Surf Air

Surf Air Mobility is an air mobility platform headquartered in Los Angeles, California, with the Surf Air airline subsidiary listed in Hawthorne, California. The company combines scheduled regional air service, on-demand private charter brokerage, aviation software and aircraft electrification efforts. Scheduled flights are operated under the Southern Airways Express and Mokulele Airlines brands; Southern Airways Express flies routes across the United States, much of it under long-term Essential Air Service (EAS) government contracts, while Mokulele Airlines operates inter-island service in Hawaii. Surf Air itself acts as a sales agent and does not own or operate aircraft; flights arranged for members are performed by independent, FAA-licensed and DOT-registered third-party air carriers, and the Surf Air fleet sits under the Southern Airways Express operating certificate.

The Surf On Demand unit lets customers find, book and customize private charter passenger and cargo flights across more than 100 aircraft types operated by third-party carriers, supported by an iOS app and a charter quote-request desk. Aircraft available through the charter marketplace span turboprops and light-to-large-cabin jets, including the Pilatus PC-12 and PC-24, Beechcraft King Air and Hawker models, Cessna Citation types, Embraer Phenom 300, HondaJet, Bombardier Challenger and Global Express, Dassault Falcon and Gulfstream aircraft.

On the technology side, the company is developing SurfOS, an AI-enabled operating system for private aviation and advanced air mobility built in partnership with Palantir, with three flagship products: BrokerOS, OperatorOS and OwnerOS. SurfOS is positioned to handle scheduling, dispatch reliability, cost reduction, distribution and revenue management for scheduled and charter operations, drawing on operating data generated by the company's own airline and charter businesses. In electrification, Surf Air has partnered with BETA Technologies as launch operator for BETA passenger electric aircraft, with Hawaii identified as the intended launch market.

Founding story

Surf Air emerged in 2012 from MuckerLab, a Los Angeles business incubator, and was founded by David Eyerly, Wade Eyerly, Peter Bi, Scott Porter, Cory Cozzens and Reed Farnsworth, initially building a subscription-based, all-you-can-fly airline connecting Palo Alto and Los Angeles using mid-sized executive aircraft. Early angel investors included Paige Craig, Aviv Grill and Bill Woodward. Separately, dot.LA reported the company was co-founded in 2012 by CEO Sudhin Shahani and Chief Brand Officer Liam Fayed.

Business model

The company operates a mix of first-party and marketplace air travel businesses alongside a software product. Revenue-generating activities include scheduled commuter airline service under the Southern Airways Express and Mokulele Airlines brands (including long-term Essential Air Service government contracts), on-demand private charter passenger and cargo bookings sold through Surf On Demand as principal or ticket agent, and the planned commercialization of SurfOS software for brokers, operators and aircraft owners. Historically, Surf Air sold subscription memberships offering unlimited or discounted regional flying, with US plans advertised from $199 per month and European memberships from £1,750 per month.

Scheduled airline ticket sales and government Essential Air Service contracts, charter bookings and jet card/membership products sold through Surf On Demand, and software products (BrokerOS, OperatorOS, OwnerOS) under the SurfOS platform. Earlier in its history the company used monthly all-you-can-fly subscription memberships and, from October 2018, a Surf Air Express program with an annual membership fee plus per-flight payments.

Traction

The company reported more than 60,000 scheduled flights and 800+ destinations flown in 2025, and states its brands have flown millions of passengers over millions of miles. At the time of the 2022 SPAC announcement, the combined company expected roughly $100 million in revenue across its business units for 2022, and Southern Airways was described as having served 39 cities and 300,000 customers in the prior year. Surf Air is listed with a fleet of 52 aircraft and 42 destinations and approximately 700 employees.

Latest developments

Surf Air Mobility announced a strategic partnership with BETA Technologies to serve as launch operator for BETA passenger electric aircraft, and as of June 2026 BETA's ALIA electric aircraft began demonstration flights across Hawaii to assess passenger and cargo use on the inter-island network. The company is rolling out SurfOS, its Palantir-powered software platform, including an enterprise BrokerOS launch, and reported second-quarter 2026 results through its investor relations channels.