Surf Air Mobility (NYSE:SRFM) said Wednesday it signed a definitive agreement with Air Fuga, making the aviation company the third customer for its OperatorOS platform in less than two weeks.
The agreement comes as the company expands its aviation software business and deepens its collaboration with Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:PLTR).
Under the Air Fuga agreement, Surf Air Mobility will receive a percentage of revenue from flights managed through OperatorOS.
Palantir Partnership Accelerates Software Push
Surf Air Mobility is working with Palantir to accelerate the commercialization of OperatorOS and development of OwnerOS.
The collaboration gives the company access to Palantir’s engineering resources, which the company expects will shorten product-development timelines and support expansion into new markets and use cases.
Palantir will receive 4,644,922 shares of Surf Air Mobility common stock as part of the arrangement.
Shawn Pelsinger, chairman of Surf Air Mobility’s board, said SurfOS is designed to bring the fragmented private aviation industry onto a common operating system. He said Palantir’s data and artificial intelligence infrastructure will support that strategy.
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Names Aviation Finance Veteran Jason Secore CFO
The company also recently appointed Jason Secore as chief financial officer, effective Sept. 30.
Secore brings 18 years of finance experience across aviation, aerospace and technology. He previously served as CFO of autonomous aviation technology company Matternet and has held senior finance roles at Arconic, AAR Corp., Republic Airways, Frontier Airlines and US Airways.
The company said Secore’s experience in capital markets, aircraft financing and aviation operations will support its push toward profitability across SurfOS, its scheduled airline business and Surf On Demand private charter operations.
Secore succeeds Oliver Reeves, who is stepping down to pursue other opportunities. Reeves will remain with the company as an adviser.
Former Palantir Executive Takes Over SurfOS
Surf Air Mobility also named Barrett Brown president of SurfOS. Brown previously served as Palantir’s head of Asia.
Kevin Kawasaki, Palantir’s global head of business development, said Brown’s experience gives him an understanding of aviation’s operational complexity and the opportunity to apply software and AI at scale.
Surf Air Mobility operates a commuter airline and provides private charter services. The company plans to use that operating network to test and deploy its AI-enabled aviation software while supporting the adoption of next-generation aircraft.
SRFM Price Action: Surf Air Mobility shares were down 2.48% at $1.17 in Wednesday premarket trading, according to Benzinga Pro.
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