As industries begin to shift away from fossil fuels, Ampaire is banking on its line of hybrid-electric airplanes to revolutionize air travel. The company recently announced its historic first flight of an existing airline route in Hawaii.
Kevin Noertker, Ampaire CEO, said not only would the environment reap the biggest benefits from a reduction of emissions, but the airline industry could also soar to new heights.
"For the airlines, the biggest impact is reduced cost of operation. Airlines care about the total cost of ownership and operation for their planes. By switching to a hybrid plane, you could reduce that fuel burn by up to 50 percent," Noertker told Cheddar.
The CEO also noted that a fully electric plane would reduce emissions by more than 90 percent.
After launching in 2016 and constructing an aircraft for the last two years, paid flights for the company are on the horizon. "We're looking at about a three-year timeline before we get certification to deploy these planes in that commercial operation," Noertker said.
While the company gears up for commercial flights, it has already been conducting demonstrations under the FAA's experimental market survey, which allows passengers and potential Ampaire customers to fly.
Last month, the company became the first to ever demonstrate a hybrid-electric flight in Maui, which went from Kahului to Hana in about 20 minutes. Like other industries, Ampaire's ability to continue developing and moving forward with test flights, particularly in Hawaii, was impacted by pandemic-related restrictions.
The hybrid-electric planes, according to Noertker, while capable of long-distance flights, are optimal for relatively short-distances. Over the next five to 10 years, however, there are plans to produce an aircraft that can hold up to 20 passengers and will fly "routes between 50 and 500 miles."
"The reality is most routes that airlines like to fly are about 100 miles," Noertker said.
Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales stopped by Cheddar's "Between Bells" to talk about his Birth of Wikipedia auction at Christie's putting two items linked to the origins of Wikipedia up for sale. On the auction block are his original strawberry iMac that was used to create the long-running online encyclopedia and what Wales described as an interactive NFT of his first Wikipedia edit rather than a static image. "Once it's been sold, the owner can turn it on, and anyone can edit the page and it will be reflected in the NFT," he said.
On this episode of Your Future Home, Carmine Satabella, Interior Designer & Television Host, joins to break down how to get the most out of your winter decor this year and basic kitchen fundamentals that go a long way; Max Child, CEO and co-founder of Volley, discusses the rise of voice games and how tech is continuing to change smart homes; Cheddar breaks down everything you need to know about how to start flipping homes.
China-based DiDi is delisting from the New York Stock Exchange after Chinese officials reportedly asked the ride-hailing company to do so. It will instead list on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong.
U.S. Futures were pointing to a higher open to round out the week despite a miss on the November Jobs Report, which showed slower job growth than expected-- and as the omicron variant continues to spread across the country. Patrick Healey, Founder & President at Caliber Financial Partners joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
It's a mixed bag for the November jobs report. Hiring slowed last month as employers only added 210,000 jobs, massively missing the estimate of 550,000. But there was one bright spot: the unemployment rate fell to 4.2%, with the number of unemployed people dropping to 6.9 million. Both of those numbers are considerably down from their highs at the end of the 2020 recession. Heather Boushey, a member of President Biden's Council of Economic Advisers, joined Cheddar to discuss the report and the state of the country's ongoing economic recovery.
Many people are quitting their jobs just to have the flexibility of working from anywhere. A new survey conducted by The Conference Board reveals of those who have quit during the pandemic, 1 in 4 did so for the ability to work remotely. Rebecca Ray, executive vice president of Human Capital at The Conference Board, joined Cheddar to discuss why workplace flexibility is so important to employees, and how companies can better support the desires of their workers.
