“I wish them well, but I can’t see anybody making money on one 1/2 hour flight/day.”
They have over eight hundred flights a day and will save tons on fuel and maintenance.
Until the electrical rates rise and the state government they operate starts taxing by the mile.
I don’t have a problem with researching renewables and alternatives. I don’t mind spending billions of dollars to find the optimized place where we can get the most value from solar or wind or wave or whatever. I’m not philosophically opposed to that.
I just don’t want a forced adoption before its ready for prime time. The USSR and China are full of graveyards of technology and pollution where the government forced the hand of the people to adopt alternatives before they were ready.
Forcing the hand doesn’t work.
Also, they make over 800 flights/day with planes that use hydrocarbon fuels. They are not going to make 800 flights/day with planes that can fly once or twice/day for thirty minutes and then spend hours charging.
Their prices are going to reflect their new reality.
Maintenance; maybe. Fuel; definitely not - they're burning coal at a power plant instead of Jet A in the engine.
Add in more frequent motor replacement costs as salt spray and the copper in the coils don't mix well.