NBAA-BACE To Place Focus on Advanced Air Mobility

The emergence of the advanced air mobility market will take a center stage at this year’s NBAA-BACE with several manufacturers exhibiting, a panel scheduled that brings in key government leaders, and a keynote from a driving force behind the developing technology.

NBAA-BACE is set to have its largest display of eVTOLs yet with exhibitors, including Bell, Honeywell, Jaunt Air Mobility, Kitty Hawk, Northern Plains UAS Test Site, Overair, and XTI Aircraft.

In addition, a number of AAM-focused presentations are slated to take place this week, including a panel on Wednesday at 2 p.m. PDT that will explore federal perspectives on AAM from the perspectives of FAA, NASA, and the U.S. Air Force.

Further, Dr. Martine Rothblatt, NBAA’s Meritorious Service to Aviation Award recipient who plays a key role with multiple AAM companies, is a keynote speaker on the opening day of NBAA-BACE.

“There's a lot of enthusiasm in the business aviation community for advanced air mobility,” NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen said during a recent Helicopter Association International webinar on AAM, adding that the nascent market “builds on decades of experience” of the underlying foundation of business aviation.

The industry has adapted in its ability to move people through various propulsion, aluminum composites. “What we're seeing now is an opportunity to build on that, to go to electric propulsion, hybrid, and even hydrogen,” Bolen said.

But to get there, Bolen and other leaders on the recent webinar agreed that much work lies ahead on building out the infrastructure and tackling key issues such as autonomy, safety, and security.

“There is a lot that needs to be done,” said former FAA administrator Michael Huerta, who is now a transportation industry consultant, who also is moderating the AAM panel on Wednesday. “We are establishing a whole new way to think of air transportation…We need to focus on adapting our traffic system to ensure that everything can operate safely. Eventually, you have to land. And that raises questions of where you put infrastructure.”

Policymakers, the AAM community, and opinion leaders must work together to “understand what the requirements are, what the needs are, and how do we build the physical infrastructure, the human infrastructure, the aircraft infrastructure. And of course, all of that requires awareness and acceptance,” Bolen added.

As for infrastructure, Bolen maintained there are many different considerations. These include digging into FAA helicopter and vertiport guidance that may facilitate their use for AAM operations. This also includes determining what the performance requirements will be and ensuring there is adequate funding for both the planning and construction, he said.

James Viola, president and CEO of HAI (Booth 3830), noted existing vertiports are one of the first possibilities for infrastructure, along with existing airports. But he believes that pilots can play a key role in understanding what the performance requirements of their vehicles are and which facility is most suitable.

“We can take some of that responsibility off the FAA,” he said. “Let’s use current infrastructure to the maximum capability that helicopters can do today.” Viola added that the helicopter community can collaborate on the safety front with the emerging AAM sector because “the vehicles of the future are going to need that type of experience.” He noted the background helicopter operators have to operate in various weather conditions and at lower altitudes that AAM vehicles might operate.

In addition, existing helicopter operators are familiar with the various missions that the new AAM sector can pick up and build upon. In his view, the AAM pioneers can provide an end-to-end ecosystem working with helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft to move people and goods through the system to provide a larger societal benefit.

However, Huerta added that as people focus on certifying aircraft and developing infrastructure, “the air traffic management questions are quite significant.” He noted that for AAM to realize its full potential, it will require a scalable system that can integrate with automated systems “and that raises a whole series of operational questions.”

Aviation is founded on this principle of a three-legged stool of a certified pilot, a certified operation, and a certified aircraft, the former FAA leader said. And while a pilot can be a remote pilot, the question of how to operate safely is a “very important” policy question.

“That is foundational to gaining public acceptance, which ultimately this industry is going to depend on…We need to be thinking what needs to be done, what can Congress do to help enable that, and what are the tools that the FAA needs as a regulator to be able to accommodate that,” said Huerta suggested this is something that could be addressed in the next FAA reauthorization bill.

The Wednesday afternoon panel is anticipated to cover a number of these and other issues. Huerta will be joining a panel that also includes Steven Clarke, deputy associate administrator for NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate; Col. Nathan P. Diller, director of the U.S. AFWERX program that is focused on developing innovation; and Christopher Rocheleau, FAA acting associate administrator for aviation safety.

“NBAA-BACE serves an important place to not only showcase innovation across our industry but to also discuss how these emerging technologies will be implemented,” said NBAA senior v-p of government affairs Christa Lucas. “We’re pleased to bring together these influential policymakers and thought leaders to host an important conversation about current work in the AAM space, how each agency is preparing and planning, and future policies and regulations in this space.”