I have asked the question before: How comfortable are you flying in an air taxi over crowded cities, with no pilot at the wheel?
It may be an unfair question because it appears that, when such things are buzzing through the air, they will, at least in the initial phase, have human pilots.
So let me pose a different question.
How comfortable, in light of the accident in January involving a passenger jet and a military helicopter, are you in riding an electric air taxi with a pilot? Keep in mind that the National Transportation Safety Board this week called for banning helicopters at that airport under nearly all circumstances because current helicopter routes “pose an intolerable risk to aviation safety.”
OK, I’ll admit that a pollster would call that a leading question. But it’s hard for me to believe many of you aren’t already making that connection.
A demonstration in Salt Lake City
On Monday came the good news that Beta Technologies had flown its Alia model electric taxi to Salt Lake City in the first of several demonstration flights across the state. Beta has a memorandum of understanding with 47G, a Utah aerospace and defense group, to create new options for transporting cargo and people around the state. This has support from the governor’s office and from both the Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity and the Utah Department of Transportation.
Then on Tuesday, the NTSB issued its recommendations in the wake of the crash that killed 67 people on Jan. 29.
First, it’s important to know that Beta Technologies and state leaders are on the right track. Air taxis are about to change the way people get around in urban areas, particularly ones that tend to be choked with automobile traffic. Too much money is being invested in this for it not to happen, and local leaders are using the 2034 Olympics as a goal for having a system in place to carry significant numbers of people around through the air. That’s smart.
But, at the moment, the question is how air traffic control would handle all these new buzzing aircraft, both at and around airports and between non-airport sites throughout the metro area. Would every airport encounter a Reagan-like problem?
Is DOGE after traffic controllers?
Perhaps more importantly, is the current administration trying to fire already understaffed air traffic controllers?
A recent New York Times piece said Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy accused Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency of trying to fire controllers, which led to a heated exchange in the Oval Office.
President Donald Trump reportedly clarified that cabinet secretaries, not Musk, had final say over staffing decisions in their agencies.
The details reportedly came from people with knowledge of the meeting. It’s unclear whether further pressure might be brought to cut the traffic control agency.
New FAA rule
Last fall, The Associated Press reported that federal regulators issued a final rule for operating air taxis, outlining how pilots will be trained. Federal Aviation Administration chief Mike Whitaker said air taxis are the first new category of aircraft to be recognized in 80 years, since the introduction of helicopters.
That’s good news. The new rule allows for their widespread use. But companies like Beta Technologies are not alone in trying to introduce these vehicles, which will fly at low altitudes through urban areas.
Many new things in the sky
A Wall Street Journal video said if all the companies currently proposing to enter this new market take to the skies, “the systems and protocols used to safely manage our skies might not cope.” Experts say new technology and procedures will be needed, including establishing new fixed route corridors at lower altitudes. But the taxis also would compete for airspace with drones making deliveries and other new types of craft.
So, would you climb aboard one of these taxis? A recent survey by Honeywell Aerospace found the answer is yes, with 65% of millennials being highly enthusiastic, compared to 58% of overall respondents. But almost two-thirds of respondents said safety is a big concern.
Safety will become obvious
That’s understandable. It also will become obvious, quickly, whether it’s a problem once the skies start to fill. Public confidence can be hard-won, but easily lost.
The rollout to this new world of taxis is bound to be gradual. We won’t go from zero to thousands of air taxis at once. We can hope the collision over Reagan Airport will have faded far into the background by then. But it seems the right course at the moment would be to expand, not contract, the FAA and air traffic controllers.
If things are done right, the biggest complaint in the future should be about how hard it is to see the sky for all the new flying objects, not how many of them are dropping on our heads. If so, I’m guessing you won’t worry about climbing aboard.