Air Transport

Cardless, Inc, & LATAM Airlines Group S.A. partner to create, a new co-branded United States credit card program

Cardless | March 31, 2022

Airlines Credit Card
San Francisco-based financial technology firm, Cardless, Inc, and LATAM Airlines Group S.A. partner to create, distribute and market a new co-branded United States credit card program for avid American travelers. Specific benefits of the new LATAM Airlines Credit Card program, along with availability for applications, will be announced later this year.

"We are beyond thrilled to be joining forces with LATAM in our first foray into travel rewards credit cards. Moving beyond entertainment and leisure, travel rewards are an absolute necessity in the 21st century – a fact that the isolation of the past two years has only intensified. We can't wait to help LATAM reward their customers with tangible benefits that bring people across the world back together."

Michael Spelfogel, President and Co-Founder of Cardless

Cardless cards offer a number of features designed for digital native consumers, both in terms of security and easy access. New users will easily be able to apply for a Cardless card using their smartphone, and the virtual card will be delivered to their mobile wallet in seconds. The physical card will carry no card number, in order to protect the user from fraud – should the digital-only number become compromised, users will be able to receive a new number through the Cardless mobile app.

"We strive to continuously improve our customer experience and this new partnership seeks to offer more options for accumulating miles through a simpler and more intuitive digital experience. Fintech companies are pioneers in adaptability and flexibility with the end-user in mind, and the LATAM Airlines Credit Card program exemplifies this.", said Paola Peñarete, Vice President of Sales for North America, Caribbean, Mexico, and Asia, LATAM Airlines Group.

LATAM Group currently offers travelers the opportunity to join LATAM Pass, one of the largest airline loyalty programs in the world with over 40 million members to date. LATAM Pass members can join the waitlist to become one of the first to apply for the LATAM Cardless credit card program.

About LATAM Airlines Group S.A
LATAM is based in Santiago, Chile, offering nonstop flights between Los Angeles, Miami, New York and Orlando in the United States, and key destinations in South America. LATAM's international codeshare partners add even more opportunities for U.S. customers to earn and redeem miles for global travel.

About Cardless, Inc.
Cardless, Inc. is a credit card company based in San Francisco, CA. Founded in 2019 by Stanford graduates Michael Spelfogel and Scott Kazmeierowicz, Cardless is on the cutting edge of co-brand credit card product development. Cardless has raised $50M in equity funding from investors including Activant Capital, Greycroft, Accomplice, Pear VC, the ownership of Boston Celtics and Phoenix Suns, and the Founders of Plaid, Bonobos, Flatiron Health, and 100 Thieves.

Spotlight

It should go without saying that aircraft are complex machines that require immaculate maintenance, repair, and overhaul at various intervals throughout their lifetime. Aircraft are subject to extreme wear due to varying environmental and operational conditions. Extensive maintenance facilities are required to carry out such operations, whether the engine overhaul or heaving maintenance on a jetliner. Let’s spend today’s video examining some of the large facilities around the world that conduct heavy aircraft maintenance.


Other News
Aviation Technology

Joby Subsidiary H2FLY Completes World’s First Piloted Flight of Liquid Hydrogen Powered Electric Aircraft

businesswire | September 14, 2023

H2FLY, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Joby Aviation, today announced the successful completion of the world’s first piloted flight of a liquid hydrogen-powered electric aircraft. H2FLY, acquired by Joby in 2021, continues to lead the industry on the development and testing of hydrogen aviation propulsion systems. The company completed a series of piloted flights with its HY4 demonstrator aircraft, including one that lasted more than three hours, fitted with a hydrogen-electric fuel cell propulsion system and liquid hydrogen that powered it for the entire flight. The flights demonstrate the viability of using cryogenically-stored liquid hydrogen instead of gaseous hydrogen, which enables significantly lower tank weights and volume, leading to longer range. The successful installation and demonstration of flight with liquid hydrogen is believed to increase the range of H2FLY’s HY4 demonstrator aircraft from 466 mi (750 km) to 932 mi (1500 km), marking a critical step towards the long-term decarbonization of mid- to long-range aviation. “H2FLY are pioneers in their field, and we’re proud of them achieving this watershed moment in the use of liquid hydrogen to power aircraft,” said JoeBen Bevirt, Founder and CEO of Joby Aviation. “In the years to come, battery-electric and hydrogen-electric propulsion systems will enable us to build aircraft that are quieter and make mid- to long-range air travel possible with zero emissions. It’s critical we take action now and invest aggressively in these technologies for the health of our planet and future generations to come.” The successful flights are the culmination of Project HEAVEN, a European-government-supported consortium assembled to demonstrate the feasibility of using liquid hydrogen in aircraft. The consortium is led by H2FLY and includes the partners Air Liquide, Pipistrel Vertical Solutions, the German Aerospace Center (DLR), EKPO Fuel Cell Technologies, and Fundación Ayesa. Following this test flight milestone, H2FLY will increasingly focus on its path to commercialization. In June, H2FLY announced the development of its new fuel cell systems, which will be capable of providing their full power range at altitudes high enough to enable commercial hydrogen-electric aircraft, demonstrating real-world commercial aircraft applications. About Joby Joby Aviation, Inc. is a California-based transportation company developing an all-electric, vertical take-off and landing air taxi which it intends to operate as part of a fast, quiet, and convenient service in cities around the world.

