Air-taxis zoom through US skies by 2028

BLOOMBERG

Urban air-taxis can begin service over US cities as soon as 2028 by largely adhering to existing flight rules for helicopters and other low-altitude aircraft, according to federal regulators.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) timeline is three years beyond the agency’s initial goal of certifying the first of such aircraft by 2025. During initial phases, the taxis will have human pilots, rather than the robotic controllers the industry is eventually seeking, the FAA said.
Joby Aviation Inc and Archer Aviation Inc, which are developing aircraft that can lift off vertically and then fly point-to-point like planes, dropped on the announcement. Joby shares shed as much as 5.6.% while Archer fell more than 3% before clawing back those losses.
The FAA’s 2028 timeframe represents the reality of how long it is likely to take to not only get aircraft designs approved, but also to set up small airlines, create pilot-training standards and a host of other requirements before the new devices can carry passengers.
The FAA used lofty language in its implementation plan to describe how the devices will operate, calling it “a new era of aviation once only portrayed in movies or science fiction.”  Still, the operations will closely resemble the existing aviation system as new technology is introduced. The agency also wants to create taxi corridors to keep them away from other aircraft and limit additional work for air-traffic controllers.