Southern Airways Express, Surf Air aim to create first electric regional airline

Imagine hybrid electric aircraft ferrying travelers on hundreds of shorter routes across the US. That’s the vision behind the planned merger of Southern Airways Express and Surf Air Mobility. The deal, unveiled on May 18, will see the regional airline and electric aviation firm come together and go public under a $1.4b SPAC listing in the second half of the year. The deal is the first to bring together both sides of the equation — an airline and the technology developer — into one company amid the airline industry’s rush to decarbonize air travel. “It gives us what we need to be first out of the gate … I want to be the first airline that puts paying passengers on a hybrid electric airplane,” Southern Airways Express CEO Stan Little, and future president of the merged company, told Airline Weekly. The merger will provide Southern with the capital it needs for growth, including financing for the 100 Cessna Caravans on order from Textron that begin delivering at a rate of three per quarter from the fall. For Surf Air, the deal provides the company the “best possible advertisement for its hybrid electric technology,” said Little. The merger includes agreements with electric engine company AeroTEC and electric propulsion developer MagniX for hybrid electric powertrains that would power Southern’s Caravans. “We believe this sets us on a better, faster, and more certain path toward the future of green flying,” Surf Air CEO Sudhin Shahani and other executives said in a May 18 letter to staff on the merger. Story has more.<br/>