So you want to start an airline. How about two?
That’s what Miami airline executive-entrepreneur Ed Wegel proposes to do as he orchestrates what he calls “the last rodeos” of a commercial aviation career that dates back to the 1980s.
Within a little more than a week, Wegel has formally announced plans to start a South Florida air taxi service using eVTOLs (electric vertical takeoff and landing) aircraft, and a Miami-based scheduled airline that would serve small cities in the Northeast and Midwest, as well as destinations in the Caribbean and Central America.
The air taxi plans call for UrbanLink Air Mobility to ferry commuters among landing spots including airports in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties. The company has placed orders for six-passenger aircraft with the German manufacturer Lilium, which has been busy orchestrating air taxi operations in Central Florida, including at Orlando International Airport.
Wegel’s new airline, to be called Zoom!, would initially operate Brazilian Embraer 190 regional jetliners, acquiring the slightly larger, longer-range Airbus 220s later. He said the service would be akin to what JetBlue Airways has to offer; but the destinations would take travelers to cities where they would not have to struggle through massive airports.
In a May 7 announcement, Wegel put UrbanLink into play, saying it has ordered 20 electric-powered aircraft by Lilium that can carry six passengers and fly them at distances of up to 100 miles.
“UrbanLink will lead the entry into service and management of [Advanced Air Mobility] in South Florida, and will expand to other markets, including Los Angeles,” the company said in a statement.
UrbanLink expects to start the process of certifying its planes and operations with the Federal Aviation Administration and U.S. Department of Transportation in the first quarter of next year, “with entry into revenue service by Summer 2026.”
Industry momentum toward the use of electric powered aircraft has been building for a number of years as commercial aviation companies including the airlines and manufacturers have responded to public concerns over the impact of fossil fuel use on the world’s climate.
Delta Air Lines has teamed with Joby Aviation of Santa Cruz, Calif., to develop all-electric aircraft that would provide city-to-airport service in Los Angeles and New York. United Airlines says it expects to start an electric-powered air taxi service next year between a downtown Chicago “vertiport” and O’Hare International Airport with eVTOL aircraft it is buying from Archer Aviation of California.
From air taxi to airline?
Wegel acknowledged there could be service hookups between UrbanLink and Zoom! Airlines flights out of South Florida.
“That certainly would be a great added benefit,” he said. “Whether we could make the schedule work we would have to have sharp network planning guys to do that.”
He said he sees Zoom! more of a competitor for JetBlue Airways or the low-cost Breeze Airways than the South Florida-based discounter Spirit Airlines.
Wegel indicated that UrbanLink also would serve as a potential source of pilots for Zoom!
“Zoom! will work closely with UrbanLink to connect passengers — and UrbanLink pilots — who will start with 500 hours — will build flight hours until they can move to Zoom’s 190s and eventually 220s — we will home grow our co*ckpit crews,” he said on his LinkedIn account.
Wegel, 66, is a Long Island, N.Y., native and West Point graduate who helped start Global Crossing Airlines of Miami, where he was most recently CEO. A decade ago, he helped orchestrate the revival of Eastern Airlines as a charter carrier. In the 1980s, he worked in finance at the original Eastern as it unsuccessfully struggled to stay in business.
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Last year, while still CEO at Global Crossing, the airline company formed a subsidiary called UrbanX, and ordered up to 200 eVTOL aircraft from Eve Air Mobility of Melbourne, Florida, a subsidiary of Embraer.
But now, according to Wegel and regulatory filings, Global Crossing has decided to drop the eVTOL project to focus on its baseline business of operating charter passenger and cargo flights.
Wegel resigned as CEO in February but remains on the GlobalX board. Mark Salvador, a GlobalX marketing executive, declined to comment.
Wegel says UrbanLink can be a “game changer in aviation” despite an array of challenges that need to be overcome. “While there are issues and challenges, we want to be in the forefront of that and helping to solve those,” he said.
Takeoff and landing spots
Chief among the obstacles is where to land the electric-powered aircraft, how to extend their flight range, and where to develop networks of charging stations.
“The industry is trying to come up with a standardized charging system,” Wegel said.
In addition, Lilium, the supplier of UrbanLink’s aircraft, is looking to upgrade the flight range of the aircraft as battery technology improves. “We know they are working with the battery manufacturers to get lighter weight batteries and keep them cooler during flight,” Wegel said.
Matthew Broffman, Lilium’s head of public affairs and partnership, the Americas, said UrbanLink is the first customer to buy Lilium’s aircraft in the U.S.
“We’ve been getting the ecosystem ready for these operators,” he said. “We’re still working to secure the right operator for the Orlando network.”
Lilium is looking to create a network of 11 vertiports for Florida customers who would buy its all-electric jets, which sport 36 ducted fans on swiveling wings for vertical takeoffs and landings.
A Dutch infrastructure company called Ferrovial has been developing “vertiports” for takeoffs and landings.
A spokeswoman did not have any information about Florida locations, although the firm is said by industry sources to have three sites under lease, including in Palm Beach County.
Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and Palm Beach International Airports did not provide information about how they are responding to the coming age of electric powered aircraft.
But Greg Chin, a spokesman for the Miami-Dade Aviation Department, said officials have been scouting locations near Miami International Airport for potential “vertiports” that could be used for landings, takeoffs and charging facilities.
“One site is located on the airport’s northside along Northwest 36th Street, a second site is located adjacent to MIA’s Miami Intermodal Center just east of the MIA terminal,” he said. “Other sites include locations at MDAD’s general aviation airports.”
Wegel credits Miami-Dade County for exhibiting a deep interest in eVTOL development.
“We are very comfortable with the work that Miami-Dade County has done,” he said, adding that Mayor Daniella Levine Cava and County Commission Chair Oliver Gilbert “are on top of it.”
He added that other counties in South, Central and Northeast Florida are “mobilizing and organizing to get ready for this.”
