This article is based on official press releases from Alaska Airlines and Washington State University, as well as public announcements from the launch event.

Washington Leaders Launch Cascadia Sustainable Aviation Accelerator to Power PNW SAF Hub

On January 8, 2026, a coalition of government, industry, and academic leaders officially launched the Cascadia Sustainable Aviation Accelerator (CSAA). Unveiled at the Boeing Future of Flight in Mukilteo, Washington, the initiative aims to establish the Pacific Northwest as a global leader in the production and deployment of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF).

According to official announcements, the accelerator is backed by $20 million in initial funding. This capital includes $10 million from Washington State’s Climate Commitment Act funds and a matching $10 million contribution from an anonymous philanthropic donor. The coalition has set an ambitious target: to scale regional SAF production to 1 billion gallons annually by 2035.

A Public-Private Coalition

The initiative represents a broad partnership designed to bridge the gap between policy, technology, and commercial viability. Washington Governor Bob Ferguson championed the launch, positioning it as both an economic engine and a critical climate solution for the state.

The coalition features major stakeholders across multiple sectors:

• Aviation: Founding partners Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines have committed to using SAF to meet net-zero goals. Boeing, which hosted the launch, is providing technical expertise regarding aircraft compatibility.
• Academia: Washington State University (WSU) will lead the research and development component of the initiative.
• Corporate Demand: Major corporate consumers of air cargo and travel, including Amazon and Microsoft, are involved to help aggregate demand.
• Government: In addition to the Governor’s office, the Port of Seattle and Snohomish County are key partners, with Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers serving as the CSAA Board Chair.

“We have all the pieces in place to ensure this once-in-a-generation economic opportunity is realized, and this accelerator will make that happen.”

, Governor Bob Ferguson, via official press release

Strategic Structure: Accelerator and Institute

To address the complex barriers facing the SAF market, the initiative is divided into two complementary arms: the Accelerator and the Institute.

The Cascadia Sustainable Aviation Accelerator (CSAA)

The CSAA focuses on market acceleration, financing, and policy advocacy. Its primary mission is to “de-risk” the industry for producers and investors. By harmonizing tax incentives and aggregating fuel demand from airlines and corporate partners, the Accelerator aims to create a stable market environment that encourages rapid scaling of production facilities.

The Cascadia Sustainable Aviation Institute (CSAI)

The Institute will handle the technical and scientific challenges of SAF adoption. It will operate a new Sustainable Aviation Fuel Research and Development Center based at Paine Field in Snohomish County. While a permanent facility is scheduled for completion by 2029, the center will open in a temporary commercial space in the coming months.

A key feature of the Institute will be the world’s first “SAF Repository.” This facility will function similarly to a seed bank, collecting, indexing, and distributing fuel samples to researchers globally to standardize testing and certification processes.

“For aviation to remain strong and resilient in the decades ahead, sustainability must be part of its future.”

, Elizabeth Cantwell, WSU President, via WSU News

Industry Context and Regional Projects

Sustainable Aviation Fuel is widely considered the most viable near-term solution for decarbonizing long-haul aviation. Made from feedstocks such as agricultural waste, used cooking oil, or captured carbon, SAF can reduce lifecycle emissions by up to 80% compared to conventional jet fuel. However, current supply accounts for less than 1% of global jet fuel usage, and it remains significantly more expensive than fossil-based alternatives.

The Pacific Northwest is viewed as an ideal “test bed” for solving these problems due to its access to renewable hydroelectric power, forestry and agricultural residues, and a deep aerospace talent pool.

The Accelerator aims to support existing regional projects, including:

• SkyNRG: A Dutch company planning a facility in Walla Walla, WA, to convert biogas into jet fuel.
• Twelve: A carbon-transformation company backed by Alaska Airlines, currently building a plant in Moses Lake, WA, to produce fuel from CO2.
• Montana Renewables: A producer in Great Falls, MT, which recently received a conditional loan guarantee from the Department of Energy to expand production serving the region.

“This is a systems issue that no one company can solve. You’ve got great companies… ready to use this fuel, but we have to make it available.”

, Guy Palumbo, Amazon Director of Public Policy, via launch event remarks

AirPro News Analysis

The launch of the Cascadia Sustainable Aviation Accelerator marks a shift from individual corporate sustainability goals to a systemic regional strategy. While the target of 1 billion gallons by 2035 is aggressive, the bifurcation of the initiative into an “Accelerator” (finance/policy) and an “Institute” (R&D) suggests a mature understanding of the bottlenecks.

