Pilot-free flying taxis revving up to traverse U.S. skyways

Forget Waymo. Get ready for flying taxis.

Electric aircraft technology is rapidly advancing and eventually will fill the nation’s skies with quiet, autonomous vehicles that transport people and cargo.

Expect to see aircraft that take off and land vertically, some without pilots, quietly whizzing in and out of major and rural airports within the next few years, industry leaders say.

“This is real,” Kyle Clark, an advanced aerospace CEO, told House lawmakers this month. “Aviation is moving to all-electric, advanced air mobility.”

Mr. Clark’s Vermont-based Beta Technologies is among dozens of companies in the emerging field of advanced air mobility, or AAM, that plan to ship goods and people in electric, self-flying vehicles.

Tyler Painter, chief financial officer of Wisk Aero, said his California-based company, a Boeing subsidiary, aims to be the first to design and manufacture Federal Aviation Administration-certified, passenger-carrying air taxis. The aircraft will fly with no pilot on board.

“Autonomy is not a new or radical advancement but rather an evolution of what already exists today,” Mr. Painter told lawmakers at a Dec. 4 hearing on Capitol Hill.

Congress and the FAA are on board with AAM technology and are implementing regulations to accommodate futuristic flying vehicles in the National Airspace System.

In September, the FAA announced a pilot program to integrate and advance aircraft that take off and land vertically, as well as those that fly in conjunction with other AAM technologies, including unmanned aircraft.

The FAA pilot program aims to oversee the launch of passenger air taxis that take off and land vertically, as well as longer-range, fixed-wing flights in new electric aircraft that use runways significantly shorter than those required for traditional airplanes. The pilot program also aims to demonstrate advanced aircraft for medical transport and cargo delivery.

“A new era of aviation is here,” the FAA announced in promoting “powered lift,” the first new type of civil aircraft in almost half a century.

The FAA defines advanced air mobility as aircraft that are typically highly automated, electrically powered and capable of vertical takeoff and landing. They are often referred to as air taxis.

The FAA pilot program also will test the increased automation safety employed by the advanced aircraft.

At the House hearing, industry experts said their automated aircraft are safer than traditional crewed planes, thanks to cutting-edge sensors and automation equipment that prevent collisions and mitigate human error. The advanced aircraft employs autopilot, detect-and-avoid technology, as well as navigation, flight planning and terrain detection.

California-based Reliable Robotics designed flight control systems that fully automate aircraft operations, including taxi, takeoff, flight and landing.

“These technologies will prevent the most common causes of fatal aviation accidents and save lives,” company CEO Robert W. Rose told lawmakers.

The system is designed to enable remotely piloted air cargo operations, which he aims to expand to small towns and rural communities.

The company plans to become the first commercial air carrier in the United States to operate remotely piloted cargo flights within two years.

Mr. Rose recently signed a $17.4 million contract with the U.S. Air Force to operate the company’s autonomous Cessna Caravan in the Indo-Pacific region starting next year.

Most lawmakers on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee were enthusiastic about advanced aircraft, but some questioned allocating government funding to new technology at airports that are already struggling with crowded runways and understaffed air traffic control towers.

The federal government has invested billions of dollars in advanced air mobility over the past few years through pilot programs, federal grants that support charging ports at local airports, and direct funding for infrastructure development, as well as streamlining FAA certification and developing operational rules.

Rep. Scott Perry, Pennsylvania Republican, told industry leaders he is skeptical about funding AAM because the aircraft rely on nascent electric battery technology that loses range with added weight and in extreme hot or cold weather.

Wisk’s planes, for example, have a 90-mile range and are designed for short trips.

“We’re talking about spending taxpayer dollars on something that’s not here yet,” Mr. Perry said. “Our taxpayers don’t want to pay for electric charging stations for these vehicles until they are operational. We have real problems today: midair collisions, near-misses, fatigue-related errors. We have needs right now. We don’t want to prioritize concepts over concrete.”

Alton Aviation Consultancy reports that $14 billion has been spent on the AAM industry globally and that the emerging sector is crowded with more than 1,000 advanced aircraft designs as of April 2024. Each successful aircraft will require at least $1 billion in development costs, which means only some designs will make it into operation.

“Despite substantial financial commitments to the sector, significant additional capital is still needed to fund the industry, along with a concerted effort to develop the ecosystem and secure support from governments and regulators for continued progress,” the company reported.

Gregory Pecoraro, president of the National Association of State Aviation Officials, said advanced aircraft are likely to start off using smaller, general aviation airports, but accommodating these futuristic planes will require more federal funding.

“Providing electricity to general aviation airports to support electric and hybrid electric aircraft will be costly, involving not only transmission and distribution upgrades but also new equipment,” he said. “In addition, the deployment of new communication systems and navigational aids may be required to safely operate these aircraft.”

Mr. Pecoraro called on the federal government to begin “an aggressive public awareness campaign” about the new aircraft to avoid the kind of “misinformation and public anxiety” that led to the public panic over drone sightings in New Jersey last year.

Rep. Troy Nehls, Texas Republican and chair of the Transportation and Infrastructure transportation aviation subcommittee, said the AAM market is expected to reach $115 billion annually by 2035 and create more than 280,000 high-paying jobs.

“Either we choose to embrace and unleash American innovation,” he said, “or we carry on with the status quo and watch other nations surpass us with new and emerging technology.”