FAA tables blueprint for initial air taxi and other UAM activities

In another sign that the advent of urban air mobility (UAM) services like air taxis is near, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has issued its latest blueprint on how those new, largely battery-powered aircraft will be phased in during early operation.

With air taxi developers like Archer, Joby, and Wisk steadily advancing through their respective certification programs – and aiming to begin service in 2025 – release of the FAA’s updated plan for introducing UAM air transport is not exactly premature. In it, the regulator describes what it calls “a crawl-walk-run approach” to managing early-stage new aerial activity. Traffic will then become denser and more complex as craft, infrastructure, and supporting air traffic tech matures.

Read: Archer, United announce air taxi link between Chicago and O’Hare

The FAA’s Urban Air Mobility (UAM) Concept of Operations plan breaks up that near-to-mid-term launch of UAM…