The city of Arlington and Overair, an emerging global leader in advanced air mobility and developer of all-electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, have announced a partnership to develop and launch eVTOL operations. The effort will launch at Arlington Municipal Airport and extend throughout North Texas, the partners said.
The collaboration marks the first-ever direct partnership between a city in Texas and an eVTOL original equipment manufacturer, Overair said.
“Today’s announcement is a major step toward positioning Arlington as one of the first cities in the world to integrate fully electric AAM capabilities into its transportation ecosystem,” Overair Chief Commercial Officer Valerie Manning said in a statement. “Electric advanced air mobility is an example of transportation evolving with the needs of a growing society. We are incredibly excited to help drive this transportation evolution in North Central Texas and to expand our presence in this region, known for its talent and technology.”
Overair to establish a base of operations in North Central Texas
As part of the agreement, Overair said it also will establish a base of operations in North Central Texas, bringing new jobs to the area.
Overair said it expects the eVTOL air taxi operations to offer a direct connection to Arlington’s Entertainment District, the home of Six Flags Over Texas, Hurricane Harbor, the Texas Rangers, Dallas Cowboys, Arlington Renegades, and the WNBA’s Dallas Wings—as well as numerous restaurants, shopping centers, museums, and live entertainment venues.
The announcement comes after a recently announced agreement between Overair and Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport to bring eVTOL operations to the DFW metro area.
“DFW Airport has a long history of building the groundwork today for the airport needs of the future,” DFW Airport EVP Innovation Paul Puopolo said. “By exploring the future of aviation now, we will help better position the entire DFW Metroplex for the next era of innovative air mobility.”
The city of Arlington’s strategic collaboration with Overair will expand the company’s AAM operations across North Texas by delivering fully integrated eVTOL ecosystem solutions — from vertiports and advanced charging infrastructure to the implementation of electric aerial rideshare.
Overair and the city of Arlington will establish a joint, cross-functional working group to oversee and address the project’s challenges and to ensure timely completion of milestones, including an initial feasibility study conducted by Overair to assess the demand for AAM services within the Arlington area and evaluate scenarios for flight operations in and out of vertiport locations.
“This partnership with Overair not only advances the city of Arlington as a leader in implementing innovative transportation solutions, it also provides high-tech and engineering jobs to our residents and the community at large; ultimately creating a new mobility ecosystem that will provide socio-economic progress for decades to come,” Arlington Mayor Jim Ross said in a statement. “We’re excited to work with Overair to shape the future of transportation for our city and the DFW region.”
Overair’s Butterfly
With the development of the Butterfly aircraft—currently on schedule to meet the goals and timelines of the Federal Aviation Administration’s Innovate28 initiative to enable eVTOL air taxi operations by 2028—Overair said it wants to solve many of the logistical challenges associated with moving people and goods (commuter, charter, medical transport, cargo).
Overair said that the Butterfly’s unique proprietary propulsion system and oversized rotors allow it to fly safely, quietly, and efficiently in a wide variety of weather conditions.
Spun out of Karem Aircraft in 2020, the Santa Ana, California-based Overair announced the design of its vehicle, Butterfly, in 2021.
It said that Butterfly is a breakthrough aircraft with proprietary technologies derived from the Overair team’s decades of aerospace experience.
The company said the Butterfly creates critical power reserves using today’s commercially available battery cells, which translate into advances in safety and a superior experience for riders and communities.
Overair has operating partnerships with companies such as Hanwha Systems and Bristow Group. It completed its full-scale propulsion testing in the second quarter of 2022.
Get on the list.
Dallas Innovates, every day.
Sign up to keep your eye on what’s new and next in Dallas-Fort Worth, every day.
R E A D N E X T
-
Don't miss your chance to get our biggest-ever Dallas Innovates magazine. Request a complimentary copy of the once-a-year limited edition now.
-
Tarleton State University received the go-ahead for a new biotechnology institute as part of Texas A&M-Fort Worth's burgeoning downtown research campus. Approved in mid-August by the Texas A&M University System Board of Regents, the biotech institute is situated in one of the nation's fastest-growing life sciences hubs. "More than 5,000 biotechnology manufacturing and research and development firms — think Novartis, Alcon, AstraZeneca — call Texas home," according to the university. And DFW now ranks seventh in the U.S. for life science and biotech jobs. The Tarleton State Biotechnology Institute will focus on discovery and innovation in bioinformatics and computational modeling.…
-
"One word: plastics." That's the famous career advice from the movie The Graduate. A professor at UT Arlington must have gotten the same message, because 56 years later he's making history by using plastics to repair and stabilize roadways in the DFW area. Dr. Sahadat Hossain—a UTA civil engineering professor and director of the school's Solid Waste Institute for Sustainability—got a grant of around $950,000 from the Dallas district of the Texas Department of Transportation to achieve the first use of “plastic road” material in Texas. The project will begin with work on roads near Kaufman, southeast of Dallas.
-
Founded by former First Lady and Dallas resident Laura Bush, Texan by Nature recognizes the best and most innovative work in conservation coming from businesses based or operating in Texas.
