Being just a concept a few years ago, eVTOL (Air Taxi) technology is all set to change urban mobility....

Opting for Air Taxi to beat the jam could become a thing in the future, and major players like Uber are betting its money on the same to make it happen. The aerospace and defense industry is a surely coming off as an exciting field that is leading pathways to new concepts like “Air Taxi” into becoming a reality. 2020 is a significant year to see how bets of big players on Air Taxi will go with China’s EHang preparing for UAM demonstration flights and Uber planning to test flights with experimental eVTOL vehicles this year.

But why do we need an Air Taxi overall? The answer for the same lies in looking around for alternatives to airlines that need to be booked in advance yet often face delays and ground which is generally congested and known for infamous jams. This is where Air Taxi could offer us a brilliant and flexible alternative. But will it be an option for the rich and wealthy only? Yes, in the beginning it will be, but later it will depend on how soon technology could become the affordable scenario for normal public keeping in mind that the world doesn’t want to hijack the skies with this.

eVTOLS (Electrical Vertical Take-off and Landing) technology behind the concept of ‘Air taxi’ can see reality because of many factors like environment-friendly electric propulsion systems, minimal spatial requirements for taking off, and landing. That’s why this area of urban air mobility (UAM) has caught so many eyes from companies to investors. However, for UAM to become a reality, it needs to have five success keys to unlock its potential: 

·       Technology will be the first key. For Air taxi to be a success, we need prototypes (eVTOLs) to make at least intra-city flights that aren’t happening right now as most of the prototypes are performing take-off and landing only rather than covering the substantial distance.

·       A strategy for building required Infrastructure will be the second key and for the same we will need something new to create like Vertiport/Skyport and something existing to modify like parking structures, airports.

·       The most basic yet most critical key for success will be the Air Taxi Operations framework which shall include air traffic management systems and ground management. To add to this, some learnings could be imported into this segment from current drone operations.

·       One of the most important keys to success would be gaining Customer trust. Even a single crash in the testing phase is enough to break customer trust; hence industry needs to make sure how it portrays this phenomenon as a safe and viable option.

·       Last but not the least, the final key to success will be Regulation to which industry should use as an option to make it more robust, economical, and safe to travel without creating unnecessary roadblocks.

It will be fascinating to see how the aerospace and defense industry will let the phenomenon of Air Taxi become a reality for the normal public. Though, one thing is sure that it will be entirely different from uberization of the taxi industry as here the focus will be to meet stringent aircraft regulations & air safety standards.

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