Interview with John Roberts from Blockaviation

John Roberts from Blockaviation is our guest today. Discover what his team at Blockaviation is doing in our brand new interview series. Please contact us, if you would like to participate.

Today's guest is John Roberts, CEO of Blockaviation. Blockaviation is an irish innovation powerhouse, building a new way to document and demonstrate airworthiness compliance and aircraft value.

What is Blockaviation doing? What problem(s) does it solve for its customers?

Thanks for having me. Our customers are primarily aircraft leasing companies, who own almost half the worlds commercial aircraft. We are building a new way to document and demonstrate airworthiness compliance and aircraft value. The value add for the lessors, is that we look at how to document the airworthiness over the entire cycle of the asset and this ensures the residual value is upheld. There are also massive efficiency savings in this for moving the aircraft from customer to customer.

What's your background and how did you come up with the idea?

The leasing industry is very entrenched in Ireland and there are excellent professional skills here. A friend of mine set up a very successful leasing company, which he IPO’d in New York. My background is technology marketing and I became fascinated with the applications of the latest technology in the leasing space. My co-founders consolidated this fascination and we have collaborated to build an exciting roadmap.

Can you give some insights on your (growing) team? Who did you start Blockaviation with?

Myself and Simon started the company. Simon is an excellent computer engineer and also an aircraft records technician. We were fortunate to meet Karl Scanlon and he brought real domain expertise to the team and has driven a pragmatic roadmap for us.  Since then the team has expanded as we have taken on customers.

You're based in Dublin, Ireland, which is home to several global leaders in the aviation industry. What are the implications of starting an aviation business close to companies such as Avalon, Aircastle and others?

It is great to be close to industry thought leaders and innovators. Ireland has a cluster of competence in aviation and travel tech and it is valuable to be able to collaborate with such progressive people.

What untapped opportunities are you seeing in terms of digitalisation across the diverse aviation industry?

I think the opportunity for standardization is enormous, as the inefficiencies from legacy processes are costing the industry a lot. Standardisation of processes should be possible, as the industry is highly regulated and does share best practice. Technology will likely provide the catalyst to drive this standardisation and allow the industry to focus on customer acquisition and satisfaction.

The future of aviation according to some voices depends on ever increasing engine efficiency, sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs) and other measures to reach CO₂ neutrality. What's your take on that?

I think this is a tide for all industries and not just aviation. The commitments of the industry are impressive, given the persistent dependence on fossil fuels. The commitment to maintaining 2005 levels of C02 from 2020 and cutting by 50% by 2050 is admirable. I think the industry has the ingenuity to figure it out and hit these goals and probably more.

What's your favorite form of travel?

I love to sail. I think it very gratifying to arrive at a destination have used no other power than the natural power of the wind.

Blockaviation is also a partner of AeroInside.