Blog Series: The Top 5 Areas Most Investors, Startups, and Companies Don't Understand About Air Traffic Management

Series Introduction

Air traffic management is one of the most misunderstood parts of aviation — and one of the most consequential for any investor, startup, or company trying to operate in the national airspace system.

Every week, new companies announce plans to put aircraft, drones, or air taxis into the sky. The pitch decks are polished. The investor interest is real. In many cases the technical idea genuinely works. But again and again, the people who have spent careers inside the air traffic management system notice the same gaps. The same things get glossed over. The same assumptions get made.

To explore what new entrants most consistently miss, The Aspect Group convened a discussion with three experienced ATM veterans, hosted by Partner, Jim Barry:

• Tom White, a seasoned ATM leader with more than three decades of experience developing strategies for some of the world's most complex ATM systems, aligning people, processes, and technology to improve performance and safety.

• Lorne Cass, an executive leader with deep expertise in airline operations control, FAA air traffic management, airport efficiency, and aviation safety, with experience across UAS, AAM, and eVTOL operations.

• Mark Hopkins, who brings over four decades of experience in airline operations and air traffic management, recently retired from Delta Air Lines where he served as Director of Air Traffic Management and Collaborative Decision Making (CDM).

We're publishing this discussion as a two-part series:

• Part 1: You Are Not Operating on an Island / Every Schedule Is Perfect Until the First Plane Moves — May 29th, 2026 at 11:00AM

• Part 2: Stop Talking About Efficiency. Start Talking About Time / Collaboration and Accurate Information / The Public Has a Vote. So Does the Hill. — June 1st, 2026 at 11:00 AM