August 21, 2026

Lufthansa Innovation Hub’s research team mapped 25 companies building AI for airline operations, spanning five areas of the airline technology stack: network resource and planning, flight operations, operations control and steering, and technical operations, training and safety. Four of the companies on the list are SKY VC portfolio companies: Volantio (network and resource planning), Beacon AI (flight operations), Tomorrow.io (flight operations), and Assaia (operations control and steering).

The categories may differ, but these companies share a common thread: they sit in the orchestration layer we’ve been writing about all year, giving airlines a way to adopt purpose-built infrastructure for coordinating complex workflows rather than building it themselves.

Taken together, the leaderboard offers a useful snapshot of where airlines are turning to specialized technology to solve increasingly complex operational problems.

Joby agreed to acquire Resonant Sciences for $500M, the largest deal in its history. Resonant builds radio frequency and mission systems for US national security customers, and upon closing, it becomes Joby’s dedicated defense business.

ClearJet raised $25M in funding to become the “Uber of cargo,” by moving packages in unused cargo space on commercial flights already scheduled between American cities. It currently processes 30 million packages a year across 95 U.S. airports.

i6 Group is digitizing refueling across easyJet’s network, which replaces the airline's paper-based refueling process.  In using the tech, easyJet is expected to save around 10,000 tons of CO2 a year by cutting unnecessary fuel uplift.

Assaia was selected by Breeze Airways for an initial rollout of up to 30 gates, with a stated path to the carrier’s 85+ airport network. 

Volantio partnered with Air India to reallocate demand across the airline’s network by proactively identifying fuller flights and offering passengers an incentive to move to an emptier one.

Aether Fuels stood up its first advisory board, with alumni from Shell and Boeing, to push its sustainable fuel platform toward commercial scale.

Volantio is hiring a Solutions Architect, remote in the US and Canada.

Tomorrow.io is hiring an Assembly Integration & Test Lead and a GNSS Payload Engineer in Golden, Colorado, and a Forward Deployed Engineer in Washington, DC.

Assaia is hiring a Data Scientist in Spain and a Software Engineer, ML/Core in Spain, Serbia, or Montenegro, both remote.

Joby is hiring across engineering, manufacturing, and flight operations at its California and Ohio sites.

Travel insurance has historically been a reactive product: something travelers buy in case a trip goes wrong, then navigate a claims process after the fact. Faye is betting AI can fundamentally change that experience, using AI across underwriting, traveler assistance and claims to make travel protection more proactive and easier to use. The company raised a $50M Series C led by Madrona earlier this month and expects AI to resolve more than half of its claims by the end of 2026. With its own digital wallet and insurance infrastructure, Faye is building a financial and assistance layer that sits alongside the entire trip.

Air Canada sells 25% stake in Aeroplan to Blackstone and La Caisse for $2.5B (Via BNN Bloomberg)

Delta Concierge expands to all SkyMiles members (Via Runway Girl Network)

Skift Aviation Forum returns to New York in November (Via Skift)