This Is the Future of Air Travel

Last week, electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft stocks got a big boost.

Companies like Joby Aviation (NYSE: JOBY), Archer Aviation (NYSE: ACHR), and Eve Holding (NYSE: EVEX) each rose nearly 20% in one day.

So what gives?

Why the renewed enthusiasm?

If you’re not familiar with eVTOLs, the concept is simple yet revolutionary to an industry ripe for disruption.

An eVTOL is a winged vehicle that can not only take off and land vertically, like a helicopter, but also fly horizontally, like an airplane.

In order to achieve this feat, eVTOLs typically have multiple propellers on the wings. Here’s an example of Archer Aviation’s Midnight eVTOL…

Pretty slick, right?

The first use case for these aircraft is a quick taxi between airports. But in the future, who knows? Maybe these will become the industry standard. The Uber of the skies, they say.

Now, I say the aviation industry is ripe for disruption for three reasons…

First, the environmental impact of air travel can’t be ignored. A Boeing 747 burns 1 gallon of fuel a second. And it emits most of the fumes into the upper atmosphere, where it lingers and causes damage.

Second, inefficiencies within the airline industry, like flight cancellations, software problems, and pilot shortages, are making people rethink their travel plans.

Finally, the cost of air travel has become prohibitively expensive for many of us.

So companies have been busy engineering new forms of air travel.

But alternative air travel isn’t a new phenomenon.

The Forgotten Era of Flight

For as along as humans have been around, we’ve attempted to fly.

Before airplanes became the industry standard, blimps were used more prominently.

In the early 1900s, airships could be seen flying over major cities, like this zeppelin floating over Manhattan in 1936…

In fact, the mast of the Empire State Building was built specifically as a docking station for an airship.

Airships, also known as dirigibles, are an amazing sight. When you see a blimp or even a hot air balloon, the sheer size makes you feel like you’re living in the future. Many sci-fi movies use airships as a symbol of future progress. Who can forget the iconic Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade scene where Indy and Jones Sr. try to escape on a German D-138 zeppelin? The interior looked spacious, luxurious, and relaxing.

All commercial zeppelin travel stopped after the Hindenburg disaster of 1937. The Van Wagner Airship Group estimates there are only 25 blimps in use around the world today, used mainly as billboards. That could soon change. Technology has come a long way, and experts think the airship industry is being reborn as we speak.

Two companies in particular are working to disrupt the luxury air travel and heavy shipping industries using airships. First, Hybrid Air Vehicles built the Airlander 10, the longest aircraft in the world, designed for slow, luxurious, and green commercial travel. It can also be used for surveillance and other military operations.

Using helium to float (instead of the flammable hydrogen used in the Hindenburg), it can take off and land vertically, allowing it to reach remote corners of the planet. While it does use combustion engines for thrust and trim, the ship emits 75% less carbon than other aircraft. The company plans to use a hybrid electric motor, which will reduce emissions by 90%, with the goal of using all-electric engines in the near future. For now, the Airlander fits a niche luxury travel market, but airships have commercial uses as well.

Paris-based company Flying Whales created its airship out of necessity to bolster the French lumber industry. With a cargo capacity of 60 metric tons, the LCA60T can enter remote regions of the country to retrieve logs and carry them to sawmills. The company hopes to carry other commercial equipment, like shipping containers and wind turbine blades.

What’s Next?

One major problem with massive airships is the weather. The side of an airship effectively acts like a large sail, so heavy winds will really push it around. However, smaller vehicles — like drones and personal electric airplanes — have an advantage by being able to cut through the wind… and they're just now being used for deliveries (of goods and people), a sector set to grow to $223 billion by 2027.

Delivery drones from Amazon, Walmart, and even Google are making their way into the skies and might just patch up this supply chain mess by supplementing home deliveries. Recently, Google’s Wing drone could be seen delivering Walgreens packages to residents in Frisco, Texas.

The appeal is that these small aircraft can vertically land and take off, making it much easier to get in and out of tight areas and expanding the reach of the vehicles.

This is why eVTOLs and flying car stocks are getting so much attention these days.

With traditional travel companies like United Airlines and even Toyota jumping into the eVTOL mix, it's a sector you'll want exposure to in the coming decade.

That’s why my premium subscribers are investing in the Uber of the skies, basically an eVTOL air taxi.

For more weekly actionable intel, sign up to my premium email list. It's completely free.

In Other News

The market’s reeling from bank fears, the debt ceiling debate, and interest rate hikes.

It’s a one-two-three punch in the mouth.

Things aren’t looking good for stocks at the moment.

But I’ve sneakily positioned by premium subscribers to profit off the whole mess.

You see, it's times like these when alternative assets can really add a boost to your portfolio.

So my readers just got positioned in a crypto play — don't worry, it's not actual crypto.

It's a Bitcoin miner that's small but growing, and most importantly, it's profitable.

Get access to my newest pick here.

Stay frosty,

Alexander Boulden
Editor, Wealth Daily

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After Alexander’s passion for economics and investing drew him to one of the largest financial publishers in the world, where he rubbed elbows with former Chicago Board Options Exchange floor traders, Wall Street hedge fund managers, and International Monetary Fund analysts, he decided to take up the pen and guide others through this new age of investing.

Alexander is the investment director of Insider Stakeout — a weekly investment advisory service dedicated to tracking the smartest money on the planet so that his readers can achieve life-altering, market-beating returns. He also serves at the managing editor for R.I.C.H. Report, a comprehensive service that uses the highest-quality investment research and strategies that guides its members in growing their wealth on top of preserving it.

Check out his editor’s page here.

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