2 ms·

The industry is very entrenched in regulation that is not going to change anytime soon. I just find it difficult to imagine any room for disruption with an agen

by samtho 3y ago

The industry is very entrenched in regulation that is not going to change anytime soon. I just find it difficult to imagine any room for disruption with an agency like the FAA having full control over who and what gets to pilot an airplane, but also hates to certify experimental aircraft. Autonomous aircraft are going to be a century away at least due in part to red tape because there is almost no on-ramp to enter this industry. I am also not hopeful for battery technology as, unlike cars, where we are not weight sensitive, commercial aircraft rely on being able to land lighter than they took off due to fuel burn. In small aircraft, battery storage can work for short runs, but we’re going to need to see some sort of fuel cell system for anything commercially viable.

silvestrov 3y ago
Innovation can happend in places where FAA has no say. There are a lot of countries using short distance flights where electric airplanes would drive down costs a lot. E.g. Scotland, some intercity flights in Europe and between a lot of small islands such as Sint Maarten. When this happends, the FAA will have to follow.
- cstross 3y ago
  Short inter-city distances over land run into competition from high speed rail. Which I know is not a thing in the Americas, but is all over Europe and can compete with turboprop airliners on point-to-point time. (Remember, railway stations are almost all in the centre of the departure/arrival city and there's no security theatre to delay your boarding: also, service frequency on some high speed inter-city routes is as high as one departure every fifteen minutes, utterly unlike Amtrak.) Scotland isn't really a market for short distance electric flights unless you're thinking of the Highlands and Islands, where less than 10% of the population is scattered across crinkle-cut fjords. France/Netherlands to Sint Maarten/St. Martin is, IIRC, served by wide-body airliners because it's both legally part of France itself (at least the St. Martin half of the island) and it's a significant tourist resort. And if you think the EU and UK have laxer safety/regulatory standards than the FAA, you might want to re-think your position ...

by samtho 3y ago

silvestrov 3y ago

Innovation can happend in places where FAA has no say. There are a lot of countries using short distance flights where electric airplanes would drive down costs a lot. E.g. Scotland, some intercity flights in Europe and between a lot of small islands such as Sint Maarten. When this happends, the FAA will have to follow.

cstross 3y ago
Short inter-city distances over land run into competition from high speed rail. Which I know is not a thing in the Americas, but is all over Europe and can compete with turboprop airliners on point-to-point time. (Remember, railway stations are almost all in the centre of the departure/arrival city and there's no security theatre to delay your boarding: also, service frequency on some high speed inter-city routes is as high as one departure every fifteen minutes, utterly unlike Amtrak.) Scotland isn't really a market for short distance electric flights unless you're thinking of the Highlands and Islands, where less than 10% of the population is scattered across crinkle-cut fjords. France/Netherlands to Sint Maarten/St. Martin is, IIRC, served by wide-body airliners because it's both legally part of France itself (at least the St. Martin half of the island) and it's a significant tourist resort. And if you think the EU and UK have laxer safety/regulatory standards than the FAA, you might want to re-think your position ...