Air Taxis Get FAA Certification to Fly in Urban Areas

WASHINGTON — Certification rules the Federal Aviation Administration finalized on Tuesday would allow air taxi companies to carry urban passengers on vertical takeoff and landing flights as soon as next year.

The three main commercial air taxi companies say the battery-powered flights would travel an average of 25 to 30 miles, usually between airports and downtown areas.

The air taxis would use eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing) aircraft, which can take off and land vertically like a helicopter and fly like an airplane during cruise flight.

The new rules cover pilot training and licensing, which is one of the last regulatory steps before the flights can begin.

The air taxis are the first new form of aircraft the FAA has certified since helicopters in 1940. 

The companies, such as Joby Aviation, Archer Aviation and Wisk Aero, are attracting big name investors from the airline and automobile industries.

Toyota Motor Corp. recently invested $500 million in Joby. Delta invested $60 million in the company. United Airlines previously said it planned to buy as many as 200 electric air taxis from Archer Aviation.

“Designed to carry a pilot and four passengers at speeds of up to 200 mph, the Joby aircraft will offer high-speed mobility with a small fraction of the noise produced by helicopters and zero operating emissions,” the company says on its website.

The air taxis would operate with at least five rotors instead of the two found on helicopters. Together with their battery power, the air taxis would be quiet enough to operate over residential areas where helicopters are banned.

Customers would be charged on a per-mile basis, similar to road taxis and rideshare apps. Flights would be booked on demand, rather than using regular schedules.

A NASA study and investor materials estimate fares at between $2.25 and $11 per mile for each passenger. Each commercial version of the aircraft is expected to cost at least $400,000.

Joby Aviation is awaiting “type certification” from the FAA for its aircraft before beginning commercial flights. It has completed four of the five stages of the process.

After it receives the certification, Joby hopes to fly air taxis at the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

The first flights in the Washington, D.C., area are expected to carry passengers to and from Dulles International Airport. Other flights would run to airports in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and Miami.

The new regulations are designed to be flexible as the technology and industry evolves, FAA officials said.

Air taxi operations will start slow, initially using existing helipads and vertiports shared by helicopters. If the first operations go as planned, the FAA plans to grant air taxi companies authorizations to expand their infrastructure and flights.

“The opportunities for the use of powered lift operations are far-reaching, from transporting passengers in urban areas and short-haul operations such as air ambulance services and cargo operations to potentially serving smaller communities over time,” the FAA said in a statement when announcing the new rules.

Initially the air taxis would be operated by pilots. Some companies investing in the technology are investigating possibilities for self-flying flights operated by computers.

The FAA promulgated the rules under a mandate from Congress. The 2024 FAA Reauthorization Act, signed into law in May 2024, required the agency to prepare for introduction of electric and hydrogen-electric aircraft into U.S. airspace.

The three main American companies that plan air taxi flights are based in California. Other companies developing the technology are located in China, England, Germany and South Korea.

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