Air taxi
[2] After all this experimentation and challenges faced, the urban air mobility industry had shifted focus on “improving safety and enhancing economic and operational efficiency of vertical flight".
[2] During the 2010s to the present day, there was the “reemergence” of catering to “on-demand aviation services” that focus on goods delivery and passenger mobility such as the ability of booking a helicopter through a smartphone.
[2] Additionally, NASA and the United States Air Force initiated a focus to improve safety and scalability of UAM systems through the launch of the AAM National Campaign and Agility Prime.
[2] On the other hand, the U.S. Air Force's Agility Prime program demonstrates a focus on scalability through exploring vertical flight opportunities for military applications.
[9] Facilitating an on-demand air taxi market similar to current ride-hailing services requires the infrastructure for highly prevalent vertistops, areas that can support vertical landings and takeoffs based on consumer demand rather than predetermined routes, which may be a barrier for profitable implementation by 2030.
[9] Because of these factors, areas with a high-density of wealthy individuals or businesses, such as New York or San Francisco, may offer a shorter path to profitability for air taxi services.
[3][10] San Francisco specifically is viewed as a possible early market for air taxis because of its large population of frequent, long-distance commuters.
[4] First efforts by the program anticipate utilizing existing airports and helipads with potential modifications – such as parking stations, charging ports, or weather monitoring capabilities – being added as needed.
The Canadian definition of air taxi includes all commercial single-engine aircraft, multi-engine helicopters flown by visual flight rules by one pilot and all multi-engine, non-turbo-jet aircraft, with a maximum take-off weight 8,618 kg (18,999 lb) or less and nine or fewer passenger seats, that are used to transport people or goods or for sightseeing.
[16] This shift towards urban air mobility is supported by Delta Airlines statistics that is estimating about 1,000 people a day would choose eVTOLS instead of automobiles to travel to and from the airport.