The primary challenge for the CSAA will be feedstock logistics. While the Pacific Northwest has abundant forestry and agricultural waste, the infrastructure to collect, transport, and process these materials at a scale capable of producing 1 billion gallons does not yet exist. Furthermore, the involvement of corporate giants like Amazon and Microsoft is critical; their willingness to pay a “green premium” for sustainable air cargo and travel could provide the demand certainty that producers need to secure financing for new plants.

Success will likely depend on how quickly the Institute can streamline the fuel certification process, which has historically been a slow hurdle for new SAF pathways.

Sources:

• Alaska Airlines Newsroom
• Washington State University News
• GeekWire
• Cascadia Sustainable Aviation Accelerator

This article is based on an official press release from Vertical Aerospace.

Vertical Aerospace Bolsters Leadership Team to Drive ‘Valo’ Industrialization

Vertical Aerospace (NYSE: EVTL), a global pioneer in electric aviation, announced on January 8, 2026, the appointment of three senior executives to its leadership team. The move comes less than a week after the company unveiled its new commercial aircraft, the “Valo,” and signals a strategic pivot from research and development toward certification and mass production.

According to the company’s official announcement, the new appointments cover critical operational pillars: data and digital infrastructure, propulsion engineering, and human resources. These leadership changes are designed to support the company’s target of achieving Type Certification by 2028 and subsequent entry into commercial service.

New Leadership for a New Phase

Vertical Aerospace has recruited seasoned executives with backgrounds in global scaling and technical transformation. The appointments include Juan Carlos (“JC”) Sacristan as Chief Data & Information Officer (CDIO), Richard Moore as Vice President of Powertrain, and Ollie Roberts as Chief People Officer (CPO).

Juan Carlos Sacristan joins the company to oversee its long-term data, digital, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) strategies. His primary mandate is to construct a “digital backbone” that integrates disparate functions, from design and procurement to testing and manufacturing. Sacristan brings over two decades of experience, having previously held leadership roles at Abcam, Adidas, Nike, and GE Gas Engines.

Richard Moore will lead the specialized Powertrain engineering organization. With over 35 years of aeronautics experience, Moore is tasked with integrating mission-critical systems, including energy storage, battery management systems (BMS), and electric propulsion units (EPUs). His technical expertise is expected to be vital for the certification of the company’s electric aviation systems.

Ollie Roberts assumes the role of Chief People Officer, focusing on talent attraction, organizational design, and culture. Roberts, formerly of BMI Group and AB InBev, will lead the effort to build a workforce capable of supporting commercial-scale operations.

Strategic Context: The ‘Valo’ and Market Confidence

These appointments follow closely on the heels of Vertical Aerospace’s January 3, 2026, unveiling of the Valo, the successor to its VX4 prototype. The Valo features a redesigned airframe and updated propeller architecture, representing the configuration intended for commercial production.

The company’s shift toward industrialization has also drawn attention from the financial sector. On January 7, 2026, investment firm William Blair initiated coverage of Vertical Aerospace with an “Outperform” rating. Analysts cited the company’s strategic positioning and the specific design attributes of the Valo aircraft as key differentiators in the competitive eVTOL market.

Vertical Aerospace currently holds an order book of approximately 1,500 pre-orders from major customers, including American Airlines, Japan Airlines, GOL, and Bristow Group.

AirPro News Analysis

The appointment of a Chief Data & Information Officer with a specific mandate for a “digital backbone” is a significant indicator of Vertical’s maturity. In the aerospace sector, the “digital thread”, the continuous flow of data from a digital design to the physical part on the factory floor, is essential for regulatory compliance. By prioritizing this infrastructure now, Vertical is likely attempting to preempt the documentation and traceability bottlenecks that often delay certification programs.

Executive Commentary

Stuart Simpson, CEO of Vertical Aerospace, emphasized that these hires are essential for the company’s next operational phase.

“As we move at pace toward certification, manufacturing and commercialisation, strengthening leadership across technology, core engineering disciplines and people positions us to scale effectively and deliver on our long-term ambitions. I’m delighted to kick off this transformational year with these top tier appointments.”

, Stuart Simpson, CEO of Vertical Aerospace

The company continues to work with key industrial partners, including Honeywell for avionics and Syensqo for composite materials, as it progresses toward its 2028 certification goal.

