After Lilium, now Volocopter faces financial headwinds
A week after Lilium was narrowly saved from closure by a last-minute investment agreement, Germany-based Air taxi start-up Volocopter GmbH filed for insolvency proceedings on December 30, citing its inability to raise new funds to maintain regular operations. The Mercedes-Benz and Honeywell-backed company plans to continue business operations during the insolvency proceedings while seeking additional funding. The company claims “one of the lowest burn rates in the industry” amid an “extremely difficult financial environment.”
Nearly one year ago, Volocopter has received the German Federal Aviation Office’s (Luftfahrtbundesamt or LBA) Production Organisation Approval (POA) extension that allows the production of the VoloCity aircraft. Flight testing of the craft (including international excursions) has certainly been ramping up last year in pursuit of EASA SC-VTOL certification. Volocopter remains confident its VoloCity eVTOL will enter the market in 2025.
Lufthansa Technik collaborates with Microsoft in the field of AI
Lufthansa Technik is teaming up with Microsoft to drive forward the use of artificial intelligence (AI). Designed to optimize entire maintenance processes, the approach will significantly improve efficiency or even lead to completely new offers.
“We are excited about our collaboration with Microsoft,” said Dr. William Willms, Chief Financial Officer of Lufthansa Technik and responsible for the IT department of the company. The initiative includes over 50 context-sensitive AI use cases based on Microsoft Azure AI Services and the Microsoft Azure cloud. One of the most impactful use cases is the optimization of layover planning, which promises to significantly save costs by reducing ground time by five to ten percent. Florian Deter, Managing Director at Microsoft Germany, said, “AI is the pivotal technology of our time. It not only enables incredible breakthroughs that could hardly have been imagined before. In its development, security and data protection have the highest priority for us and for Lufthansa Technik.”
By utilizing large language models (LLMs) provided via Azure AI Services and a memory-enabled cognitive architecture, Lufthansa Technik aims to distill knowledge from vast amounts of data, including unstructured data such as work instructions. Much of the information is also hidden in sources such as code, folder structures, images, or charts. To answer complex questions effectively, this knowledge must be made accessible and linked to other data. It will be used to solve tasks autonomously, optimizing procedures and disruptively transforming the industry.
Iceland joins Eurocontrol as 42nd member state
Iceland officially became Eurocontrol’s 42nd Member State on 1 January 2025, exactly a decade since the last Member State accession. In terms of air navigation, Iceland is already well integrated into Europe through membership in the European Economic Area, the Schengen Area and EFTA, the European Free Trade Association, and has been for over 25 years closely cooperating on the aviation front with Eurocontrol. A quarter of all air traffic travelling over the North Atlantic goes through the Reykjavik CTA which is run by Isavia ANS.
Iceland has been participating as an observer in the meetings of our Provisional Council since 1998, a familiarisation process with our working arrangements, tools and services that intensified in 2022 with the signature of the Transitional Agreement, a major milestone that paved the way for today’s full membership. Throughout, Iceland and Eurocontrol have been working closely together at the operational level on network matters – exchanging data, coordinating traffic flows and liaising on airspace matters, most notably during the Eyjafjallajökull eruption of 2010.
People: CAE Marc Parent to step down after 20 years with the company
CAE president and CEO Marc Parent will step down in August 2025 as part of an ongoing succession plan. A 20-year veteran of the company, Parent has been at CAE’s helm for the past 15 years. In the meantime, he will continue to lead CAE in his role as CEO and as a member of the board of directors. Marc Parent has served as CAE’s President and Chief Executive Officer since 2009. He joined the company in 2005 as Group President, Simulation Products, was appointed Group President, Simulation Products and Military Training & Services in 2006, and then Executive Vice President and COO in 2008.
Mr. Parent has 40 years of experience in the aerospace industry. He started his career in 1984 with Canadair as an engineer on the Challenger and Canadair regional jet programs. Beginning in 1993, he held positions of increasing scope in aircraft product development, starting as head of the Challenger 604 program development team; in 1995, he headed the Q400 turboprop aircraft development program; and in 1998, he was promoted to Vice President, Program Management, with responsibilities covering all Bombardier aircraft development programs.
From 2000 to 2004, Mr. Parent held numerous executive positions within Bombardier Aerospace, leading a number of facilities and product lines. In 2004, he returned Montreal as Vice President and General Manager of Challenger 300, 604, and 850/870 programs as well as the CRJ 200 Regional Aircraft product line.
A native of Montreal, Mr. Parent is a graduate of mechanical engineering from Montreal’s École Polytechnique and of the Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Program, and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by École Polytechnique for his contributions to the aerospace industry in Montreal and internationally. Mr. Parent is an active pilot holding an Airline Transport Pilot Licence (ATPL) from Transport Canada.
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