Overair, Inc., developer of electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicles, today announced they signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Bristow Group Inc. , the world’s leading global provider of innovative and sustainable vertical flight solutions to government and civil organizations. The two companies plan to collaborate on the development of the Butterfly commercialization plans.

Bristow has pre-ordered 20 to 50 Butterfly aircraft and both companies will work together to develop an operations development framework focusing on vehicle design considerations, key performance parameters, FAA certification, flight planning best practices, data sharing for improvement of flight operations, connected vehicle and health monitoring strategies, configuration and maintenance protocols, infrastructure, ground support operations, connected fleet management, and government affairs and promotion of eVTOL operations.

Bristow, one of the world’s largest and most experienced helicopter operators, plans to use the unique attributes of these eVTOL aircraft to help reduce its carbon footprint. The company understands the benefits of a varied fleet and intends to diversify its existing operations with Butterfly and other eVTOLs for commercial air taxi routes in metropolitan areas. Notably, of the vehicles Bristow is currently considering, Butterfly is the only aircraft with a vectored thrust configuration.

Bristow expects to optimize its fleet management strategy by matching eVTOL attributes with the most economically productive mission profiles. Butterfly’s low-noise profile, payload capacity and ability to fly in a broad range of weather conditions will be well-suited for high-density, noise sensitive routes in geographies with varied environmental concerns. The Butterfly aircraft features low maintenance costs and mechanical simplicity, which enables high vehicle uptime and utilization, increasing operator margins and passing value on to riders.