Electric-plane manufacturer Regent Craft has added top aerospace titans to its board of advisors—providing key strategic insights and tremendous industry credibility.
Key Details
- Regent Craft announced that it has added former Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg and Breeze Airways, JetBlue, and Azul Airlines co-founder David Neeleman to its board of advisors.
- Regent creates all-electric passenger-carrying, wing-in-ground-effect seagliders to service coastal routes. The company has received orders for more than 400 seagliders worth $8 billion from airline and ferry operators worldwide and many significant investments.
- The seagliders are zero-emission planes that can travel 180 miles at 180 miles per hour, creating a cheap, safe alternative to regular travel.
Why it’s news
Adding Muilenburg and Neeleman, two aviation-industry giants, will bring a broad set of aerospace technology and business development expertise to Regent as the company enters its next phase of growth, the company states.
Many companies have been working to create all-electric aircrafts to transport passengers and limit the large amount of emissions from jet planes. Regent Craft has made substantial progress, and by adding two aerospace titans to its advisory board, the company is set to continue growing with new aerospace knowledge.
Regent develops and manufactures all-electric passenger-carrying, wing-in-ground-effect seagliders to service coastal routes. The seagliders are zero-emission planes that can travel 180 miles at 180 miles per hour, creating a cheap, safe alternative to regular travel.
The company announced that it made a significant new addition to its board of advisors by adding former CEO of The Boeing Company Dennis Muilenburg, and co-founder of Breeze Airways, JetBlue, and Azul Airlines David Neeleman.
Regent is looking to start deploying its seagliders in the next few years and states that the vast information and aerospace experience that the two men hold will help the company as it continues to grow.
“Dennis and David bring decades of combined experience in technology development, global manufacturing and distribution, and commercial operations that will be invaluable as Regent looks ahead to delivering our first Viceroy seagliders by mid-decade,” says Regent co-founder Billy Thalheimer.
“They have managed through all the hard parts of developing, deploying, and operating cutting-edge technology around the planet before. Their support underscores the significant market enthusiasm we’ve seen from our customers around the world that sustainable transportation—specifically in the form of our seagliders—is the future.”
Neeleman states that he has spent his career enabling easier and more accessible ways to travel, and he believes that Regent’s seagliders fill the need for sustainable transportation that the world can depend on.
“It is critical for the manufacturer to have the interests and concerns of the operator top-of-mind, and that is exactly the voice I will bring to Regent leadership. I’m thrilled to join Regent at this crucial juncture and lend my expertise in helping to bring seagliders to customers and passengers around the world,” he states.
Muilenburg says in his 38 years of aerospace experience, he has found that if a company has a realistic plan to go from ideation to production readiness, it will be successful, and that is what he sees in Regent Craft.
“Scaling global distribution and support of aerospace technologies is not easy, but I am supremely confident in this team. Regent has already begun establishing the manufacturing capabilities and supply chain partnerships that will give them the robust ability to scale global production and deliver on their backlog, safely and effectively,” says Muilenburg.
Regent has received orders for more than 400 seagliders worth $8 billion from airline and ferry operators worldwide and strategic investments from companies including Lockheed Martin, Japan Airlines, and Hawaiian Airlines. The company has also received more than $50 million in funding from investors, including Thiel Capital, Y Combinator, Founders Fund, and Mark Cuban, according to Regent.
Other Regent News
Regent has partnered with energy company TotalEnergies to bring sustainable flights to offshore wind and oil platforms.
The company also plans to have 12 passenger planes in operation by 2025 and have some in commercial space by 2028.
Hawaiian Airlines invested in the company, hoping to bring the seagliders to the islands.
“Innovative inter-island transportation has been core to our business since 1929 when we replaced steamships with airplanes. We are excited to be an early investor in Regent and to be involved in developing its largest seaglider—a vehicle with great potential for Hawaii,” says Hawaiian Air CMO Avi Mannis.
The company is also working to bring its electric-powered seagliders to Nice, France, making it a coastal travel hub.
“We’re looking forward to collaborating with Mayor Estrosi and the opportunity to share our technology and network development expertise with Nice, in the south of France and along the European coast. The future of coastal transportation is well on its way for Nice,” says Regent CEO Billy Thalheimer.