Name: Promising Reno-based supersonic jet company Aerion bids au revoir to Biggest Little City
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Promising Reno-based supersonic jet company Aerion bids au revoir to Biggest Little City

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Reno Gazette JournalView CommentsIn 2003, the Concorde’s trademark pointy nose lifted high up in the air for one last time as it departed from New York’s JFK International Airport for its final commercial flight. Meanwhile, across the country, a fledgling supersonic jet company named Aerion was taking its first steps on the ground after it was formed in Reno that same year.Seventeen years later, Aerion Supersonic&nbsp;has transformed into one of the darlings of the aviation sector as it gets closer to bringing supersonic flight to the general aviation market. Just as the high-flying success story in Reno prepares to spread its wings further, however, Aerion also announced that it is leaving its longtime home&nbsp;for the Sunshine State.Aerion Supersonic inked a $300 million deal to build its new Aerion Park headquarters in Melbourne, Florida, and bring 675 jobs to that city by 2026. Aerion’s decision was welcomed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, who described the aviation and aerospace industry as a “high-wage and important business sector.”The move also comes as a reversal for the greater Reno area, which has notched several high-profile tech wins to further diversify its economy. In the last few years, Northern Nevada was on a hot streak as it attracted high-profile projects from companies such as Tesla, Switch and Google away from more established competitors. This time, however, it is Reno that finds itself losing a high-profile tech company — one that was started in its own backyard.&nbsp;The move does not come as a surprise given the nature of Aerion’s business, said Mike Kazmierski, president and CEO of the Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada. EDAWN has been involved in recruiting many of the companies that have either moved or expanded into the region.“When it comes to corporate headquarters the need for a major airport is important and, in this case, a decent incentives package and the proximity to the Florida space assets certainly helped,” Kazmierksi said.Aerion told the Reno Gazette Journal that its decision to move was dictated by necessity, not the area’s business climate. While Reno has been instrumental in Aerion’s founding and success, its location also limits the company’s options for developing and testing its supersonic aircraft.“Given the need to conduct much of our aircraft flight testing over open water, unfortunately Reno’s geography, being much further from the coast, presented an inevitable challenge,” said Matthew Clarke, senior vice president of marketing and communications for Aerion.For the Biggest Little City, Aerion is an unusual success story.Founded in Reno 17 years ago by billionaire Robert Bass and aerodynamicist Richard Tracy, it’s a rare example of a buzzworthy technology company born in a city that has traditionally been known more for birthing gaming operations. Aerion is also the exact kind of homegrown tech firm that is prized not just by the city but the state as a whole. In addition to helping diversify the region’s economy from the more recession-prone tourism and gaming sectors, local companies have the potential to provide greater impact&nbsp;— as well as economic bang-for-the-buck — should they make it big, according to folks such as Kazmierski. One only needs to look at the impact of Boeing on Seattle or Microsoft on Redmond, Washington.This makes Aerion’s departure a potentially huge loss for Reno. Although Aerion is still an upstart compared to the aviation industry’s giants, it is also seen as one of the sector’s up-and-coming players. Last year, Boeing announced that it was investing in Aerion through its Boeing NeXt initiative. Other partners and suppliers for the company include General Electric, Honeywell Aerospace and Spirit Aerosystems.Aerion is also part of a select list of companies that includes other promising stalwarts such as Boom Supersonic. These companies are seen as the&nbsp;leaders in the effort to bring back supersonic travel since the demise of the Concorde. For Aerion CEO Tom Vice, the state of air travel remains one big, nagging sore spot. Although cell phones and even electric cars are seeing notable leaps in technology, flight speeds for traveling are not only stuck in the past but are arguably in worse shape in some cases. Vice noted that the Boeing 707 was flying at speeds of 580 miles per hour to 600 miles per hour back in the late 1950s. Today, airlines typically fly below that, according to Vice.“We are flying slower than we were in 1958,” Vice said. “It’s hard to find another innovation with that much lack of progress.”Seventeen years since the Concorde made its last commercial flight, a successor has yet to claim its mantle.&nbsp;Vice described the Concorde as “a great design” for its time. Its flaws, however, also show some of the challenges as to why it has yet to find a replacement.