SANTA ANA, Calif. and HOUSTON, Dec. 16,
2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Overair, Inc. ("Overair"), developer of
electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicles, today
announced they signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with
Bristow Group Inc. (NYSE: VTOL), the world's leading global
provider of innovative and sustainable vertical flight solutions to
government and civil organizations. The two companies plan to
collaborate on the development of the Butterfly commercialization
plans.
![Bristow/Overair partnership Bristow/Overair partnership](https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1712140/Bristow_Overair_partnership.jpg)
Bristow has pre-ordered 20 to 50 Butterfly aircraft and both
companies will work together to develop an operations development
framework focusing on vehicle design considerations, key
performance parameters, FAA certification, flight planning best
practices, data sharing for improvement of flight operations,
connected vehicle and health monitoring strategies, configuration
and maintenance protocols, infrastructure, ground support
operations, connected fleet management, and government affairs and
promotion of eVTOL operations.
"Bristow's decades of vertical lift experience will greatly
enhance Butterfly's path to commercialization. Their operating
insight, combined with our development and execution of the
Butterfly program, will position Butterfly to serve Bristow as a
valuable workhorse on high-density routes," said Ben Tigner, Chief Executive Officer of Overair.
"We're elated to learn from Bristow's practical expertise and
ultimately deliver an aircraft optimized for their use cases."
"Our MOU with Overair allows us to advance our leadership
position in the vertical transportation market that we've built
over the past 70+ years and will now set the stage for the next
generation of vertical flight. Our collaboration facilitates
expansion into new high-density geographic markets with
sustainable, innovative and efficient vertical lift and aerial
transport services," said Bristow
President and Chief Executive Officer Chris Bradshaw. "As the global leader in
vertical lift, Bristow's operational expertise and efficiency,
supported by the trust and confidence of our customers, can safely
bring eVTOL aircraft into the market."
Bristow, one of the world's largest and most experienced
helicopter operators, plans to use the unique attributes of these
eVTOL aircraft to help reduce its carbon footprint. The company
understands the benefits of a varied fleet and intends to diversify
its existing operations with Butterfly and other eVTOLs for
commercial air taxi routes in metropolitan areas. Notably, of the
vehicles Bristow is currently considering, Butterfly is the only
aircraft with a vectored thrust configuration.
Bristow expects to optimize its fleet management strategy by
matching eVTOL attributes with the most economically productive
mission profiles. Butterfly's low-noise profile, payload capacity
and ability to fly in a broad range of weather conditions will be
well-suited for high-density, noise sensitive routes in geographies
with varied environmental concerns. The Butterfly aircraft features
low maintenance costs and mechanical simplicity, which enables high
vehicle uptime and utilization, increasing operator margins and
passing value on to riders.
Overair's experience developing military-grade rotorcraft
propulsion systems is expected to unlock a highly strategic
collaboration between the companies. Work is set to begin
immediately, focusing on FAA certification planning, a robust
safety operating culture, and other unique aspects of vertical
flight operations.
Forward-Looking Statements Disclosure
This press release contains "forward-looking statements."
Forward-looking statements represent Bristow Group Inc.'s (the
"Company") current expectations or forecasts of future events.
Forward-looking statements generally can be identified by the use
of forward-looking terminology such as "may," "will," "expect,"
"intend," "estimate," "anticipate," "believe," "project," or
"continue," or other similar words. These statements are made under
the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995, reflect management's current views with respect
to future events and therefore are subject to significant risks and
uncertainties, both known and unknown. Without limiting the
generality of the foregoing, such forward-looking statements
include statements regarding the capabilities, development,
certification, marketing, and future operations of Overair's
electric aircraft, the Company's purchase of aircraft from Overair,
and the anticipated benefits of the collaboration between the
Company and Overair. The Company's actual results may vary
materially from those anticipated in forward-looking
statements.
The Company disclaims any obligation or undertaking to provide
any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statement to
reflect any change in the Company's expectations or any change in
events, conditions or circumstances on which the forward-looking
statement is based that occur after the date hereof. You should not
place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements because the
matters they describe are subject to known and unknown risks,
uncertainties and other unpredictable factors, many of which are
beyond our control. Our forward-looking statements are based on the
information currently available to us and speak only as of the date
hereof. New risks and uncertainties arise from time to time, and it
is impossible for us to predict these matters or how they may
affect us. We have included important factors in the section
entitled "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K
for the fiscal year ended March 31,
2021 (the "Annual Report") which we believe over time, could
cause our actual results, performance or achievements to differ
from the anticipated results, performance or achievements that are
expressed or implied by our forward-looking statements. You should
consider all risks and uncertainties disclosed in the Annual Report
and in our filings with the United States Securities and Exchange
Commission (the "SEC"), all of which are accessible on the SEC's
website at www.sec.gov.
About Bristow Group
Bristow Group Inc. is the leading global provider of innovative
and sustainable vertical flight solutions. Bristow primarily
provides aviation services to a broad base of major integrated,
national and independent offshore energy companies. Bristow
provides commercial search and rescue (SAR) services in several
countries and public sector SAR services in the United Kingdom (U.K.) on behalf of the
Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA). Additionally, the Company
offers ad hoc helicopter and fixed wing transportation services.
Bristow currently has customers in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Guyana, India, Mexico, Nigeria, Norway, Spain, Suriname, Trinidad, the U.K. and the U.S. To learn more,
visit our website at www.bristowgroup.com.
About Overair
Overair, Inc. is positioned to be a global leader in advanced
air mobility. Based in Santa Ana,
California, Overair's growing team is harnessing decades of
military aircraft innovation to design, manufacture, and operate
all-electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft. With a path to
FAA certification in 2025, Overair is dedicated to making the world
a smaller, cleaner place for everyone using Butterfly, the most
robust, efficient, and quiet aircraft in its class. To learn more
about Overair and Butterfly, please visit www.overair.com.
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