Pilot Projects To Accelerate eVTOL Integration

The National Business Aviation Association welcomed the announcement of a pilot program by U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean P. Duffy to accelerate the adoption of advanced air mobility aircraft and their integration into the national airspace system.

The program is known as the Electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing Integration Pilot Program (eIPP), and it will involve setting up public-private partnerships with State and local governments and private sector companies to develop frameworks and regulations to enable safe UAS operations.

The pilot program will consist of multiple pilot projects, and was developed in response to President Donald Trump’s Executive Order titled, “Unleashing American Drone Dominance,” directing the acceleration of the safe integration of UAS into the NAS.

Ed Bolen, President and CEO of NBAA said, “NBAA strongly supports this new initiative, which will advance the adoption of AAM, and bring enormous benefits to the United States, changing the way goods and people move within rural and urban areas. We look forward to the integration of AAM into the National Airspace System (NAS) and commend the administration and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for their commitment to this mode of transportation.”

The eIPP will have at least five pilot projects that will run for three years after the first one becomes operational. As it stands right now, those pilot projects include:

• Short-range air taxis
• Longer-range, fixed wing flights
• Cargo
• Logistics and supply serving emergency management, medical transport, or offshore energy facilities
• Increasing Automation Safety

The NBAA has long been a staunch supporter of developing a robust and safe operational infrastructure for AAM. It has done this through its Emerging Technologies Committee consisting of experts with backgrounds in aviation regulation, technology, operations, business, law, and more.

The NBAA AAM Roundtable provides a forum for OEMs of AAM aircraft and ancillary systems to engage in high-level planning discussions. And at the 2024 NBAA Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition, the FAA released its Special Federal Aviation Regulation to establish the requirements around integrating AAM aircraft into the country’s aviation system efficiently and safely.

FMI:  nbaa.org/