“The Concorde was way too noisy and put way too much carbon and emissions into the atmosphere,” Vice said. “It also had too short of a range and was too expensive to operate.”Solving the problem of supersonic travel today requires not just addressing all those issues but also producing a more environmentally friendly product. It's an endeavor that becomes even more difficult if you aim to be carbon neutral&nbsp;— a key goal for Aerion’s supersonic jets.Being carbon neutral might sound like overkill. These days, however, those are the things that companies need to think about besides existing regulations, according to Vice.“It’s not just about what regulators will accept but what the public will embrace,” Vice said.More business news:As a result, Aerion is adopting various methods for its planned supersonic jet, the AS2. These include only using 100% synthetic fuel and also using technology to reduce the carbon emissions released in the environment by 80% to 90%. The company will also plant 100 million trees by 2036 as part of its carbon neutrality initiative.To solve the noise problem, Aerion is touting what it calls “boomless cruise” on its planes. The technology reflects the sonic boom toward the atmosphere instead of the ground, which gets rid of the loud sound typically associated with supersonic jets. Fixing the boom issue will also allow for flights within the United States, which currently bans supersonic travel above land, Vice said.While Aerion plans to start manufacturing its AS2 in 2023, however, don’t expect to be able to ride it soon after that. The company is focusing on the general aviation market as a faster, albeit even pricier top-end alternative to rival offerings such as Gulfstream's $65 million G650. While the company plans to eventually have a commercial jet in the AS3, that will come after the AS2 and will likely involve smaller planes that serve more profitable premium passenger routes.“We don’t know yet how to build a large commercial airliner that can be carbon neutral,” Vice said.&nbsp;“It’s going to be extremely difficult in today’s environment to introduce a cost-competitive airliner.”The initial focus on private jets will also distinguish Aerion from rival Boom, which is targeting the commercial aviation space with a supersonic plane that can seat 55 to 75 passengers while aiming for costs that are more in line with current business class rates. Aerion will sell the AS2 for $120 million per aircraft. Vice expects clients to pay for the plane's high price tag because time is literally money. Vice noted the amount of time that can be saved from a 10-hour flight across the Pacific, which can be reduced to four hours. An analysis of longtime business and corporate customers showed that executives can save 142 hours of travel time on average per year, according to Vice.“That’s time you can spend more on your business or being with your family,” Vice said. “We believe that we can save humanity time and do it in a responsible way.”Aerion’s goal is to build 300 planes during the first 10 years and raise the total to 500 by the 15th year. This will allow the company to go cash neutral by 2025 while paying back investors and turning a significant profit margin, Vice said.Reno, however, will no longer be a direct beneficiary to Aerion’s success should the company’s plans come to fruition. Instead, it will be just a part of its history.&nbsp;Although Northern Nevada still has Sparks-based Sierra Nevada Corporation, which works on space systems such as the Dream Chaser space plane as well as multiple defense contracts, the loss of Aerion is still a tough hit for a region that wants to continue burnishing its tech bonafides.Asked about its move’s impact on the community it has called home since the company started, Aerion said Reno was an integral part of the company's growth.“We are … very grateful for the support we have received from the state of Nevada and the local Reno community since Aerion was established in 2003,” Aerion’s Clarke said. “It remains an excellent location for business and a key component in the origins of our company.”Jason Hidalgo covers &nbsp;and technology for the Reno Gazette Journal&nbsp;and also reviews &nbsp;to boot. Follow him on . Like this content?&nbsp;Support local journalism with an&nbsp;.View Comments

Reno Gazette JournalView CommentsIn 2003, the Concorde’s trademark pointy nose lifted high up in the air for one last time as it departed from New York’s JFK International Airport for its final commercial flight. Meanwhile, across the country, a fledgling supersonic jet company named Aerion was taking its first steps on the ground after it was formed in Reno that same year.Seventeen years later, Aerion Supersonic&nbsp;has transformed into one of the darlings of the aviation sector as it gets closer to bringing supersonic flight to the general aviation market. Just as the high-flying success...

Promising Reno-based supersonic jet company Aerion bids au revoir to Biggest Little City

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