Today we talk with Lisa Ellman, Executive Director of the Commercial Drone Alliance and Partner at Hogan Lovells. Our discussion focuses on the regulatory and policy aspects of Advanced Air Mobility, and in particular the commercial drone industry. Listen to Lisa’s description of and takeaways from the August 2022 White House AAM summit, and advice to entrepreneurs entering the world of Advanced Air Mobility.

So here’s a great discussion with Jeff Smith, Chair of the huge Helicopter Association International. This podcast discusses how the helicopter industry has embraced AAM, and that the AAM industry should work collaboratively with the helicopter industry to ensure the same successes and overcome the challenges to help scale the AAM industry to eventual success.

James Poss is a retired United States Air Force Major General. He discusses how drones are changing the battlefield with emphasis on the war in Ukraine.

We welcome Ed Bolen, President & CEO of NBAA to The Vertical Space! At a time when so many are focusing on the building the flying vehicles, listen how Ed discusses what has made business aviation as vital as it is today – and if AAM wants to be successful, it should consider the ingredients of the business aviation success.

Talking AAM infrastructure! In the latest episode of The Vertical Space podcast we sat down with Rex J. Alexander. Rex is one of the preeminent global leaders on the topic of vertical flight ground infrastructure.

We speak today with Professor Donald R. Sadoway, one world’s top experts on energy and batteries – one of the most important topics in our society, in aviation and in AAM.

Professor Sadoway is the John F. Elliott Professor of Materials Chemistry in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at MIT. He is the founder of six companies, and his TED talk has been viewed over 2,400,000 times. In 2012 he was named by Time magazine as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World.

We discussed what slowed the introduction of the flying car and how advanced air mobility can become a reality with J. (Josh) Storrs Hall, author of “Where Is My Flying Car.”

Check out what Chris Hewlett has to say about Unmanned Aircraft System Traffic Management (UTM). Chris shares thought-provoking insights on how the industry should be thinking about the management of a truly integrated airspace system that’s agnostic to the type of user.

The Honorable Jim Burnley, the former United States Secretary of Transportation, 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.

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.

In this episode, we interview @BobbyHealy, CEO and Founder @Manna. 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.

Pasha Saleh, Head of Corporate Development at Alaska Airlines, 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.

Peter Cerda – IATA’s Regional VP of the Americas, provides a global perspective on a range of topics, including his perspective on AAM.

Chris Anderson, the COO and Chief Product Officer of Kittyhawk, discusses importance Kittyhawk is placing on autonomy and an affordable aircraft.

David Grizzle, former Chief Operating Officer of the FAA, has a refreshing perspective on how change in transportation will occur – and that “muddling through” is the likely way to a different world vs. waiting for perfection, which may never come.

Brendan Groves, from Skydio, discusses policy – and address why bold policy and policy goals are important.

Brandon Suarez from General Atomics Aeronautical Systems discusses autonomy, certification, technology, standards, integration of unmanned aircraft into the national airspace system and a lot more.

Scott Drennan, an accomplished aerospace innovator and executive, discusses the DC-3 and Model T "moments" for advanced air mobility.

Mike Whitaker, the former Deputy Administrator and Chief NextGen Officer of the FAA, and now a senior executive at Supernal, Hyundai’s Urban Air Mobility subsidiary, discusses the transition from today’s air transportation system – with its remarkable safety record, to discussing what is required to transition to AAM.