Launch Alaska Portfolio Profiles: Ampaire
A conversation with Kevin Noertker, co-founder and CEO, Ampaire.
Aviation is crucial to Alaska’s economy and way of life. It connects communities, supports commerce, provides lifesaving transportation, and more – which is why Launch Alaska is so excited to support the deployment of new aviation technologies that decrease fuel costs and increase sustainability, helping to make flight more accessible for all.
Enter Ampaire. A Tech Deployment Track graduate and member of the Launch Alaska Portfolio since 2021, this California-based startup is developing hybrid-electric aircraft capable of delivering 50-70% fuel cost savings and 25-50% maintenance cost savings. In 2023, the company celebrated a year of history-making milestones, including a first-of-its-kind hybrid-electric flight to Alaska. What’s next on the horizon? We sat down with Ampaire CEO and Co-Founder Kevin Noertker to get the 30,000-foot view.
Interview edited for length and clarity.
Launch Alaska: 2023 was a year of many firsts for Ampaire – what were a few of the highlights for you?
Kevin Noertker, CEO, Ampaire: I think the theme for 2023 was about meeting the world where it’s at. It was a year in which we took technology that most of the world has never seen, and really made a big effort to get out there in front of people, and to be present and to make the technology accessible.
One of the shining highlights was our flight up to Alaska, from Southern California to Fairbanks over the course of a series of flights, with over 3,400 miles flown. It was the first hybrid-electric aircraft to fly an international route, between the U.S. and Canada and then back to the U.S. It was the first deployment of hybrid-electric aircraft that far north, and the hybrid-electric aircraft charging stations, mobile chargers, both in Canada and in Alaska.
It was a phenomenal success, and an opportunity for us to face the harsh realities of the world. I mean, the plane was stuck in Canada, through rainstorms, and had to divert hundreds of miles because of forest fires, and it was just such a show of reality, and the fact that our systems not only survived, but thrive in those realities.
I’m also proud of the other demonstrations and deployments we did last year. In December, we flew a long endurance flight – it was 12 hours from takeoff to landing. So this is about dispelling some of the common misconceptions around electrified vehicles where there’s range anxiety, and concern that you’re not going to be able to fly as far, or to many airports. And we can talk until we’re blue in the face about those things, but it’s always better just to show rather than tell.
We also had some really amazing accomplishments when it came to our corporate development and our operation. We have been doing great with our government contracts with NASA, Department of Energy and the Air Force. Ampaire also closed two acquisitions of other organizations. Mergers and acquisitions are an important mode of growth, and our ability to pull on those contracts and that intellectual property and technology just accelerates our ability to deliver on our mission.
We’ve really set ourselves up, from a commercialization standpoint, with a phenomenal year. Early in 2023 we received an order from Azul Conecta, which is a large regional airline down in Brazil. We’ve received additional orders from other airlines around the world, and partnered with airlines around these places where we’ve deployed. With one of our acquisitions, we have received orders and participated in programs with drone and electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) developers to deploy our systems not just into the turboprops that most people know us for, but also into these very advanced vehicles that are coming down the pipeline for the industry.
LA: Ampaire’s flight to Alaska was a huge first for the state (and electric aviation). How and why did Ampaire first set its sights on Alaska, and what kinds of partnerships helped make this achievement possible?
KN: I’ll start with my personal story of aviation in Alaska: In the summertime, before starting Ampaire, when I knew that I wouldn’t be taking many vacations after becoming an entrepreneur, I decided to take an extended two-week vacation up in Alaska. And one of the things I did was I flew in – with Talkeetna Air out of the Talkeetna Airport – up to Denali base camp, landing on the snowy slopes up there on a majestic blue-sky day. It was gorgeous.
I realized aviation is at the heart of Alaska. It’s not just a convenience, it is a necessity. And it was clear from those first days that I was in Alaska how much of a necessity it was for people to get around, and that it’s not the standard 737s oftentimes; it is general aviation and these aircraft that are parts of all activities and commerce.
Above: Launch Alaska Managing Director Penny Gage, Ampaire Co-Founder and CEO Kevin Noertker, and Launch Alaska President and CEO Isaac Vanderburg mark Ampaire’s historic hybrid-electric flight to Fairbanks, Alaska, in August 2023.
Then it was really through our partnership with Launch Alaska where we originated our specific exploration of opportunities in Alaska. We’ve been lucky to partner and have a hub of advice, of mentorship, and connection into the network of people who care about energy, sustainability, and aviation across Alaska. And that’s given us the opportunity to build those relationships.
