Global Scans · Aviation · Weekly Summary

WHAT'S NEXT?: More than half of the expected new passengers over the next two decades will originate from China, which will displace the US as the world's largest aviation market by around 2029. More than half of the expected new passengers over the next two decades will originate from China, which will displace the US as the world's largest aviation market by around 2029. Sales of consumer and prosumer drones are soaring and the Federal Aviation Authority forecasts there will be more than 1.3 million licensed drone pilots by 2020 in the U.S. alone.

• [New] By 2030, Airbus estimates all its aircraft and helicopters will be capable of flying with up to 100% SAF. JD Supra
• [New] NATO has acknowledged widespread GPS disruptions impacting both military and civil aviation, reinforcing the need for resilient, GPS-independent navigation. Persistence Market Research
• [New] Enterprises are now moving from AI pilots to AI-operated workflows, with McKinsey estimating that agentic systems could automate up to 70% of knowledge worker tasks by 2028. Kersai
• [New] Improving prediction of turbulence and icing will strengthen NOAA's ability to provide critical flight safety information to the FAA and the aviation community. US Harbors
• [New] Covering the contiguous United States, the new Domestic Aviation Forecast System will generate more detailed forecasts of evolving icing and turbulence risks, giving pilots real-time intelligence about changing weather conditions along their flight path. US Harbors
• [New] Supporting the safe adoption of innovation will require updating Federal Aviation Administration processes for certifying novel aircraft designs, developing performance-based standards for flight-critical functions, and improving data collection and analysis to detect potential safety issues. NAE Website
• [New] With Middle East airspace essentially a no-fly zone, aviation and shipping reroutes are expected to increase emissions, as well as travel times and fuel consumption. Climate Tech Venture Review
• [New] An increasing number of flights across Eastern Europe and the Middle East, particularly near Ukraine and the Strait of Hormuz, have experienced navigational disruptions caused not by pilot error or technical failure, but by interference with Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS). RTE
• [New] Sustainable aviation fuel is often cited as a high-growth segment, with a projected 72% compound annual growth rate to 2030. Energy Monitor
• [New] The Baykar-Leonardo joint venture is accelerating European naval unmanned aviation beyond legacy rotary-wing dependencies, with the Cavour carrier likely serving as a testbed for MALE drone carrier operations that could influence NATO naval doctrine. Drone Warfare
• [New] The Commission's 2025 Defence Readiness Roadmap 2030 makes unmanned aircraft systems, also called drones, the flagship of its defence ramp-up. Euronews
• [New] Just as pilots learn to fly in simulators, junior employees in 2026 must learn to orchestrate in corporate flight simulators, sandboxed environments where they can direct AI agents, make mistakes, and learn judgement without risking actual capital. TechClass
• [New] Aviation accounts for 2.5% of global carbon emissions - and the levels released by aircraft could double or triple by 2050. The Guardian
• [New] Southeast Asia's largest economy, Indonesia, is planning to roll out a sustainable aviation fuel mandate starting from 2027. ADM Investor Services
• [New] Delta CEO Ed Bastian sees air traffic control, not in-flight service, as the most important near-term AI opportunity in aviation. Tech Startups - Tech News, Tech Trends & Startup Fundin
• [New] Demonstration flights in US cities are expected to begin summer 2026, giving Americans their first close-up look at eVTOL aircraft operating in urban environments. eVTOL.Travel
• [New] Industry forecasts have projected a need for more than 200,000 new pilots over the coming decade, strengthening demand for high-quality training equipment and advanced cockpit technology. Textron Aviation
• [New] OpenAI's ad pilot earned $100 million annual recurring revenue in under two months, with strong growth projected, and it told investors that it anticipates its 2026 ad revenue of $2.5 billion to rise to $11 billion in 2027, $25 billion in 2028, and $53 billion by 2029. Benzinga
• [New] The global aviation industry will require nearly 2.4 million new professionals through 2044, including 660,000 pilots, 710,000 maintenance technicians, and 1 million cabin crew members. Amtec
• [New] Looking ahead to 2036, Level 4 autonomous trucking will transition from pilot deployments to large-scale commercial operations, fundamentally reshaping global logistics networks. Morningstar, Inc.
• [New] New York-based aviation cybersecurity company CYVIATION has uncovered a critical vulnerability within the PX4 drone operating system, a widely adopted platform powering numerous consumer and commercial unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). eplaneai
• [New] By 2026, organizations will move from pilot projects to scaled deployments of Agentic AI. QuickBase
• [New] Pilots of eVTOLs will be required to be rated to operate powered-lift vehicles, the FAA says, as many of the vehicle designs involve taking off vertically and transitioning to forward flight. FlightGlobal

Last updated: 19 April 2026