Phoenix-based Honeywell deepens air taxi collaboration, aims for 2028 certification
Story Highlights
- Honeywell expands partnership with Vertical Aerospace for $1 billion eVTOL deal
- VX4 aircraft to use Honeywell’s Anthem flight deck and Fly-by-Wire system
- Partnership aims to certify VX4 by 2028, deliver 150 aircraft by 2030
Phoenix-based Honeywell Aerospace Technologies has opted to expand a years-long partnership meant to bring a developing electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft — an eVTOL or air taxi — to market.
Honeywell’s partnership with U.K.-based Vertical Aerospace (NYSE: EVTL), which has been underway for the past six years, has entered a new long-term phase with the signing of an agreement focused on critical systems for Vertical’s VX4 aircraft.
The partnership contract has a potential value of $1 billion over the next decade, according to Honeywell — which is spinning off into a separate company later this year from Honeywell International Inc. (Nasdaq: HON).
The eVTOL’s aircraft management system includes the Honeywell Anthem flight deck, and its flight controls system includes Honeywell’s Compact Fly-by-Wire system — both of which are planned for certification for the VX4 production version.
Honeywell’s Anthem flight deck is a platform that combines cockpit displays, software, controls and connectivity, while its fly-by-wire system allows for electronic rather than mechanical control to improve stability, safety and ease of flight, the company said.
The goal is to certify the systems to meet safety standards set for validation jointly by the UK Civil Aviation Authority and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency — standards that match what’s required for commercial airliners. The partnership is aiming to get the VX4 certified in 2028 and to deliver at least 150 of the aircraft by 2030.
“We have long believed in the importance of advanced air mobility and the significant potential we can unlock by harnessing our deep expertise in integrated avionics and flight controls in new and exciting ways,” said David Shilliday, Honeywell Aerospace’s vice president and general manager of advanced air mobility, in a statement. “With a shared commitment to innovation, reliability and safety, we’re excited to deepen our partnership with Vertical to help scale the technology necessary to bring even more advanced, efficient, safe and reliable solutions to the skies.”
Earlier this year, Honeywell said a survey it conducted of 1,000 airline passengers in the U.S. revealed that 98% were open to hopping into an air taxi as part of their travel plans in the future.
The Phoenix-based company’s expanded partnership comes at a time when Arizona’s attractiveness as an aerospace manufacturing location is on the rise. The Grand Canyon State became the third most-attractive location in the United States for aerospace and defense manufacturing and investment, according to a recent report from PwC.
Honeywell makes air taxi pilot hand controllers
Under the new agreement, Honeywell is also providing the hand controllers — known as inceptors — pilots will use to maneuver the VX4. Honeywell’s inceptor is a new design, with Vertical as the first customer to use it, and the two companies are working together to optimize it for the new aircraft.
Vertical says it has about 1,500 preorders for the aircraft from customers in four continents that include American Airlines, Japan Airlines, GOL and Bristow.
The two companies will be working together to speed up the process to production by sharing expertise, personnel and testing environments.
“As we accelerate toward global certification and scalable production, Honeywell’s aerospace expertise and proven track record in flight-critical systems make it the ideal partner for this next phase,” said Stuart Simpson, CEO of Vertical Aerospace, in a statement.
Honeywell has also been working with other companies on systems connected to eVTOL aircraft for the past several years. In 2022, it signed a deal with Archer Aviation Inc. to provide flight control actuation and thermal management technologies. The company also has worked with Japanese company Denso Corp. in support of an all-electric vertical takeoff and landing jet built by German company Lilium for use in urban centers. Honeywell has already been working with Lilium on cockpit technologies.
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