aviation
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California Capital Airshow’s most interesting work happens after the jets land
At Mather Airport, a weekend of flying helps fund a year of career exploration. Inside the Sacramento nonprofit turning aviation’s biggest attention-getter into an invitation to participate.
Modern Currency PR knows a pool needs a plot
A beauty counter beside a hotel pool explains the business of Modern Currency PR: finding the detail that gives a luxury travel brand a fresh reason to be talked about.
Avion Graphics makes the small print on big planes
The California manufacturer makes aircraft markings that crews need and promotional graphics that passengers photograph. Its business lives where a good-looking design becomes an aerospace part.
JWI builds the booth. The real job is everything around it.
For aerospace companies, a trade show is a temporary workplace with a very public deadline. JWI brings the stand, the shipping, and the small details under one roof.
Intelak Hub: where a baggage problem became a dnata deal
A suitcase delivery startup shows what Intelak can offer beyond a grant: a route into the companies that run travel. Dubai’s incubator and accelerator now applies that approach to everything from cargo handling to the airport lounge.
The Airline That Started With Three Planes and a Grudge Against Airfare
It began in 1996 with three secondhand jets and a plan to undercut everyone. Today WestJet carries millions of Canadians a year - and it is still arguing that cheap seats and warm service do not have to be a contradiction.
United Airlines Sells Seats. What It's Really Building Is Loyalty.
5,000 flights a day, 370-plus destinations, 130 million MileagePlus members - inside the Chicago carrier's plan to make the network itself the product.
The 133-Year-Old Company That Broke Itself Apart to Chase Jet Engines
General Electric spent a century as America's everything-company. In 2024 it broke itself into three and kept only the part that flies - and Wall Street decided the pieces were worth more than the whole ever was.
AirGo Design
AirGo Design is a Singapore-based advanced-materials company that builds structural parts from short-fiber thermoplastic composite (SFTC), a proprietary technology it developed to replace metal in weight-critical applications. Its flagship is the world's first full-composite aircraft passenger seat, roughly 50% lighter than aluminum. The same materials and AI-driven engineering process now extend to EV battery enclosures, drone components, and food-grade parts, positioning AirGo as a lightweighting partner across aviation, e-mobility, and industrial manufacturing.
Falcon Aviation Services
Falcon Aviation Services is an Abu Dhabi-based aviation group founded in 2006 that has grown from an offshore oil-and-gas helicopter operator into one of the Middle East's most diversified private-aviation companies. Operating from Al Bateen Executive Airport and Dubai, it offers helicopter and business-jet charter, aircraft management, MRO engineering, CAMO, fixed base operator (FBO) services, heliport management, medevac and sightseeing helicopter tours. Holding UAE and San Marino Air Operator Certificates and running a modern fixed- and rotary-wing fleet, Falcon is also pioneering next-generation urban air mobility as Archer Aviation's UAE vertiport partner.
CREAN®
CREAN, Inc. is an Austin, Texas-based aerospace engineering and Smart Factory company that supplies hands-on engineering services and manufacturing-optimization programs to space, defense, and commercial clients. Founded in 2002 by James and Jennifer Crean, the firm fields teams of aerospace subject-matter experts who help customers move systems from concept through full-scale production while modernizing factory operations. CREAN is also developing CelestNet, a proposed lunar communications and navigation network, following its 2023 acquisition of Aquarian Space.
SkyGrid
SkyGrid builds high-assurance, third-party software services that safely fold autonomous aircraft, drones, and eVTOL air taxis into shared airspace. Born as a 2018 Boeing and SparkCognition joint venture and now a subsidiary of Wisk Aero, the Austin-based company delivers a real-time digital twin of the low-altitude sky - weather, obstacles, traffic, and vertiport status - plus automation and decision-support tools that route, synchronize, and deconflict flights at scale.
Aero
Aero is a Los Angeles-based semi-private airline that sells individual seats on custom-configured business jets, slotting itself between full private charter and commercial first class. Founded in 2019 out of Garrett Camp's Expa studio, it flies all-black Embraer ERJ-135 jets reconfigured to 16 leather seats from private terminals on routes like Los Angeles to Aspen, Los Cabos, Napa and Maui, letting guests arrive about 20 minutes before departure for fares roughly comparable to premium commercial cabins.
AeroVect
AeroVect builds AI-powered autonomous driving software for airside ground support equipment (GSE) - the tractors, dollies and tugs that move bags, cargo and aircraft around airport ramps. Founded in 2020 by Harvard grads Raymond Wang and Eugenio Donati, the company turns existing OEM vehicles into self-driving machines with its hardware-agnostic AeroVect Driver platform, and is deployed with partners including dnata, GAT and Delta Air Lines.
WindBorne Systems
WindBorne Systems is building a planetary nervous system for Earth's atmosphere. The Redwood City company operates a constellation of autonomous long-duration balloons that gather high-resolution atmospheric data from remote and ocean regions previously invisible to weather models - then feeds that data into WeatherMesh, its in-house AI forecasting model that has surpassed Google DeepMind's GraphCast as the world's most accurate medium-range global weather forecast. With backing from Khosla Ventures, the Gates Foundation, and U.S. military contracts, WindBorne is making a credible run at replacing century-old weather infrastructure.
Zymbly
Zymbly is a UK-based AI startup that builds voice-first copilots for aircraft maintenance technicians - automating troubleshooting, parts lookup, and compliance documentation so mechanics can spend their time fixing planes instead of drowning in paperwork. Backed by Y Combinator (W26) and built by a team with deep roots in aviation and enterprise AI, Zymbly targets an industry facing a global shortage of 43,000 technicians and a maintenance capacity crisis.