Future of Flight Industry Group
Industry and government collaboration on creating and delivering a Future of Flight Plan to maximise the benefits of Future of Flight technologies while ensuring their emergence is safe and secure.
The Future of Flight Industry Group (FFIG) brings together government, industry and other key stakeholders to collaborate on the development and delivery of a Future of Flight Plan that will accelerate the growth of Future of Flight safely and securely in the UK.
The plan sets out the actions that industry, government and other stakeholders need to take to maximise the benefits of Future of Flight technologies, for the economy and for communities. It also considers how to continue implementing the high UK standard on aviation safety in an appropriate way for these new aviation technologies and their appropriate integration with other transport modes.
Chairs
- Parliamentary Under Secretary of State
- Duncan Walker, Chief Executive Officer, Skyports
Members
- Andy Sage, Director, Safety Transformation, National Air Traffic Services (NATS)
- Christopher Bradshaw, Chief Executive Officer, Bristow Group
- Gary Elliott, Chief Executive Officer, Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI)
- Gary Cutts, Future Flight Challenge Director, UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)
- Graham Brown, Chief Executive Officer, Association for Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (ARPAS)
- Professor Iain Gray, Chair, Drone Industry Action Group (DIAG) and Director of Aerospace, UK Aerospace Research Consortium
- JoeBen Bevirt, Chief Executive Officer, Joby Aviation
- Kamal Panchal, Senior Adviser, Transport Policy, Local Government Association (LGA)
- Kate Jennings, Policy Director, Logistics UK
- Kevin Craven, Chief Executive Officer, ADS Group
- Marc Bailey, Chair, General Aviation for Business (GA4Biz)
- Andrew Chadwick, Ecosystem Director – Air Mobility and Airports, Connected Places Catapult (CPC)
- Richard Parker, Chief Executive Officer, Altitude Angel
- Stephen Fitzpatrick, Chief Executive Officer, Vertical Aerospace
- Basil O’Fee, Head of Secretariat, Regional Airports Business Association (RABA)
- Rob Bishton, Chief Executive Officer, Civil Aviation Authority (CAA)
Working groups
The FFIG has the remit to establish working groups to address specific areas in relation to the Future of Flight Plan. Information on established working groups will appear here.
Meeting minutes
Meeting minutes are available on request. Email FutureofAviationPMO@dft.gov.uk for a copy.
Terms of reference
Purpose
FFIG has co-produced a Future of Flight action plan to develop the industry and will act as the delivery body for the implementation of the Plan.
FFIG will provide insights to support the development of advice and recommendations on how to address challenges and opportunities facing the industry, as well as play a role in championing the use of this technology to build awareness of its opportunities, considering and taking account of public acceptance and social licencing.
Scope
FFIG has now developed the Future of Flight action plan.
It will not duplicate work done by other ministerial groups, such as the Airspace Strategy Board and the Jet Zero Council. The Jet Zero Council leads on the government’s ambition for net zero aviation, including sustainable aviation fuels and zero emission flight and FFIG will not consider issues that cut across this remit. FFIG will include a representative from these groups to ensure they are linked up.
FFIG will feed into the Aviation Council as needed.
Agenda items may be proposed and discussed by any member but ultimately inclusion on the FFIG agenda will be the final decision of the Department for Transport (DfT).
FFIG will be used to discuss sector-wide delivery issues and not individual issues of group members. FFIG will not discuss any specific certification applications.
If necessary, FFIG will be able to set up sub-groups when needed to work on specific workstreams that arise in the group.
Membership
The membership aims to be balanced in terms of areas within the Future of Flight (FoF) industry. Through the inclusion of membership organisations and trade bodies, FFIG aims to ensure that a sizeable proportion of the industry has a way to feed in their views.
Named senior representatives of member organisations will be invited to attend FFIG. Members should make every effort to attend each FFIG meeting. Any delegation will require written approval from the FFIG Secretariat.
Membership of the FFIG will be reviewed each year to ensure all appropriate areas of industry and government are represented. The Minister for Aviation will have the final decision for any membership changes.
Membership will be in line with the diversity and inclusion principles in place at DfT and will endeavour to:
- create an inclusive culture
- increase the representation of underrepresented people to better reflect the people we serve
- attract, recognise and nurture diverse talent
- ensure everyone understands the importance of diversity and inclusion and how we all play a part in making it happen
Roles of FFIG members
Chair and Co-Chair
FFIG meetings will be co-chaired by the Minister for Aviation and the industry Co-Chair. They will alternate between chairing the meetings.
The Chair and Co-Chair will agree the agenda and future work programme, and work with the FFIG membership and secretariat to ensure that actions are delivered within the agreed timings.
The Co-Chair may also be required to meet with sub-groups of the Council where appropriate to resolve issues.
Members
Members will make every effort to attend all meetings of FFIG. They will attend as the named individual and will not send a substitute unless there are exceptional circumstances, and substitution has been expressly agreed with the Secretariat in advance of the meeting.
Members should attend FFIG representing the organisation they have been selected from rather than any other interests they may have.
If for any reason a member wishes to leave FFIG then the Secretariat will be responsible for inviting their replacement to ensure it covers the new specific gap.
In addition to permanent members of the group, other specialist representatives from across industry may be invited to specific meetings where relevant. This may include other ministers or government officials.
Members will be required to declare any possible conflicts of interest before accepting their invitation to join FFIG.
Members will maintain confidentiality in terms of FFIG papers, agendas and discussions.
Government officials
Relevant government directors will be invited to represent their department as and when necessary.
Secretariat
DfT will fulfil the secretariat function, which will include:
- scheduling group meetings
- preparing the agenda to be agreed with the Chair and Co-Chair
- distributing papers by email in advance of the meeting
- recording meeting minutes and circulating them to FFIG members
- ensuring actions are recorded, progress tracked and completed within agreed timings
Meetings and timings
FFIG will meet quarterly for a duration of one hour, with exact timings subject to alteration. This will allow some flexibility in the event of urgent business. If it is deemed necessary, there will be the option to include additional meetings.
Meetings will aim to take place in person at DfT, although if a member cannot attend, it will be considered whether it is possible for them to join the meeting virtually. Meetings may also take place off-site at a relevant FoF location.
FFIG will have its own webpage on the DfT website and a newsletter will be uploaded every 6 months to keep the whole sector informed of FFIG’s work.
Sub-groups
FFIG will convene sub-groups to explore key themes and issues as necessary.
Sub-groups will not duplicate existing work. If there are any existing working groups that currently cover the issue or relevant area, the FFIG secretariat will discuss with the relevant contacts of the existing group the possibility of covering the issue in question.
FFIG will appoint a coordinator for each sub-group, which may be a DfT official, to ensure the timely progression of the work of the sub-group. FFIG will set out the workstream and objectives of the sub-group.
Sub-groups will provide FFIG with a written update before each meeting.
Each sub-group will only exist for as long as necessary to achieve the objectives outlined by FFIG.
FFIG members may suggest attendees of a specific sub-group. Sub-group members do not need to be members of FFIG. If FFIG members are not able to decide on the attendees for a specific sub-group, the Chair and Co-Chair will decide.
Sub-groups will decide their meeting frequency and location to meet the deliverable requirements.