Sources

• Vertical Aerospace Press Release (BusinessWire)

This article is based on an official press release from Archer Aviation.

Archer Aviation Selects NVIDIA IGX Thor to Power Next-Gen Aviation AI

At CES 2026 in Las Vegas, Archer Aviation Inc. (NYSE: ACHR) announced a major strategic collaboration with NVIDIA to integrate the NVIDIA IGX Thor platform into its electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. This partnership marks a significant step in the deployment of “Physical AI” within the Aviation sector, aiming to enhance aircraft safety, optimize airspace integration, and lay the groundwork for future autonomous operations.

According to the company’s announcement, Archer will utilize its recently acquired Hawthorne Municipal Airport in central Los Angeles as the primary testbed for these new technologies. The facility is expected to serve as both an operational hub for Archer’s planned LA air taxi network and a development center for integrating high-performance computing into the Midnight aircraft.

The NVIDIA IGX Thor Platform

The core of this collaboration is the NVIDIA IGX Thor, a computing platform designed specifically for edge AI and robotics. Unlike standard consumer electronics, this platform is engineered to meet the rigorous safety standards required for aerospace applications.

Technical Specifications

Based on technical specifications released during the announcement, the IGX Thor platform offers substantial processing power tailored for safety-critical environments. Key features include:

• Architecture: The system is powered by the NVIDIA Blackwell GPU architecture paired with a 14-core Arm Neoverse-V3AE CPU.
• Performance: It delivers up to 2,070 TFLOPS (trillion floating-point operations per second) of AI compute performance, with scalability options that can reach over 5,500 TFLOPS.
• Safety Systems: The platform includes a dedicated “Functional Safety Island” (FSI) and a safety microcontroller to monitor system health in real-time, designed to align with standards such as ISO 26262 and IEC 61508.

Archer intends to leverage this computing power to process data from onboard sensors, including cameras, radar, and LiDAR, to provide pilots with enhanced situational awareness and to support advanced flight control algorithms.

Strategic Implementation at Hawthorne

Archer’s acquisition of the lease for Hawthorne Municipal Airport, valued at approximately $126 million, provides a controlled environment for testing these AI systems. The company stated that this location will allow for real-world validation of the IGX Thor platform without disrupting major commercial traffic at hubs like LAX.

Advancing “Physical AI”

The collaboration focuses on “Physical AI,” a domain of artificial intelligence that enables systems to perceive, reason, and act within the physical world. In the context of the Midnight aircraft, this involves understanding environmental dynamics and physics to ensure safe operation.

“NVIDIA’s AI compute capabilities and software stack give us the foundation to accelerate toward safer, smarter aircraft systems and modernize how aviation interfaces with the world’s airspace.”

, Adam Goldstein, Founder & CEO of Archer Aviation

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Path to Autonomy

While Archer’s Midnight aircraft is scheduled to launch with a pilot, the integration of the IGX Thor platform is a forward-looking strategy. The hardware is capable of supporting semi-autonomous and fully autonomous operations, allowing Archer to potentially activate these features via software updates as regulatory frameworks evolve.

AirPro News Analysis

The Shift to “Data Centers in the Sky”

We observe that the integration of server-grade computing power like the IGX Thor into light aircraft represents a paradigm shift in avionics. Historically, certified avionics have prioritized simplicity and determinism over raw processing power. However, the requirements of electric aviation, which involve complex battery management, distributed electric propulsion, and high-density urban operations, demand a new level of computational throughput.

By installing hardware capable of 2,000+ TFLOPS today, Archer is effectively future-proofing its fleet. This “hardware-first” approach mirrors strategies seen in the automotive industry, where vehicles are shipped with sensors and compute power for autonomy features that are unlocked later. For investors and industry watchers, this suggests that Archer is prioritizing long-term scalability and software-defined capabilities over short-term hardware cost savings.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the NVIDIA IGX Thor platform?

It is a high-performance computing platform designed for edge AI and robotics, featuring safety-critical architecture suitable for industrial and automotive applications.

Will Archer’s aircraft be autonomous immediately?

No. The Midnight aircraft is designed to launch with a pilot. The NVIDIA technology provides the hardware foundation for future autonomous capabilities.

Where will these technologies be tested?

Archer plans to debut and test the integration at Hawthorne Municipal Airport in central Los Angeles.

Sources

• Archer Aviation Investor Relations