air travel
Alaska Airlines does away with check-in kiosks
Alaska Airlines recently started a three-year, $2.5 billion project to improve the airport experience at its hubs and focus cities like Seattle, Portland, San Francisco and Los Angeles. As a part of t
Aero raises $65M for its semi-private airline
Aero Technologies, which describes itself as a “next-generation air travel company” which currently operates on a limited number of routes in the U.S. and Europe, today announced that it h
Hawaiian signs up with Starlink for free in-flight Wi-Fi
SpaceX’s Starlink satellite communications service has signed its first major airline, Hawaiian, which announced that it would offer free internet on flights to and from the island using it. The
TravelPerk raises $160M in equity and debt after a year of derailed business trips
The pandemic has hammered the travel sector over the past 12 months so you’d be forgiven for feeling a bit of pre-COVID-19 déjà vu at this news: Business trip booking platform TravelPerk is an
Hopper raises $170M and partners with Capital One on a new cardholder travel booking portal
Canadian travel startup Hopper has raised a $170 million Series F round, led by Capital One. The U.S. banks and credit card company is also coming on board as a strategic partner, to launch Capital On
Luxury air travel startup Aero raises $20M
Aero, a startup backed by Garrett Camp’s startup studio Expa, has raised $20 million in Series A funding — right as CEO Uma Subramanian said demand for air travel is returning “with a ve
Where top VCs are investing in travel, tourism and hospitality tech
The venture community has been fixated on travel and hospitality since the dot-com era and early-2000s, when mainstays like Kayak and Airbnb were still Silicon Valley darlings. As the multi-trillion-d
NASA’s advanced vision system for its supersonic test jet is undergoing a key stress test
NASA is keeping things moving with its X-59 program — the one where it’s developing a modern supersonic aircraft that proves the viability of lessening the traditional supersonic “bo
With Garmin Autoland, small planes can land themselves if the pilot becomes incapacitated
Here’s a horror scenario for you: You’re flying in a small plane and suddenly the single pilot who knows how to fly passes out. In the movies, somebody would probably talk one of the passe
Startups Weekly: Upfront Ventures bets on a bus service
In this week's newsletter: Airbnb, WeWork and Postmates prep IPOs.
How autonomous vehicles and hyperloop are scooting along
Will transportation technologies become the industry disruptors many pundits suggested they would?
Why eVTOLs could be providing regional air service sooner than you think
At Uber’s Elevate summit in Washington, DC earlier this month, researchers, industry leaders and engineers gathered to celebrate the approaching advent of on-demand air service. For Dr. Anita Se
American Airlines now offers satellite-based Wi-Fi access across its mainline fleet
American Airlines, the world’s largest airline by fleet size and passenger traffic, has finished rolling out satellite-based broadband Wi-Fi to its entire mainline narrowbody fleet of more than
KLM Airlines wants to help build a more efficient jet with in-wing seating
Air travel accounts for a significant chunk of greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants, and the amount of air travel has risen steadily over the past few decades, with emissions from aviation pr
Flight-hailing startup BlackBird raises $10 million to replace driving with flying
The origin story of BlackBird, a startup that links travelers to planes and commercial pilots through an app, didn’t begin with air travel. It was prompted by car sickness. BlackBird CEO and fou
Electric flying taxi service Lilium poaches key hires from Audi, Airbus
Lilium, the developer of a new electric vertical take-off and landing vehicle for a novel flying taxi service, has poached some pretty big former executives from Airbus and Audi as it builds out its t
UberAIR to take flight with help from UT Austin and US Army Research Labs
After three months of discussions, Uber Elevate has selected The University of Texas at Austin as its partner alongside the U.S. Army Research Laboratory to develop new rotor technology for vehicles t
Google Flights will now predict airline delays – before the airlines do
Google is rolling out a few new features to its Google Flights search engine to help travelers tackle some of the more frustrating aspects of air travel – delays and the complexities of the chea
New airline rules are leaving smart luggage makers in a tough spot
America’s top airlines are taking a stand against smart luggage. In a rare bit of solidarity, a number of the country’s top carriers have announced rules that would limit the use of high-tech bag
Homeland Security says there is ‘no timeline’ for European laptop ban, but it’s still an option
Business travelers between the U.S. and Europe can breathe a small sigh of relief and clutch their laptops a little closer -- for now. Following a call between Secretary John Kelly and defense leads i