I’m glad we’ve been investing our time into building those relationships, because when this idea of flying a hybrid-electric aircraft up to Alaska came about in partnership with the Department of Energy ARPA-E and Launch Alaska – we already had the pieces in place. The stakeholders who could help us, whether it was at airports, or the stakeholders in aviation, or the connections into local and state government, or the community stakeholders, we had those pieces in place to really drive a successful program there.
The reality – and what we realized in talking to our customers – is that they need to see our technology working in the environments in which these customers actually operate.
Alaska is a perfect combination of energy stakeholders and aviation stakeholders. It’s really a relatively obvious place for Ampaire to look at deploying – also a really challenging environment, whether it’s the geography or the remoteness of certain areas, the terrain or the temperatures. It can be challenging, and we thought that would also be an important element of our development. So we partnered with the Department of Energy’s Arctic Energy Office, and have worked with a variety of groups over the years to prepare our system and make sure that we would be able to operate in those kinds of environments.
LA: How has this process shaped your vision of what’s possible for the future of zero-emissions flight? What have you learned along the way?
KN: These experiences have confirmed that the world is ready for this technology. The technology is ready for the opportunity. And it has kind of reiterated the emphasis that it’s our job to go get that done. We still have a bit of work in front of us to bring our solutions and commercialize them, get them through the regulatory approvals and production, but we’re right on the cusp of this transformation for this industry. And when we do, these customers – these airlines, these communities – will want it, and they will benefit from it. It gives us confidence and reassurance that when we build it, it will have a place in the world, and a meaningful impact on the world around us.
LA: Based on the milestones of 2023, what does this coming year hold in store? Goals, timelines for next big projects, etc.?
KN: Number one: Continuing to deliver on our commitments. Significant effort is going to be in moving through that certification process for our technology, and working on initial deployments, which may be able to be accelerated ahead of full commercial certification.
The first major certification product is going to be in the body of a Cessna Grand Caravan, so the Cessna 208B. That is a workhorse aircraft, very familiar to operators around the globe, and it’s the first that we’ll be taking through commercial certification. And so that’s our AMP-H570 hybrid propulsion system, the system that powers the plane, and the Eco-Caravan, which is what we call the plane once it’s hybrid-electric.
LA: What inspires you most about this work?
KN: For as long as I can remember, I’ve sought three key criteria in how I spend my time and the projects in which I work. I’m looking for meaningful, challenging, and visible. Meaningful being the impact that we create: I think each of us only has a short amount of time here on earth, and it’s really important to spend our time creating big, positive impact, as positive an impact as we possibly can, leave a mark on the world, have a reason for being. Challenging – each of us has certain skill sets, and I think if you’re feeling challenged then you’re growing, and you’re maximizing the impact that you can create. And visible being that opportunity snowballs on itself, and if you create something that people see and care about, you’ll better connect with individuals around the world, you’ll build better solutions for people around the world, and that visibility ultimately builds future opportunity for even bigger impact. So meaningful, challenging, visible.
This is the maximum of all of that, at least in this industry, in aviation. And with the challenges of our time, building sustainable solutions is an imperative – we must move with urgency in solving these challenges. I’m highly motivated by that impact we create. I also really care about how technology touches individual’s lives. Outside of just the environmental impact, the social and economic impact of creating cleaner and lower-cost aviation can do so much benefit for the communities that connect into the global economy. Or currently might not get that kind of service, but we can be part of their story of emerging into the global economy. And I think that’s a hugely positive opportunity.
And so I think the electrification of aviation is one of the most important and one of the most meaningful and challenging and visible things that any of us could be doing, and it certainly is motivating and gets me out of bed every day.
LA: Closing thoughts?
KN: On this theme of meeting the world where it’s at – I believe it’s also critical for us to create and deploy technologies that are real, that aren’t just dreams of where the world might be, but actually build and deliver solutions today. In particular, our hybrid-electric technology, which completely derisks the range anxiety, but also makes it so the charging infrastructure and electric grid upgrades are not prerequisites, as a chicken and the egg, before getting sustainable aircraft. A lot like a Toyota Prius, this kind of technology can deploy anywhere you want to go, regardless of the infrastructure that’s available.
I’m very excited that we’re able to move so rapidly, and so immediately, with the technology we’ve got in solving these really urgent problems that we have.