‘An entirely new category of aircraft’: The FAA just gave flying taxis a path to take flight over American cities

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is clearing the way for air taxis and similar vehicles to begin operating in earnest around the country.

On Tuesday, FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker announced that the agency is introducing a rule that creates a new category of aircraft, the first since the 1940s: “powered-lift” operations, which include electric, hybrid, and hydrogen-powered air taxis, and more.

The announcement was made in Las Vegas at the National Business Aviation Association Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (NBAA-BACE), a civil aviation trade show.

Powered-lift vehicles have characteristics of both airplanes and helicopters, taking off vertically but then flying at high speeds. Given the arrival of air taxi demonstrations and test flights in some cities, the FAA is evidently preparing for their widespread usage.

“This is a new operating rule that introduces an entirely new category of aircraft,” Whitaker said. “Prior to this, we had fixed-wing aircraft and roto-craft, and we now have a third category for powered-lift. This rule creates the operation system for advanced air mobility. It allows operating rules and training rules to take effect for these new aircraft.”

According to a corresponding release from FAA, the new rule does a few key things:

• Makes changes to numerous existing regulations and establishes a Special Federal Aviation Regulation (SFAR) with new requirements to facilitate instructor and pilot certification and training.  
• Applies helicopter operating requirements to some phases of flight and adopts a performance-based approach to certain operating rules.  
• Allows pilots to train in powered-lift with a single set of flight controls; legacy rules require two flight controls—one for the student and one for the instructor.

As expected, the new rule was applauded by those in the industry, including JoeBen Bevirt, founder and CEO of air taxi company Joby Aviation, which recently held an event showing off its vehicles to the public at New York City’s Grand Central Terminal.

Shares of Joby Aviation were up more than 10% following the news. Archer Aviation, another flying-taxi company, saw its stock rise almost 7%.

“The regulation published today will ensure the U.S. continues to play a global leadership role in the development and adoption of clean flight,” Bevirt said in a statement supplied to Fast Company. “Delivering the rules ahead of schedule is a testament to the dedication, coordination, and hard work of the rulemaking team.”