SMG Consulting AAM reality index (ARI)

Press

((Cat meet pigeon, I like this from SMG Consulting, more of this needed in the Olympic class BS world of AAM (ed))

Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) is defined by NASA as “an air transportation system that moves people and cargo between places previously not served or underserved by aviation – local, regional, intraregional, urban – using revolutionary new aircraft that are only just now becoming possible.”

The Vertical Flight Society counts almost 400 entrants in the AAM industry with new ones added on a weekly basis. AAM has also attracted significant investment from venture capital, private equity, automotive companies, legacy aerospace OEMs as well as tech companies. However, mixed with the excitement that welcomes every new industry, there is a significant amount of healthy skepticism.

With all these entrants and all the interest in the industry, how can companies, suppliers, investors easily understand what companies will come to lead the industry, and which ones will not be as successful as they hoped to be? How “real” is the commitment of a legacy company or a startup to deliver a product to market?

Introducing the AAM Reality Index (ARI)

The ARI is a rating tool, based on a proprietary formula that uses publicly available information as well as expert knowledge. It helps assess the industry entrants’ progress toward the delivery of a certified product at mass scale production. It is a living tool, that will be periodically updated to include new entrants as well as any new information on existing entrants. At launch we are going to rate 14 OEMs in the AAM industry. We plan to expand the tool to other areas of the AAM ecosystem. The tool is un-biased and data-based. It is not meant as an endorsement or a critique of any specific company, but as a simple, easy-to-use guide to the complexities of the AAM industry.

How is the ARI calculated?

The ARI is based on five elements: the funding received by the company, the team that leads the company, the technology readiness of their vehicle, the certification progress of their vehicle, and the production readiness towards full scale production.

How to read the ratings?

The formula scores each entrant on a 0 to 10 scale. We use one decimal point as well to distinguish entrants as there is clustering at specific stages in the product lifecycle. A 0 on the ARI tool represents a company just considering the market with little to no financing. A 10 on the ARI tool represents a company with a commercial product that is produced in thousands of units per year. No company at present would be able to achieve a 10, as no one in Aerospace is capable to produce thousands of vehicles per year.