SMART NOTES:

Here are some stories that interested our SMART team. These stories relate to our Agentic AI software and language simplification activities.

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Concorde made its final flight more than 20 years ago and supersonic air travel has yet to return. Co-developed by Britain and France, Concorde was the first supersonic commercial airliner in operation in 1976. British Airways operated its final commercial Concorde flight in 2003, ending its 27-year career. The supersonic jet remains an icon of modern aviation and a technological marvel. For 30 years during the 20th century, supersonic commercial air travel was a reality.
But on October 24, 2003, that era came to an end. That day, British Airways operated its last commercial Concorde service from JFK International Airport to London Heathrow. Air France pulled its Concordes from service a few months earlier.

Here comes the BOOM

In 2025 a new supersonic called BOOM is ready to continue the saga. This new aircraft is required to document the maintenance manuals in ASD-STE100 Simplified Techical English (STE).

See our STE page for Aviation

A company planning to launch an electric air taxi service in Dubai has revealed that it intends to compete with regular taxis on price. Joby Aviation, which aims to begin operations in 2026, has ambitions to deliver a “widely accessible” service via a smartphone app and its long-term goal is to be “competitive” with ground-based alternatives, said Anthony Khoury, UAE general manager at the California-based company. Archer Aviation, another air-taxi company with plans to launch services in Abu Dhabi.
The company’s electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft will use vertiports, which are being built at strategic locations so the service can blend in with Dubai’s existing infrastructure, such as the metro and bus. The company announced that construction of the first flying station, near Dubai International Airport, had started. It said the vertiport will be able handle 170,000 passengers a year.

Designed to fly in urban areas

NASA has worked with Joby Aviation to test the noise footprint of the aircraft and ensure that they are built for cities. The air taxi makes “exponentially less” sound than helicopters during take-off and flight. Working with UAE authorities for safety Mr Khoury said his company is working with the UAE’s General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) to certify its aircraft and operations for commercial use, while closely following the regulations laid out by the US Federal Aviation Administration.

NOTE: The new flying taxis or eVTOLS are required to have complex software documentation written in a controlled language.

Visit Controlled English - Software