Read More

Aerospace

Veryon Expedites Aircraft Return-to-Service With Launch of Work Center

Businesswire | August 02, 2023

Veryon, formerly known as ATP, a leading provider of information services and software solutions for the aviation industry, recently announced the launch of Work Center, a new offering available in its robust lineup of industry-leading solutions. As the only fully capable service center management solution designed for business aviation operators and management companies, Work Center allows aircraft operators to simplify the maintenance and return-to-service process with streamlined invoicing, reliable integrations and real-time airworthiness information — all in a unified platform. Aircraft operators can efficiently coordinate labor, parts and operational impact, resulting in smooth maintenance execution without any unnecessary delays or disruptions. “Work Center is unlike any other maintenance execution solution out there,” said Kent Pickard, vice president of product management for Veryon. “We built the platform from scratch, specifically for business aviation operators, with one goal in mind: maximizing aircraft uptime. While most service center offerings were designed for stand-alone MROs, Work Center is purpose-built for aircraft operators so they can focus more on improving their operations, growing their business and ensuring accurate department billing and streamlined aircraft return-to-service process.” This comprehensive solution optimizes aircraft availability through efficient logbook generation, detailed tracking of costs and labor, customizable workflows, pricing profiles and invoicing. Work Center is part of the Veryon Tracking platform, which combines maintenance tracking, flight operations, inventory management and technical publications in a single platform. Teams that are completing a significant amount of in-house maintenance, particularly Part 135 operators in the business jet charter and management industry, can experience significant improvement in operations with Work Center. "At Wing Aviation, Veryon Maintenance Tracking has been an integral part of our aircraft management workflow for many years,” said Jeremy Gee, chief executive officer of Wing Aviation. “We’re excited to participate in the growth of Work Center and look forward to leveraging it to efficiently manage our diverse charter fleet. Implementing Work Center has allowed us to consolidate our maintenance software into a single platform helping us to further simplify our processes, improve our clarity and continue the scalable growth of our business.” Veryon is offering a free 30-minute webinar that includes a comprehensive exploration of Work Center’s key features on Thursday, Aug. 17 at 1 p.m. ET. The webinar will highlight Work Center’s ability to streamline and simplify the process of returning aircraft to service. Register here. About Veryon Veryon is the leading provider of aviation software and information services, supporting more than 75,000 aircraft maintenance professionals and 7,500 customers worldwide. We help everyone from business aviation teams and MROs to airlines and OEMs get their aircraft more uptime. Challenges like unscheduled repairs, part availability, and excessive paperwork lead to too many aircraft spending too much time on the ground. And that leads to needless delays, endless back and forth, and lots of wasted dollars. The key to more uptime is having a better technology platform to manage everything from maintenance and operations to manuals and diagnostics. That’s why thousands of aircraft operators, 25% of the worldwide commercial fleet, and over 100 OEMs all rely on Veryon. And it’s why customers have been able to achieve an average 23% reduction in downtime cost. Veryon. Let’s get you more uptime.

