Tell us more about yourself and what you would like to hear! This week on The Ways We Move, I sit down with Francois Lassale, the current CEO of VAI — Vertical Aviation International, formerly HAI — and it turned out to be one of the richest conversations we have had on this podcast. VAI represents the largest vertical lift association in the world, and Francois arrived at its helm at what he rightly calls an inflection point. Helicopters, drones, and eVTOLs are converging in the same airspace, with the same DNA and the same infrastructure challenges — and somebody needs to hold that community together. That is what VAI does. And Francois is the man who left Bali to do it. His background alone is worth the listen. Born in Zimbabwe to a French father and a South African mother of Dutch descent, raised on a farm where he learned Zulu, deployed to Angola as a soldier in a Zulu commando unit, then the Royal Air Force, then the French national reserve — all three commissions simultaneously. He flew Harriers. He was a VIP helicopter captain and Special Forces pilot. Then the airline world, the UAE Presidential Flight, offshore safety in the North Sea, and three helicopter companies across Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and Australia — run from Bali. His wife has followed him around the world more than once and kept the house in Bali. He still owes her. In this episode we get into: Why VAI rebranded from HAI to VAI — and what vertical means for an industry that now includes drones, eVTOLs, and everything in betweenThe investment gap that should concern everyone: roughly $6.5 billion went into helicopter innovation over the last five years while $28.5 billion went into AAM — and infrastructure received almost none of eitherHow helicopters, drones, and eVTOLs share the same DNA and will operate in the same airspace — and why that makes VAI's institutional role more critical, not lessThe 10-year workforce cliff nobody is talking about: the average helicopter mechanic today is 56 years old, and the pipeline is not filling fast enough before AAM adds its own demand on topThe Docklands Railway story — how London's autonomous train went from nobody will get on it to nobody thinks twice — and what that tells us about public trust in autonomous aircraftWhy Florida leads the country in AAM infrastructure readiness, and why the airport funding model is the blueprint every other state should be following right nowThe FAA's $12.5 billion ATC modernization and what AI-driven airspace separation means for a sky shared by helicopters, drones, and eVTOLsWhy vertiport should become multiport — and the real complexity of building charging, fire suppression, and certification for an entirely new class of aircraft into existing infrastructureVAI's data-sharing platform: anonymous, non-judgmental, benchmarking-driven — and why sharing safety data is the single most powerful thing an operator can do to protect their business and their industryWhy safety is the currency of credibility — not a compliance checkbox, not a marketing lineFrancois closes with the line he carried out of the Royal Air Force: keep the blue side up. And the reminder that none of this — not the aircraft, not the airspace, not the infrastructure, not the public trust — gets built by anyone working alone. CHAPTER INDEX 00:00 Introduction 00:06 Episode overview and guest introduction 03:15 Welcome Francois Lassale 03:29 Growing up in Zimbabwe, learning Zulu, serving in Angola 05:09 The Royal Air Force, Harriers, and the path to helicopters 06:00 VIP pilot, Special Forces, and the airline world 06:52 UAE Presidential Flight and the move to America 07:20 Offshore safety with Helioshore: oil, gas, and wind 07:48 Running helicopter operations across Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and Australia 08:05 Why VAI came calling — and why Francois left Bali 10:20 Replacing James Viola at the helm of the world's largest vertical lift association 11:31 The VAI mission: bringing the full vertical lift community together 12:35 Helicopters, drones, and eVTOLs: shared DNA, shared airspace 15:23 Nobody can do this alone: the collaboration imperative 16:17 The investment gap: $6.5B for helicopters vs $28.5B for AAM 17:30 The FAA's $12.5B ATC modernization and what it means for shared airspace 19:28 VAI's role: keeping heliports open and converting them to multiports 20:39 ACAS, TCAS, and AI-driven separation in congested airspace 23:25 Why vertiport should become multiport 24:35 Infrastructure priorities: energy, public transport, and the full ecosystem 25:27 VAI's five strategic initiatives and five-year plan 26:43 The 10-year workforce cliff: average mechanic age is 56 28:37 School visits, scholarships, and Rotor's autonomous Robinson helicopter 31:27 The US vs. Europe infrastructure investment gap — and why it exists 33:50 Why infrastructure is less attractive to investors than aircraft 35:06 Florida as the model state: the airport funding blueprint for AAM 38:35 The Docklands Railway story: public trust and the autonomous transition 40:18 Horses, steam engines, EVs, and now eVTOLs: how technology adoption always goes 41:24 Francois goes electric: the Porsche Taycan 42:41 What gets Francois out of bed: leaving Bali for Virginia to help lead a global industry 46:09 Key takeaways: collaboration and safety as the currency of credibility 47:24 VAI's data-driven approach and the benchmarking platform 49:09 Start with the question, then collect the data 50:32 Making the invisible visible: advocacy for the vertical lift industry 51:35 Closing: keep the blue side up
