eVTOL firms looking to certify in the U.S. and Europe might have been pleased to see the release of documents detailing the harmonization progress of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency’s (EASA) eVTOL certification.
“Archer is encouraged to see the FAA and EASA draw closer to harmonization of eVTOL certification standards … and believes that achieving full harmonization would be a tremendous benefit to the flying public, as well as the eVTOL industry,” said Billy Nolen, Archer’s chief regulatory affairs officer.
Those at Beta Technologies noted that both the FAA and EASA have been “working tirelessly on harmonization to ensure the best path forward for the industry, both in their regions and on the whole.” The company considers the recent update “a big step toward a mature, harmonized regulatory framework.”
In mid-June, four aviation associations — the Aerospace, Security and Defence Industries Association of Europe (ASD), the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA), Airlines for Europe (A4E), and the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) — stated support for more U.S.-EU coordination on aviation safety and innovation priorities that was announced during the 2024 FAA-EASA International Aviation Safety Conference.
“Promoting regulatory efficiencies on both sides of the Atlantic is particularly important as new entrants join the system,” the group stated. “The developing landscape around advanced air mobility is an opportunity ripe for increased transatlantic coordination that will ensure global scale without negative effects on civil aviation safety and efficiency in a resource-constrained environment. We also support an open market for these products, which would reinforce the competitiveness of this segment of our aviation sectors.”
Kyle Martin, GAMA’s vice president of European affairs, echoed these thoughts, explaining that his organization has advocated for harmonization from the start.
“Seeing that progress is being made gives eVTOL companies in the U.S. and Europe, and also those located outside these jurisdictions, confidence that they will be able to enter both markets and don’t have to choose,” he said. “We don’t want to be manufacturing different versions of products for different markets for any type of aircraft. We don’t do that for fixed-wing or helicopter models and we should not do that for eVTOLs.”
He added that while the long-term goal is complete harmonization, this will take time as the FAA and EASA starting places are quite different.
Delving into the progress
The FAA and EASA released three separate new draft documents related to eVTOL certification on June 10, which reflect the ongoing harmonization efforts. The documents are subject to public consultation.
The FAA published two documents, one an advisory circular on type certification for powered-lift vehicles. It includes changes to final certification rules the FAA has agreed to for the Joby Aviation S4 and Archer Aviation Midnight eVTOL aircraft.
“It also includes ‘essential’ and ‘increased’ performance approvals, setting two different thresholds for safety depending on how the aircraft will be used,” Martin said. “This aligns with EASA’s ‘basic’ and ‘enhanced’ categories.”
Passenger eVTOLs will need to meet “increased” performance standards, for example, the ability to maintain level flight to a planned destination or alternate landing after a critical change of thrust.
The FAA also released a draft safety continuum, with four certification levels for powered-lift aircraft weighing up to 12,500 pounds (5,700 kilograms). The levels address aircraft that will carry up to 19 passengers, with relation to functional design assurance levels (FDAL). The eVTOLs being certified by Joby and Archer, for example, will carry a pilot and four passengers and therefore fall under Level 2A (FDAL 10-8) for commercial operations, similar to Part 23 fixed-wing aircraft.
However, at this point, EASA is maintaining a 10-9 safety requirement for all eVTOL commercial passenger operations, not 10-8.
On this point, Martin noted that “this is the first time FAA has put out safety numbers for powered-lift aircraft. Although they are different now, someday they will be harmonized. Again, it will take time. EASA has always generally been more conservative than the FAA with regard to safety, and they have different precedents. For example, single-engine commercial helicopter operations have never been allowed over European cities.”
EASA’s draft document
For its part, EASA released a second issue of its special condition for small-category VTOL-capable aircraft. The agency stated “this new issue provides additional flexibility and better alignment with recently approved regulations (e.g., Commission Implementing Regulation 2024/1111) and means of compliance (MOCs) already publicly consulted.
“An MOC associated with the new high-level performance-based requirement VTOL.2517 addressing ‘Electrical Wiring Interconnecting Systems’ will soon be subject to public consultation, along with an update of the current MOC VTOL.2555 for ‘Recorders.’ In addition, a further revision of the special condition is planned in the short term to implement further alignments between EASA and FAA.”
One specific EASA alignment with the FAA is an increase of the maximum takeoff weight to 5,700 kg (12,500 lb) from 3,175 kg (7,000 lb) in SC-VTOL Issue 1. Also in alignment with the FAA, EASA now requires “the prevention of single failures resulting in a catastrophic effect.” There are also added safety features to address a ditching incident, including watertight compartments and the automatic activation of flotation devices.
Martin considers the takeoff weight harmonization very positive because it enables certification of larger aircraft with either greater passenger capacity or greater range with additional battery capacity. He noted that it also aligns with a long-standing weight threshold between normal category CS/Part-23 and commuter category aircraft.
Overall, Martin said GAMA is pleased with the overall harmonization efforts of the FAA and EASA, recognizing that the feedback process is an important part of the process.
“It’s a good start,” he said. “We are going through our usual process, where we and experts at our member companies analyze the three documents. There are 105 pages in total. When we hear from our members, we will consolidate and submit feedback by the deadline of Aug. 12.”
The FAA states that it “has been working with international regulators for several years on harmonizing our approaches to advanced air mobility certification and integration, and this work is ongoing. It is a priority for both the FAA and EASA, and we have technical teams dedicated to this effort. Additionally, we joined the National Aviation Authorities Network, which consists of the U.K., Canada, Australia and New Zealand, to harmonize our certification criteria and integration plans. We also have cooperation agreements with Japan and Korea.”