Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Upcoming Event

Best Places to Work in Virginia

Hamburger Menu Hamburger Menu

Tag: Electra.aero

Electra.aero names new CEO

Electra.aero has named B. Marc Allen its new CEO, succeeding founder John S. Langford, who will remain chairman, the Manassas-based aviation startup announced Thursday.

Allen spent the bulk of his career, nearly two decades, at Boeing, which is headquartered in Arlington County. Since 2020, he served as chief strategy officer and senior vice president for strategy and corporate development. In that role, he was responsible for overarching strategy, including long-term planning, global business and corporate development and strategic investments, acquisitions and divestitures.

In 2014, Allen was appointed to Boeing’s executive council and later became president of subsidiary Boeing International. He stepped down as chief strategy officer at the end of 2023, part of a reorganization of Boeing’s strategy arm that eliminated the job. In January, a Boeing jet experienced a midair blowout of a 4-foot wall panel while passengers were on an Alaska Airlines flight. The incident led to a C-suite shakeup and federal fines in the hundreds of millions of dollars, as well as declining orders and sales.

Allen earned a degree in political theory at Princeton University and finished law school at Yale. Early in his career, he clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Anthony M. Kennedy.

Backed by Lockheed Martin Ventures, Electra builds hybrid-electric Ultra Short airplanes that fly people and cargo without airports, emissions or noise. The company has more than 2,000 orders from more than 50 commercial clients, as of January, and in November 2023, Electra’s hybrid prototype aircraft, the EL-2 Goldfinch, took off for the first time at the Manassas airport.

Langford, an aerospace entrepreneur who previously founded Aurora Flight Sciences, which develops air vehicles and technology, and Athena Technologies, a developer and manufacturer of control and navigation solutions for unmanned aerial vehicles, launched Electra in 2020. Since then he has served as both chairman and CEO. With Allen’s appointment, Langford will continue on as chairman, focusing on long-term strategy and innovation.

“I am not going anywhere; I’m just splitting my job,” Langford wrote in a post on LinkedIn.

Langford built a friendship with Allen when Aurora Flight Sciences was acquired by Boeing in November 2017, he noted in the post.

“Marc’s exceptional background in global business and strategic leadership makes him the ideal choice to guide Electra into its next phase of growth,” Langford stated in a news release.

Electra has about 45 employees, according to a spokesperson. In 2023, the company received a Virginia Innovation Partnership Corp. Commonwealth Commercialization Fund grant, as well as an investment from VIPC’s Virginia Venture Partners.

Electra aircraft backlog hits $8B

Manassas-based aviation startup Electra.aero has surpassed 2,000 orders for the electric short takeoff and landing (eSTOL) aircraft it’s developing, totaling an $8 billion backlog, the company announced Tuesday.

Electra signed a letter of intent in December 2023 to deliver its blown-lift, fixed-wing eSTOL aircraft to Finnish regional private air carrier startup Lygg, followed by similar agreements in January with New York helicopter tour company Charm Aviation and New Delhi-based charter jet and helicopter service JetSetGo Aviation Services Private.

The deal with JetSetGo — reached at Wings India 2024, a four-day advanced air mobility aviation conference held this month in Hyderabad, India — brought Electra’s pre-order sales for its aircraft over the 2,000 mark, with an $8 billion backlog, up from around 1,700 pre-ordered aircraft and a $6 billion backlog in November 2023.

Electra completed the first successful test flight of its prototype electric hybrid eSTOL aircraft in November 2023. Electra’s EL-2 Goldfinch took off from Manassas Regional Airport and flew 23 minutes, reaching an altitude of 3,200 feet and covering about 30 miles.

JetSetGo made the deal as part of a commitment with Electra and two other aircraft manufacturers to obtain a total of 150 aircraft for a combined $780 million, according to the Indian private air carrier. Contract options could bring the aircraft order to 280 aircraft at a total value of $1.3 billion. Lygg has disclosed that its agreement calls for Electra to deliver 150 planes beginning in 2028, with options to order an additional 150 aircraft, at a combined total value of €1 billion (or about $1.08 billion) for the 300 aircraft, according to a December 2023 news release. The privately held Electra has not disclosed the cost of its aircraft or the amounts of its pre-order contracts with private clients.

“Having followed Electra for a long time, we are convinced that they will be one of the leaders in this market. We, in turn, can offer a direct path to commercial business for their planes through our corporate customer network and operators,” Lygg CEO Roope Kekäläinen said in a statement.

In a Jan. 23 news release, Electra said it is collaborating with JetSetGo to identify relevant markets and new routes in India that can be served by the eSTOL aircraft, establishing regional transportation hubs and increased connectivity between major cities and communities underserved by flight services.

“Electra is committed to partnering with JetSetGo for the long term to grow regional transportation markets and help bring jobs and vital economic growth to communities in India,” Electra Chief Product Officer Marc Ausman said in a statement.

JetSetGo’s chief operating officer and co-founder, Kanika Tekriwal, said in a news release, “India’s geography and demographics make it an ideal launch market for advanced air mobility. We want to lead the transformation of urban and regional connectivity and believe Electra is the right partner with the technology to make this vision a reality.”

