American Airlines Backs Vertical Aerospace Electric Planes: Travel Startup Funding This Week

>>Vertical Aerospace, a maker of air taxis, said American Airlines made an undisclosed investment in the startup. Based in Bristol, England, Vertical Aerospace plans to go public later this year in a possible $2.2 billion merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). American will invest $25 million, alongside investments from Avolon, Honeywell, Microsoft, and Rolls-Royce, as Skift reported. It committed this week to buy an unpublicized number of the startup's planned five-seat, electric-powered aircraft. So did Virgin Atlantic. The startup faces many competitors that are d