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.
GSK has unveiled its new consumer health unit called Haelon. Haleon will debut as a standalone company later this year. Katie Williams, U.S. chief marketing officer at GSK, joined Cheddar News to discuss.
Jeffrey Kleintop, Chief Global Investment Strategist for Charles Schwab, says clarity on sanctions is driving the markets higher despite the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Primit Parikh, Founder and COO of Transphorm, discusses how his company's utilization of gallium nitride semiconductors will prove to be a difference-maker in various sectors ranging from EVs to 5G.
Gino LoPinto, Operating Partner at E11EVEN Partners, discusses what E11EVEN Residences Beyond will have in store for potential buyers, and says his company has seen great success accepting crypto at both the E11EVEN Hotel & Residences and the E11EVEN nightclub so far.
Veho bills itself as a next-day parcel delivery platform.
The startup recently announced a $170 million Series B round led by Tiger Global. Veho has a focus on last-mile delivery, which deals with getting packages from fulfillment centers to a customer's door. The company says it partners with e-commerce brands to provide them with a tech-forward and customer-centric delivery option. Itamar Zur, co-founder and CEO of Veho, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sent the stock markets into a frenzy for the end of the week. Managing Director of Equity Research at Wedbush Securities, Dan Ives joined Cheddar News to discuss the shifts he expects for the stock market going forward. "It's going to be volatile. Put on the seat belts. I think we'll look back six, nine months. This was an opportunity, not the time to sell, especially some of the high quality names within tech — Microsoft, Apple leading the charge," he said.
Even amid the Great Resignation, the cannabis industry saw major job growth. As of January 2022, the legal industry supported more than 428,000 jobs — a 33 percent increase year-over-year, according to the sixth annual jobs report from Leafly, a website focused on cannabis use and education. Yoko Miyashita, CEO of Leafly, joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss. “You know we've got big moments coming ahead in New Jersey and New York with adult-use sales starting in New Jersey, hopefully by this fall, with New York quickly to follow," she said. "So we're hugely optimistic about the kind of job growth that those markets can drive with the right type of market setup.
From Wall Street to Silicon Valley, these are the top stories that moved markets and had investors, business leaders, and entrepreneurs talking this week on Cheddar.
Theaters needed new releases to fill seats, and unfortunately for them, the supply of movies is entirely out of their control. Cheddar's Alex Vuocolo takes a deeper look.
