Ensuring global competitiveness and leadership in the race to bring eVTOL aircraft to the skies was one of the key themes addressed at Honeywell’s Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) Summit on July 18.
“We are at the final stages right now of putting this together,” said Adam Goldstein, founder and CEO of Archer Aviation, a California-based eVTOL developer working to build, test and certify its Midnight eVTOL aircraft.
With a goal to commercialize its aircraft in early 2025, Goldstein said while the timeline may sound aggressive, most of the building blocks to certification are already in place.
He said the challenges at this point are encouraging industry stakeholders to invest and build out the AAM ecosystem, including the regulatory landscape for operations and pilot training, the local supply chain, vertiport infrastructure development, and airspace management. And the race to quickly build a strong and stable industry is key to the U.S. leadership in AAM.
If there’s a sector that the country would want to lead in, aerospace would be one of those industries, said Ed Bolen, president and CEO of the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA).
“This is a national imperative. We recognize the future of any country is mobility,” he said.
Bolen was the moderator and one of four industry leaders who took part in a panel during the AAM Summit discussing how the U.S. can ensure global competitiveness in aviation.
“We have the capability right now to do something that no other nation can do,” added Pete Bunce, president and CEO of the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA).
But for companies like Archer that are now certifying their eVTOLs as powered-lift aircraft, new rules are needed for pilot training and operations, which the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is addressing under a special federal aviation regulation (SFAR) — a draft of which was released in June for 60 days of public comment.
AAM leaders referred to the proposed rules in the SFAR as “industry killers.” The FAA is proposing, for example, that powered-lift aircraft are required to have a 45-minute reserve, a more stringent rule compared to helicopters due to the lack of operational data the FAA has on powered-lift aircraft. Leaders noted this rule would hinder many eVTOLs that are designed for short-distance intracity trips.
Bunce, who supported the Advanced Air Mobility Coordination and Leadership Act that was signed into law last October, urged the federal government to think about the long-term strategy to integrate new entrants into the airspace — work that would require understanding these new and novel aircraft including its electric propulsion systems, multiple redundancies, and automation.
“Technology is advancing rapidly now. We need people in the FAA to think differently,” Bunce said.
He said there is significant support for AAM in the U.S. Congress, referring to the FAA reauthorization bill that’s expected to be considered by the House of Representatives this week.
“This is coming. We’re close now where people are starting to see the excitement,” said James Viola, president and CEO of the Helicopter Association International.
Other issues like ensuring a strong supply chain that would allow for American-designed aircraft to be built in America using local materials and components, as well as addressing workforce shortage, are key to ensuring U.S. competitiveness in aviation, the leaders said.
“If there’s anything that’s a whole-country approach, it’s the workforce,” said Eric Fanning, president and CEO of the Aerospace Industries Association, acknowledging the competition around the world where other countries are also racing to build their own AAM sector.
“We have an opportunity to have American leadership in an industry that’s going to have a profound effect on the future,” Bolen said. “This is our opportunity to make a profound difference and ensure U.S. leadership.”
