Perhaps for the purpose of motivating investors, the launch of revenue services with eVTOL aircraft has commonly been characterized as a revolution. But, in the early stages at least, the operational phase of so-called advanced air mobility (AAM) seems likely to be more of an evolutionary process as pioneering service providers seek to meet existing operational requirements.
There seems to be a consensus that greater flexibility and productivity promised from groundbreaking AAM technology—including increased flight automation and eventually full, pilotless autonomy—will have to be realized at a later stage, when aviation safety regulators may be comfortable with more profound changes to operating rules. Initially, at least, early providers of air taxi services seem to accept that they will be treated much like existing commercial charter operators under the FAA’s Part 135 rules and their equivalents in jurisdictions such as Europe.
