Synopsis
 Electric and hybrid electric powered aircraft have the potential to significantly reduce air transportation costs, carbon emissions and community noise and enable new aviation markets.
Eight years ago, the idea of electric VTOL aircraft was greeted with widespread skepticism, but growing technical progress, flight demonstrations, government validation and private investment have helped reverse public perception.
More than $5 billion has now been invested in eVTOL aircraft development and it is now recognized that the vertical flight market is poised for significant expansion over the next few years as eVTOL aircraft enter service that can have higher performance than conventional helicopters for certain missions, as well as lower operating costs and lower noise.
 In parallel, new initiatives to develop electric conventional (eCTOL) and electric short take off and landing (eSTOL) aircraft are gaining momentum and starting to engage the Canadian aerospace industry.
Ken Swartz
 Ken Swartz is a Senior Editor of the Vertical Flight Society’s Vertiflite magazine and eVTOL.news website, and is President of Aeromedia Communications, an aerospace marketing communications firm based in Toronto, Canada.
Ken was elected to the Board of Directors of the Vertical Flight Society in 2018 representing the Society’s Americas Region (Canada, Central America and South America). He has been a driving force behind VFS’s eVTOL industry initiatives since April 2017.
As a journalist, Ken has reported on the helicopter and aviation industry for more than 40 years for Helicopter International, Helidata News, Canadian Aviation, Wings, Helicopters, Skies, eVTOL.news, Vertical and Vertiflite. He has also written or co-written the corporate histories of many leading Canadian aerospace companies.
 Throughout his freelance writing career, Ken has also worked full time in the commercial aviation industry since the mid-1980s as an international marketing expert with trade shows, helicopter operators, regional and cargo airlines, Bombardier Commercial Aircraft and for numerous other companies as a consult.
In 2010, Ken received the Helicopter Association International's “Communicator of the Year” award for his writing and heritage activities.
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