RECAP: eVTOL Insights’ brings more industry leaders together for its Montreal conference and first one in Canada (Sessions 8 — 16)
Nearly 100 people came together for eVTOL Insights’ Montreal conference and the first event it has hosted in Canada, as industry leaders joined together for more in-depth conversations about the global Advanced Air Mobility market.
Taking place at Le Mount Stephen hotel in downtown Montreal on Thursday, May 2nd, the event featured 16 sessions which were split equally between the morning and afternoon.
Starting the first panel discussion after lunch, it featured JR Hammond, Executive Director at the Canadian Advanced Air Mobility Consortium (CAAM), Hamid Hamidi, CEO and Founder at Limosa, and Thomas Bombaert, Advanced Air Mobility Lead from the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). As work continues to progress in Canada on accelerating AAM efforts within the country, this conversation shed light on what is already being done.
With Limosa currently developing its LimoConnect aircraft, Hamid touches upon why Montreal is such a good hub for the company, while JR points to what the government bodies are doing and how they will instrumental in moving this industry forward. Thomas then adds additional focus from ICAO and the standards towards global harmonisation.
Marek Rakowski from Viasat then delivered an in-depth keynote on the company’s multilink network communications for BVLOS operations, before Simon Briceno, Chief Commercial Officer at Jaunt Air Mobility, chaired a really interesting discussion on ‘What Does Day One Operations Look Like’.
With a lot of focus on the aircraft themselves, the panel of Martin Cullen, Global eVTOL Lead at TE Connectivity, Bryan Willows, AAM Director — Americas at Bristow Group, and Chris Courtney, Director of AAM and New Adjacencies at CAE, spoke about a host of complex topics ahead of commercial operations starting.
They included emphasizing the need for more realistic training simulations and increased credit for simulator time, as well as the potential risks of using high voltage connectors in aircraft applications. Martin shared insights from his work with the Paris Air Show and discussed TE’s role in producing electrical components for various industries, including aerospace, while addressing safety standards and component durability.
There was also an emphasis on the need to balance cost and safety in aerospace maintenance and operations, while the panel also expressed concerns about using automotive components in aerospace and their potential impact on maintenance frequency and safety.
It was then the turn of Katherine Ayre of CAYRES to moderate a great panel on ‘how AAM networks will fit into cities and regions’. This featured Kristen Blodgett, Director of Customer Experience and Commercial Strategy for BETA Technologies, Mandy Nelson, AAM Strategic Relationships at Bristow Group and Grant Fisk, CEO at Volatus Infrastructure & Energy Solutions.
We heard more about what Bristow’s requirements are when including an OEM as an AAM strategic partner, how the company is helping its customers achieve their sustainability goals and what are its current focus on at the moment.
As BETA is a one of Bristow’s strategic partners, Kristen told the room more about its aircraft and how they can make a difference to Bristow’s customer base. She talks about BETA’s entry into the electric charging infrastructure space, and then the biggest regulatory or policy gap being faced at the moment. Finally, Kristen shares more details about pilot training — from BETA’s partnership with CAE.
Grant adds more insights from Volatus’ New England vertiport network, where he is seeing growth and what are the key questions he is asking operators and OEMs which are looking to partner with Volatus. He also informs the audience what he feels is missing from the regulators in the last Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) engineering brief.
After the final networking break, we switch topics to ‘Middle-Mile Logistics and Other Critical Missions’, with Pamir Sevincel swapping the moderator’s chair for a panellist one. He was joined by Alexandre Zaramela, CEO of Moya Aero, and Phil Kelly, CEO at Venture Kel. This discussion focused on how cargo transportation before the movement of people can help generate that early revenue stream.
As Moya is prioritising cargo flights before passengers due to safety concerns, Alexandre tells the audience more about this and how by developing automonous (or automatic) drones, it is highlighting their potential for a number of key missions — such as firefighting and rescue in remote areas. Phil talks about how there could be a potential gap in the market for standardised payloads for multiple applications/cargo applications for drones. He added that certification standards also need to be addressed, as current ones for Class One drones aren’t.
As Pamir works with early stage startups and VCs in aerospace, we ask him whether he is seeing sufficient funding for this market and what are some of the challenges and opportunities which get them excited when they look at this space. Phil and Alexandre also expand on the importance of investment for the next level of production and certification.
Gwen Lighter of GoAero Prize then gave a compelling presentation on the non-profit organisation, as it shared more information about its competition, which offers $2+ million in prizes to design and build Emergency Response Flyers for disaster response.
The penultimate panel, chaired by Mike Hirschberg of the Vertical Flight Society and focused on Supply Chain and Manufacturing, heard from Brian Garrett-Glaser from Joby Aviation, and Dana Jensen, Senior Industrial Policy Analyst for the USAF’s Office of Commercial and Economic Analysis.
With Joby planning to manufacture its aircraft in Dayton, Ohio, Brian was able to share more details on the timeline but give additional insights on how the company is approaching the different challenges, with Dana able to add some excellent points on the work he is doing and what he is seeing across both aerospace and aviation.
The final discussion of the day was moderated by Sergio Cecutta of SMG Consulting, who brought together Adam Warmoth, Head of Product at Archer, Matt Broffman from Lilium and Caryn M. Lund, VP of Government Relations at Ferrovial Vertiports. Entitled ‘Entry into Service: The Final Countdown’, this was a fascinating finale as each speaker outlined the final pieces to the jigsaw, which each company is working hard to complete.
With Archer targeting the shorter, inter-city services, Adam shared more details about Archer’s roadmap, with Matt able to expand on the longer distances which Lilium are trying with regional air mobility. As one of the major vertiport providers, Caryn brought an excellent overview on this topic — particularly with the work it is doing with Lilium in Florida.
It was a fitting end to the Montreal conference, with the excitement of the awards ceremony to follow.






