Your Flight Has Been Canceled

Like many good Americans this past holiday weekend, I did a decent amount of driving.

It gave me a chance to listen to lots of music and catch up on some podcasts.

While sitting in a traffic jam on 95 (you know the drill), I heard a story from The Wall Street Journal that confirmed what I’ve been writing for the last two years…

Air taxis are coming.

And they’re legitimately just around the corner. This isn't some pie-in-the-sky sci-fi concept like something you’d see in The Jetsons or The Fifth Element.

Not only that, but it’s getting down to the wire to invest, because by this time next year, it’ll be too late.

More on that below…

I got excited listening to the podcast that explained how these electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) vehicles will help unclog the busy roads around airports, saving travelers time and money.

Just two weeks ago, the Biden administration confirmed that it’s built a team specifically to address the complicated process of approving and rolling out these air taxis safely and efficiently.

According to the Financial Post, “The U.S. Transportation Department said the team includes NASA, [the] Transportation Security Administration, Federal Aviation Administration, and Federal Communications Commission.”

In fact, the FAA had to update its air traffic blueprint to include these flying taxis.

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.

The first use case for these aircraft is a quick taxi between airports, like a puddle jumper. But in the future, who knows? Maybe these will become the industry standard for extended flights.

No more being shot through the sky in an aluminum tube packed in like sardines.

EVTOLs are being touted as the Uber of the skies.

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. In Joe Biden's effort to bring down gas prices, he's inadvertently created a boon in the air transportation industry, and it will affect the future of air travel, from big airships all the way to small drones.

Second, inefficiencies within the airline industry, like flight cancellations, software problems, and pilot shortages, are making people rethink their travel plans. Over the busy travel weekend, British Airways canceled 175 flights this past weekend due to an “IT failure.”

Finally, the cost of air travel has become prohibitively expensive for many travelers who’ve been hit hard by inflation.

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

But alternative air travel isn’t a new phenomenon.

Before airplanes became the industry standard, blimps were used more prominently. In the early 1900s, airships could be seen flying over major cities like New York. 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.

However, 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 are getting so much attention these days.

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

Now, a lot of people refer to these vehicles as flying cars, but it’s a bit of a misnomer because, well, they don’t drive on the roads. Better to call them air taxis.

My premium subscribers are investing in air taxis with a company that has heavy insider buying.

That's a sign good things are to come.

But which company are we buying?

You'll have to join my Insider Stakeout service today to find out.

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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