviation forms a central pillar to an increasing number of operators in the GA industry. Two major business aviation stalwarts have made recent announcements regarding their current actions and forward-looking plans to achieve company goals in this critical area.

NetJets has purchased a stake in WasteFuel, a business centered around converting landfill waste into sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). The move marks a significant step forward in its investment towards incorporation of SAF into its fleet operations. NetJets plans to purchase 100 million gallons of SAF from WasteFuel over the next 10 years as part of the partnership. The two companies have started work on a plant in Manila, Philippines, to support the company’s growth, along with Prime Infra—an infrastructure development company. When at full capacity, the refinery will convert 1 million tons of municipal waste into 30 million gallons of SAF each year, according to a company press release.

“As the leader in private aviation, NetJets is deeply invested in advancing sustainability across the industry,” said Brad Ferrell, executive vice president of administrative services. After launching our expanded Global Sustainability Program last year, the opportunity to invest in the production of SAF with WasteFuel was a natural next step. The biorefinery tackles the dual environmental problems of the global waste crisis and sustainable fuel, and we’re excited to take this step toward improving accessibility to SAF in the aviation industry.”

In corresponding news, Clay Lacy Aviation announced its latest efforts to support sustainable aviation, with its own infrastructure investment at its primary facility in Van Nuys, California. The company is working towards a net-zero carbon footprint with the installation of a 500 kW, 30,000-sq-ft solar array on the roof of its FBO headquarters at KVNY. The array is expected to produce 750,000 kW hours of electricity annually—offsetting 530 metric tons of carbon dioxide. Additional updates to the facility have included roughly 200 LED light fixtures and 44 electric-vehicle charging stations.

“We are committed to operating sustainably and making significant progress toward a net-zero carbon footprint,” said Scott Cutshall, senior vice president of business operations for Clay Lacy Aviation. “These improvements are the first of many to help us achieve our sustainability goals.”

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