In January 2023, Electra received an $85 million award from the Air Force to accelerate prototype development, testing and evaluation. And in November 2023, Electra announced that Bristow Group, a Texas-based company that provides helicopter offshore energy transportation and search and rescue services, made a deposit for five of Electra’s future aircraft. Bristow signed a memorandum of understanding with Electra in 2021, preordering up to 50 aircraft.

Electra was founded by CEO and Chairman John Langford in 2020; the company has 40 employees and contractors. Langford previously co-founded Aurora Flight Services, a subsidiary of Arlington County-based Boeing. Langford also participates in the Virginia Innovation Partnership Corp.’s Advanced Air Mobility Alliance, and the company in 2023 received a VIPC Commonwealth Commercialization Fund grant as well as an investment from VIPC’s Virginia Venture Partners.

Electra’s hybrid prototype aircraft takes first flight

This story was updated Dec. 1.

A Manassas aircraft manufacturer that’s developing an electric short takeoff and landing (eSTOL) aircraft logged a significant milestone Nov. 19 when it completed its first hybrid-electric flight.

Electra’s EL-2 Goldfinch took off from Manassas Regional Airport and flew 23 minutes, reaching an altitude of 3,200 feet and covered about 30 miles, the company said in a news release.

According to Electra, the company’s two-seat Goldfinch eSTOL is the world’s first aircraft to use blown-lift distributed electric propulsion powered by a hybrid-electric propulsion system. It relies on eight electric motors to increase wing lift and enable short takeoffs and landings on soccer-field-size spaces. It is also quieter than conventional airframes, while emitting fewer pollutants. Its  turbogenerator can also charge the hybrid electric airplane during flight, eliminating the need for special charging infrastructure at every airport.

The Goldfinch was flown by Cody Allee, a former Navy jet fighter pilot who is now chief technology officer and chief test pilot at Maryland-based ABSI Aerospace & Defense, a provider of unmanned aircraft systems training and technology. Electra.aero Vice President and General Manager JP Stewart followed the Goldfinch in a Cessna 185.

Watching the flight was “the realization of a dream,” Stewart said. “The first flight showed that the airplane was stable, that it was controllable, that … the systems work great and are well understood in how we’ve modeled them, and now we start to expand that envelope,” Stewart said.

That expansion will include additional testing of different control inputs, including turning and pitching up and down, as well as flying at different speeds. While much of the first flight stuck largely between about 80 and 90 miles per hour, the aircraft can reach speeds of up to 200 mph; however, the emphasis should be on how slow the aircraft can fly, Stewart said. Unlike a traditional aircraft, it doesn’t require a long runway.

“That’s how you get into these really small spaces. The idea of what we’re pursuing with the short takeoff and landing is that you can start by flying from existing airports, and going airport to airport, because that’s known infrastructure … and you can replace aging airplanes and less efficient airplanes that are doing that mission already,” Stewart said. “Because you can get into these small spaces, as the market develops, you can start to land in vertiports or places that used to be the domain purely of helicopters.”

The Goldfinch flown on Nov. 19 is a prototype for a eSTOL aircraft the company is developing, targeted for commercial use by 2028, that can carry up to nine passengers or 2,500 pounds of cargo. That aircraft is intended to take off and land within distances as short as 150 feet and fly at up to 200 mph with a range of 500 miles, which could open up air travel to more regions while making it more affordable, more environmentally friendly and faster.

“The aim of Electra is to fill a gap in air travel between 50 and 500 miles, where most trips today are made by automobile. The key to saving time is to operate close in, which means getting in and out of small spaces quietly and safely, while still being fast enough to cover long distances,” Electra founder, CEO and Chairman John Langford said in a statement. “Electra will be able to take you from downtown Manhattan not only to [John F. Kennedy International Airport], but to Washington, D.C. It will bring air service to thousands of communities where air travel today is not a practical or affordable option. It also opens vast new opportunities for middle-mile cargo logistics.”

The Nov. 19 flight followed another that took off from the airport on Nov. 11; that all-electric flight was completed to test the aircraft’s electric battery system as a shakedown flight, Stewart said.

Electra has preorders from 30 customers for more than 1,700 aircraft, totaling a $6 billion backlog. In January, the company received an $85 million award from the Air Force to accelerate prototype development, testing and evaluation.

Langford founded Electra in 2020; the company has 40 employees and contractors. Langford previously co-founded Aurora Flight Services, a subsidiary of Arlington County-based Boeing. Langford also participates in the Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation’s Advanced Air Mobility Alliance and the company in 2023 received a VIPC Commonwealth Commercialization Fund grant as well as an investment from VIPC’s Virginia Venture Partners. The value of the grant and award were not available.

News of the Goldfinch’s flight follows an announcement that Virginia has joined a collaborative with seven other states to expand the advanced air mobility sector. On Nov. 29, Electra announced that Bristow Group, a Texas based company that provides helicopter offshore energy transportation and search and rescue services globally to governments and the civilian sector, made a deposit for five of its future aircraft, which it will use to expand and diversify its portfolio. Bristow signed a memorandum of understanding with Electra in 2021, preordering up to 50 aircraft.

This story has been corrected since publication.