In this week’s VIP Seat podcast, we talk about:

Textron eVTOL To Take Flight in 2025

Initially announced in 2021 through Textron’s subsidiary, Bell, Textron’s eVTOL concept aircraft, Nexus, announced its first test flights in 2025. While the original concept was to be powered by hybrid propulsion in partnership with Safran, the tilt-rotor vehicle is now expected to be all-electric. Textron hopes for a 100-mile range and will seat one crew member and three passengers.

Civilian Helene Rescuers Feud with Federal Regulators

A dispute on X between Elon Musk and US Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg is highlighting the rising tensions between civilian-arranged rescue operations in the aftermath of Helene and Federal regulators. Citing thirty near-miss incidents, the FAA has implemented temporary flight restrictions, prior permission requests (PPRs) for local airports (through FEMA), and other measures to control traffic in the area. Critics running support flights, however, have highlighted that the lack of air support from government sources in the first week of the disaster created the need for civilian missions, and the lack of ability to communicate with local governments due to lack of cell services is costing lives.

New FAA Interpretation Could Devastate Aircraft Maintenance Industry

Most aircraft mechanics are trained under apprenticeship programs; in fact, most maintenance performed on aircraft today is by unlicensed apprentices in training, under the supervision and inspection of licensed mechanics. A new FAA legal interpretation, the Moss Interpretation, has recently been published, sending maintenance organizations and trade groups into a frenzy to correct the issue. This new interpretation would essentially end apprenticeship programs, owner-assisted maintenance, and other problems, creating significant backlogs and further straining an already strained industry desperate for licensed mechanics.

Delray Dobbins, an A&P mechanic, pilot, and former leader at Rolls-Royce and Pratt & Whitney, is our guest host this week, helping us unpack the impacts of this news.

Wife Lands King Air 90 After Husband Becomes Incapacitated

A private flight from Las Vegas to Monterrey landed at Bakersfield this week, flown by the wife of an incapacitated pilot. She was not a trained pilot but had some familiarity with the aircraft; the aircraft did run off the runway, but fortunately, no one was harmed. A King Air 350 from the US Customs & Border Protection unit intercepted and guided her along the glide path safely to the runway.