US House committee approves bills funding drone, air taxi uses

A key committee in the US House of Representatives has approved two bills seeking grants to prepare for expanded drone operation and future urban air mobility (UAM) services like air taxis, and is now passing those along for full legislative examination and voting.

The development came with the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee’s 54-4 backing of a bill aiming create a program to provide funding for increased drone use in infrastructure inspections. A separate bill waved through on a 55-2 vote seeks to establish a grant mechanism for the development of UAM facilities like vertiports for air taxi flights. Odds for passage of the texts by the full House appear good, given the strong – and increasingly rare – bipartisan support of the committee.

The pair of bills would designate at least $225 million in funding to accelerate drone deployment in infrastructure inspections, and crank up work on UAM installations in time for air taxi operation…