In partnership with Air New Zealand, Beta Technologies has announced its ‘Energy By the Hour' (EBH) program at the Paris Air Show.
The initiative is designed to maximize battery safety, cycle life and uptime by providing replacement and maintenance services in exchange for a fixed hourly rate, an arrangement similar to the Power-by-the-Hour agreements common across the aviation industry.
The first of its kind in the advanced air mobility (AAM) sector, the EBH program will provide airlines with complete battery management services including performance monitoring, predictive maintenance, pack replacement and end-of-life recycling.
The initiative will be tested on Air New Zealand's Tech Demonstrator Alia CTOL [conventional-takeoff-and-landing] aircraft, which is scheduled for delivery this fall.
Testing of the EBH program will begin later this year once Air New Zealand has undergone four months of early familiarization practices with the new aircraft.
“We developed a program to ensure our customers receive the same type of predictable maintenance cost benefits they are accustomed to with traditional power by the hour programs, but applied to batteries,” said Shawn Hall, Beta's chief revenue officer, in a statement. “More than five years of real-world flying experience and a world-class battery development facility have given us high confidence in our battery performance.”
Also announced at the Paris Air Show, Beta agreed to a memorandum of understanding with U.S. regional carrier Republic Airways to evaluate the Alia CTOL. This will happen later this year, allowing Republic to assess aircraft performance and evaluate potential routes.
Earlier this month, Beta made history by flying the first passenger-carrying electric aircraft into New York's JFK International Airport, a flight from East Hampton Airport with four passengers on board, including the CEOs of Republic Airways and Blade Air Mobility.