THE FAA HAS PUBLISHED draft rules for all new makes and models offering point-to-point air taxi services outside the traditional aeronautical ecosystem.
This has been a daunting regulatory challenge for the administration, adding entirely new types of traditional fixed and rotary-wing aircraft.
This change will only be the first bit of regulatory tidying-up the FAA does before the new guests arrive, codifying the definition of ‘Air Carriers’ to include operators of eVTOL aircraft. In addition to this change, the FAA is hard at work developing pilot requirements for the new aircraft. Those standards are likely to be published sometime in the latter half of 2023, fortuitously released around the same time as the first type certification for an eVTOL aircraft.
The draft says that the rule is an ‘important step in the FAA’s integration of new entrant aircraft in the National Airspace System’, paving the way for the expected wave of eVTOL aircraft on the way.
Hybrid multirotor aircraft are expected to begin entry into commercial service by decade’s end, with most manufacturers hard at work developing their aircraft for certification within the next 3-5 years.