The Vertical Space

Professor Donald R. Sadoway is one world’s top experts on energy and batteries – one of the most important topics in our society, in aviation, and in AAM. There are few more important topics to our industry – and who better than Professor Sadoway to educate us on the topic – and talk about where we are and where innovation can take us. Professor Sadoway is the John F. Elliott Professor of Material...

We were delighted to interview the author of “Where Is My Flying Car,” J. (Josh) Storrs Hall. Check it out if you want to know what slowed the introduction of the flying car and how advanced air mobility can become a reality. A podcast worth listening to – and a great read! Thanks Josh for joining our show. 

Today we’re taking a look into the future of air traffic management with Chris Hewlett, a retired naval aviator with 30 years of experience in aviation operations, safety, modernization, and optimization of next generation aviation systems. In the conversation that follows, Chris offers thought provoking insights on how we as an industry should be thinking about the management of a truly integrate...

It was our great pleasure to have The Honorable Jim Burnley on The Vertical Space. Jim has a vast background and wealth of experience, including as the former United States Secretary of Transportation.  Jim provides his perspective on the free market, on transportation issues overall, on aviation, and how advanced air mobility fits into the big picture of transportation and logistics. Listen to Ji...

Check out this insightful conversation with Jia Xu, the senior director of strategy for the unmanned aerial systems and urban air mobility at Honeywell Aerospace, where he leads strategy, business development, and M&A. Jia discusses how to increase access to and utilization of the vertical space. He also discusses AAM in general, autonomy, fly by wire, artificial intelligence – and use cases f...

Bobby is a proven and remarkable entrepreneur and industry innovator. He has started and sold successful companies and is now pioneering service delivery with his start up, ‘Manna’ - a Drone Delivery as a Service business. Listen to what makes Bobby special, how Manna delivers value today, their tech stack, their essential value and competitive advantages, his comments on certification, and how th...

In this episode we talk to Pasha Saleh, Head of Corporate Development at Alaska Airlines. Pasha is one of those industry leaders with a rare combination of experience in startups, large aerospace corporations, and management consulting – and on top of that he’s an airline pilot who still flies 737s at Alaska. This diverse background makes for an interesting perspective on the future of aviation –...

Our guest is Peter Cerda – IATA’s Regional VP of the Americas. It’s a fun, fast-moving podcast. Peter provides a global perspective on a range of topics, including the role of commercial aviation and how it is recovering today – stronger in some areas more than others. Peter discusses how returning to 2019 performance isn’t good enough as well as commercial aviation’s sustainability goals. He prov...

Another stimulating podcast! In this episode, we interview Chris Anderson, the COO and Chief Product Officer of Kittyhawk. Foundational to this podcast is the importance Kittyhawk is placing on autonomy and an affordable aircraft. Listen to why Chris and Kittyhawk are so confident about autonomy. Also listen to our discussion on performance-based certification…about operating at automotive scale…w...

David Grizzle simply makes you think; he challenges how we’re thinking today around transportation – and has a vision for how our transportation will change and adapt. Listen to his thoughts and comments from his background as an airline executive, as a leader in Afghanistan in the early years as transportation was being established, and as the Chief Operating Officer of the FAA to realize that he...

You’ll want to take notes on this podcast! It’s a great pleasure to have Brendan Groves on our show. You advanced mobility entrepreneurs will enjoy Brendan’s talk, generated from his unique background, education, and industry experience. Listen to his perspective on a number of AAM subjects, including policy – and address why bold policy and policy goals are important. Brendan provides unique pers...

In this episode we talk to Brandon Suarez from General Atomics Aeronautical Systems about autonomy, certification, technology, standards, integration of unmanned aircraft into the national airspace system and a lot more. You’ll hear Brandon discuss how the internet approach to product development does not necessarily work in aviation, how autonomy will likely be rolled out in terms of missions set...

In this episode you'll hear from Scott Drennan, an accomplished aerospace innovator and executive. We discuss the DC-3 and Model T "moments" for advanced air mobility, the challenges and opportunities for the industry to manufacture at automotive speed, best practices for leveraging advanced manufacturing and digital engineering, and much more. As we always do in this podcast, you&a...

Few have Mike Whitaker’s background and senior executive experience in both aviation and in automotive air mobility. Mike speaks with authority and experience as the former Deputy Administrator and Chief NextGen Officer of the FAA, Group CEO of India’s largest travel conglomerate, a senior executive at United Airlines, and now a senior executive at Supernal, Hyundai’s Urban Air Mobility subsidiary...

Our guest today is Jesse Kallman, an accomplished aviation executive with broad experience in the unmanned aviation industry.  We invited Jesse to speak on the podcast because he’s been a part of the commercial drone industry from its very beginning and he also founded and led a geospatial business within a large aerospace OEM, so for the entrepreneurs in our audience, his perspective and advice i...

Welcome to Episode#1! In this episode we’ll talk about the business of The Vertical Space and discuss how drones, electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (eVTOL), electric aircraft, and all elements within advanced air mobility deliver value or plan to deliver value to their customers and their investors. We're going to discuss why we started the podcast, why we think the topic is impo...