Environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives have vastly influenced current business and financial investment exercise, and aviation is no exception. In just the previous calendar year, we have observed unparalleled investment decision by significant airlines and many others in new sustainable aviation technology, like electric powered vertical choose-off and landing aircraft (eVTOL), electrical professional plane, hydrogen propulsion engines, hybrid electrical plane, new choices of sustainable aviation fuel, and numerous others. This sort of investments—whether through purchase of tools, financial debt or equity investments, or other industrial arrangements—present remarkable and transformative chances for makers, airlines and customers. But they also current exclusive, and in many circumstances, considerable challenges for airways. As such, conducting ideal authorized due diligence—and participating an professional legal staff to do so—is significant.
Diligencing the Technology By itself
As in other contexts, legal professionals are commonly not billed with technological or industrial diligence of developmental know-how. Nonetheless, experienced attorneys can quarterback the significant coordination needed between various departments and subject matter matter professionals in just the airline, this kind of as fleet, network scheduling, company/organization enhancement, procurement, regulatory, governmental relations, labor relations, antitrust, and marketing and advertising/investor relations.