The Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration announced Monday the selection of eight pilot projects to test advanced air mobility aircraft, including electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicles known as eVTOLs.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the projects will help integrate next generation aircraft into the nation's airspace while gathering data for future aviation regulations.
"This first of its kind program will ensure America leads the way in safely leveraging next-generation aircraft to radically redefine personal travel, regional transportation, cargo logistics, emergency medicine, and so much more," Duffy said in a statement.
The Advanced Air Mobility and eVTOL Integration Pilot Program received more than 30 proposals from across the country.
The selected projects span 26 states and involve aircraft manufacturers, operators, and state partners testing a range of potential uses.
Those uses include urban air taxi services, regional passenger transportation, cargo logistics networks, emergency medical operations, autonomous flight technologies, and offshore transportation for energy operations.
The projects will form one of the largest real-world testing environments for next-generation aircraft, with early operations expected to begin within just a few months.
FAA Deputy Administrator Chris Rocheleau said the program will provide operational data needed to develop new safety standards.
"These partnerships will help us better understand how to safely and efficiently integrate these aircraft into the National Airspace System," Rocheleau said.
Duffy said the aircraft could change how people travel and how goods are moved.
"All of this new technology, these eVTOLs … are going to take people from one airport to the next and beyond that," Duffy said in a video accompanying the announcement.
"We have a president and a DOT that want to see innovators innovate in America and then export them around the world," he added.
Duffy said the technology could significantly reshape aviation.
"EVTOLs are going to make the airspace far more interesting and far more fun, and we have to be prepared for that and seamlessly implement their involvement in using the National Airspace System," he said.
Among the selected projects, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey will test multiple operational concepts across New England, including passenger flights from the Manhattan heliport using eVTOL aircraft.
The Texas Department of Transportation will support regional passenger routes linking Dallas, Austin, and San Antonio with possible expansion to Houston through air taxi networks.
In Louisiana, testing will focus on cargo and personnel transportation supporting offshore energy operations across the Gulf of America.
"This is a time when we don't know how the world is going to change, but it's going to change in the way people and products move," Duffy said.
Jim Mishler ✉
Jim Mishler, a seasoned reporter, anchor and news director, has decades of experience covering crime, politics and environmental issues.
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