Read More

Defense and Space

Akima Subsidiary Awarded Contract to Support Ninth Air Force

PRnewswire | July 27, 2023

Akima today announced that its subsidiary, RiverTech, has been awarded a contract to provide critical operational planning, systems engineering, global force management, training, and integration services to the Ninth Air Force (Air Forces Central) Director of Operations, A3, Operational Planning Teams, in direct support of U.S. Central Command requirements. The award has a 5-year period of performance and a total contract value of approximately $11 million if all options are exercised. "This newest contract adds to RiverTech's broader portfolio of programs that provide direct, strategic operational planning support to U.S. Army Central Command and U.S. Army Futures Command," said Duncan Greene, President of Akima's Mission Systems, Engineering & Technology Group. "We are honored to partner with the Ninth Air Force to assist them with planning and operational functions as part of their larger, integrated campaign to deter and defeat regional aggressors and global competitors." The contract was awarded under the OASIS Small Business Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity Pool 1 contract. RiverTech will develop technical input for the Joint Operations Plans and execution system and will facilitate intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance and electronic warfare planning. In support of this mission, RiverTech subject matter experts will also provide command and control incident response management, order of battle database management, systems engineering for the Joint Data Network, and improved exercise planning and training support. About Akima Akima is a global enterprise with over 9,500 employees, delivering agile solutions to the federal government in the core areas of facilities & ground logistics; information technology; aerospace solutions; protective services; systems engineering; mission support; furniture, fixtures & equipment (FF&E); and construction. As a subsidiary of NANA, an Alaska Native Corporation owned by more than 15,000 Iñupiat shareholders, Akima's core mission is to enable superior outcomes for our customers' missions while simultaneously creating a long-lived asset for NANA consistent with our Iñupiat values. In 2022, Akima ranked #29 on Washington Technology's Top 100 List and #56 on Bloomberg Government's BGOV200 List of top federal contractors. About RiverTech RiverTech is an SBA certified 8(a) Alaska Native Corporation and a wholly owned subsidiary of Akima. At RiverTech, we are dedicated to bringing innovative solutions to our customers' complex operational and mission challenges. Our teams deliver wide-ranging services from mission support to enterprise IT services, enabling information and communications dominance and superior command and control of forces across the globe.

Read More

Aviation Technology

Spirit Airlines and Wayman Aviation Academy Create a Unique South Florida Partnership

PRnewswire | August 17, 2023

Wayman Aviation Academy, one of the newest aviation colleges in the state, announced a unique partnership with Spirit Airlines through their Spirit Wings Pilot Pathway program. The program will provide graduates with easily accessible, local mentorship with Spirit Airlines pilots and a fast track to a career in aviation as a First Officer with the airline. What also makes this partnership unique is that Wayman Aviation is the only flight college in the country, and in Spirit's program, that trains future pilots using Competency Based Training & Assessment (CBTA), a superior standard of flight training recommended by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). "Our partnership with Spirit through its Spirit Wings Pilot Pathway program highlights the level of trust airlines are placing in Wayman Aviation's rigorous training standards," said Eduardo Luy, Vice President of Wayman Aviation. Wayman Aviation will not only be helping Spirit Airlines tackle the pilot shortage by sending pilots into their ranks sooner, thanks to this program and Wayman's R-ATP certification. They will also provide better-formed pilots armed with CBTA training and an associate's degree in aviation sciences. "As innovators at one of the best aviation colleges in the state, we have adopted a process called competency-based training which allows our students to be much more advanced in the principles of aviation safety at the early stages of their career compared to students from traditional flight schools," said Tony Shen, President of Wayman Aviation. Wayman Aviation is excited for this partnership with its hometown airline Spirit as it aligns with Wayman's mission of providing the industry with the best-trained and most well-prepared pilots possible. Their headquarters are located only 15 minutes apart in Broward County, Florida. ABOUT WAYMAN AVIATION ACADEMY Wayman's mission is to Change Lives Through Aviation. We take passionate cadets and help them achieve their dreams through rigorous training in quality aircraft with quality instruction. Over the last 35 years, Wayman Aviation has developed into one of the premier flight training colleges in South Florida. Wayman offers full career preparation from FAA certification to college degrees and flows through to airlines such as Republic, Sky West (American, United, Delta), Spirit Airlines, and Silver Airways.

Read More

Spotlight

It should go without saying that aircraft are complex machines that require immaculate maintenance, repair, and overhaul at various intervals throughout their lifetime. Aircraft are subject to extreme wear due to varying environmental and operational conditions. Extensive maintenance facilities are required to carry out such operations, whether the engine overhaul or heaving maintenance on a jetliner. Let’s spend today’s video examining some of the large facilities around the world that conduct heavy aircraft maintenance.

Resources