Newsletter
Weekly insights on AI and aviation — industry updates, deployment news, and practical guidance for aviation professionals.
Subscribe on SubstackTwo views on EASA's AI Concept Paper Issue 03 - Overwatch AI vs Swiss Aerospace Ventures - checked against the 239-page primary document. The critics disagree about the assurance ceiling but converge on the architecture, and EASA has already institutionalised it.
ReadThe Deepsky Industry Update
ReadThe Deepsky Industry Update
ReadThe Deepsky Industry Update
ReadThe Deepsky Industry Update
ReadThe Deepsky Industry Update
ReadThe deepsky industry update - special military edition
ReadThis is another catch up edition, and the theme is the airspace itself: air traffic control, the regulators deciding what AI is allowed to fly, and the companies quietly being handed the keys.
ReadHi, here's my take on todays news - which represents the second slice of the last week of AI in Aviation happenings around the world:
ReadTwo stories this week are genuinely historic, and I want to flag both up front before anything else. Physical Intelligence released Pi 0.7, which is the starting gun for physical AI in robotics. And the FAA is quietly building SMART, an AI system to de-conf…
ReadThe main story today is Beacon AI has signed a $49.5M contract with the USAF’s Special Operations Command. They are one of a handful of companies that have successfully secured a highly contested spot in the cockpit. Over the past couple of years, there hav…
ReadThe FAA letting autonomous aircraft fly commercial routes before full certification is a big deal — and it's not just a regulatory experiment. Reliable Robotics is about to operate real cargo flights on real routes on Cessna Caravans with no pilot on board.…
ReadHi, it's Sam Chandra here, Founder and CEO of Deepsky. Delta's CEO said ATC was the biggest opportunity for AI in aviation, something I've been saying for years. And he's 100% right. If we can optimise air traffic control we have huge cost, time and emissio…
ReadThe massive AI-aviation knowledge gap - and why it’s your opportunity
ReadEASA’s NPA 2025-07 is worth paying attention to. This is no longer guidance - it’s draft regulation, and that’s a meaningful shift. They’ve expanded coverage to all aviation domains and interestingly address using AI to build or test AI-based systems. The d…
ReadHi - it’s Sam Chandra, CEO/Founder of Deepsky and author of this newsletter. Here’s my take on todays AI in Aviation news:
ReadThe Flighty use of NOTAMs and weather is definitely something I’ve tried as a side project, but never had enough time to see it through. IAG asking for disruption management is no surprise - it pretty much is (and has been for a while) the grand prize of pr…
ReadNavi AI just raised $6M to scale AI-powered flight training — I’ve met both cofounders and they’re building something pretty special. The Saab-Cohere partnership caught my eye too; we’ve seen airlines partner with big AI companies before, but a manufacturer…
ReadThis week, an AI agent passed three of four human controller competencies in UK airspace, while autonomous combat software went from lab to live flight in a single day. Meanwhile, agentic AI is reading aircraft maintenance records faster than any human team…
ReadMerlin - a company that retrofits existing transport aircraft with autonomous AI pilots just went public at an $800M valuation, the U.S. Army took delivery of its first autonomous helicopter, and Bordeaux Airport figured out how to track passenger flows wit…
ReadFrom AI-guided contrail avoidance over the Atlantic to autonomous drone swarms learning pursuit logic in Japan, this week's updates show AI moving from concept to cockpit — with the industry now grappling with how to govern it all.
ReadAn AI-powered sweep of radar data has exposed thousands of unreported helicopter close calls at major airports, prompting the FAA to scrap visual separation rules overnight. Meanwhile, the MRO sector braces for a maintenance supercycle as digital twins and…
ReadSuddenly, everyone is talking about AI, and the startups (like us) that have been knocking on the door of large enterprises for years are having those doors opened wide.
Read*Date (UTC): 2026-02-25*
ReadAI-in-aviation execution accelerated today across defense, airport operations, maintenance intelligence, and customer service, with multiple programs signaling production deployment rather than pilot-phase experimentation.
ReadOver the past week, AI in aviation has moved from interesting pilots to practical rollout: airports are tightening day-of-ops coordination with smarter data layers, airlines are pairing AI-native commercial tools with execution.
Read on SubstackAnthropic's India expansion reportedly includes partnerships with Air India and Cognizant, marking a significant commercialization step where a frontier AI provider is being positioned directly inside large-scale airline workflows.
Read on SubstackAI in aviation is moving from pilot projects into day-to-day execution, with tangible deployment across fuel, maintenance, and autonomy. The commercial side is also evolving quickly, but with rising regulatory pressure around AI pricing.
Read on SubstackEASA's AI days and ethics of AI in Aviation, Starlux AI ground ops, AI pilot assessment with iPhone recordings, American mulling AI to price tickets, AI in aircraft design, and Australian AI awards.
Read on SubstackJoby flies 'superpilot' in a Cessna Caravan, Embry Riddle applies voice understanding tech to ATC chat, Gen AI for aviation risk assessments, AI eye tracking in ATC simulators, Qatar Airways does AI.
Read on SubstackUnderstand what you are trying to achieve. Use AI to do things that you can check and can actually multiply your efforts — aviation requires reliability and efficiency.
Read on SubstackUS majors using AI to reduce disruptions, DEFCON on AI voice cloning in rogue ATC communication, Qantas does AI, single pilot ops shelved, Shield AI flies unmanned helicopter autonomously.
Read on SubstackAI is more human-like than normal software — it presents new risks and opportunities. Treat AI-powered software more like a human when introducing it into aviation operations.
Read on SubstackOur AI in Aviation journey started 5 years ago. Yours starts today. I'm Samuel Chandra, an A320 Captain who published a podcast on the intersection of AI and Aviation back in 2020/21.
Read on SubstackNew issues land on Substack first. Subscribe to get AI-in-aviation updates in your inbox.
Subscribe on Substack