Overair, Inc., developer of electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicles, has announced they signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Bristow Group Inc., the world’s leading global provider of innovative and sustainable vertical flight solutions to government and civil organizations.
The two companies plan to collaborate on the development of the Butterfly commercialization plans.
Bristow has pre-ordered 20 to 50 Butterfly aircraft and both companies will work together to develop an operations development framework focusing on vehicle design considerations, key performance parameters, FAA certification, flight planning best practices, data sharing for improvement of flight operations, connected vehicle and health monitoring strategies, configuration and maintenance protocols, infrastructure, ground support operations, connected fleet management, and government affairs and promotion of eVTOL operations.
“Bristow’s decades of vertical lift experience will greatly enhance Butterfly’s path to commercialization,” said Ben Tigner, Chief Executive Officer of Overair.
“Their operating insight, combined with our development and execution of the Butterfly program, will position Butterfly to serve Bristow as a valuable workhorse on high-density routes.
“We’re elated to learn from Bristow’s practical expertise and ultimately deliver an aircraft optimized for their use cases.”
“Our MOU with Overair allows us to advance our leadership position in the vertical transportation market that we’ve built over the past 70+ years and will now set the stage for the next generation of vertical flight,” said Bristow President and Chief Executive Officer Chris Bradshaw.
“Our collaboration facilitates expansion into new high-density geographic markets with sustainable, innovative and efficient vertical lift and aerial transport services.
“As the global leader in vertical lift, Bristow’s operational expertise and efficiency, supported by the trust and confidence of our customers, can safely bring eVTOL aircraft into the market.”
Bristow, one of the world’s largest and most experienced helicopter operators, plans to use the unique attributes of these eVTOL aircraft to help reduce its carbon footprint.