FutureFlight
Study Raises Hard Questions About eVTOL Air Taxi Markets
The analysis by Price Systems challenges what it characterizes as unfounded optimism about the viability of advanced air mobility services in affluent areas like New York City.
Bell 525 over NYC
Air taxi operations in and around prosperous cities such as New York are currently provided by helicopters. A new study by Price Systems raises questions about how viable new eVTOL aircraft may be in providing so-called advanced air mobility services in place of rotorcraft, including Bell's new 525 model. (Photo: Bell)

An economic analysis of the anticipated advanced air mobility (AAM) market in the affluent New York-Boston corridor suggests that predictions about the future proliferation of eVTOL air taxis may be overly optimistic. And the study, which was released during last week’s Vertical Flight Society Forum, was conducted before a big drop in ground and air traffic in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“The AAM community lacks analytical rigor and an economic analysis framework,” argued Nate Sirirojvisuth, a senior cost research analyst at Price Systems. He presented his findings, developed by Price in cooperation with Jaunt Air Mobility and Georgia Tech, in a paper entitled, “A Lifecycle Economic Study of eVTOL Air Taxi service in the U.S. Northeast Region.”