Company Hopes To Be Flying Passengers By 2020

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi appeared on 'CBS This Morning' Tuesday, showing off a model of the company's concept for a VTOL flying taxi it hopes to have in revenue service in two years.

CBS News reports that Khosrowshahi said that the concept is to "create the network around those vehicles so that regular people can take these taxis in the air for longer distances when they want to avoid traffic at affordable prices."

Also appearing on the program, which aired in advance of Tuesday's Uber Elevate Summit in Los Angeles, CA, Uber chief product officer Jeff Holden said that the program is intended to be "community friendly". The aircraft will initially be piloted, but would eventually be autonomous and carry up to four passengers in an effort to reduce costs through ride-sharing. Uber says that for the program to be profitable, it will have to have mass appeal and not be limited to a niche market.

The aircraft will operate from designated skyports. Passengers would use a smartphone app to request a ride, and then go to the skyport to board the aircraft. They would be powered by electricity and fly at altitudes between 1,000 and 2,000 feet. They will generate less noise than a traditional helicopter, or a truck driving by a house, the company said.

CNBC reports that Uber anticipates initial testing of the service in Dallas-Fort Worth and Los Angeles in 2020, with a rollout of UberAIR in those cities in 2023.

(Image of UberAIR model from YouTube video posted by CBS This Morning)

FMI: Original report, Original report