The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) on Wednesday unveiled a roadmap intended to usher in a new generation of vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) air taxis, autonomous cargo aircraft, electric airliners, and other advanced air mobility (AAM) aircraft.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, FAA Deputy Administrator Chris Rocheleau, and Michael Kratzios, President Donald Trump’s chief science and technology policy adviser, were among federal officials present for the rollout of the AAM National Strategy.
The comprehensive, 10-year blueprint recommends steps to safely integrate AAM aircraft into the national airspace system (NAS) and cement the U.S. as the industry leader.
Accompanying the strategy is an AAM Comprehensive Plan that sorts the recommendations by urgency. Near-term priorities include the repurposing of airport infrastructure for AAM operations and reallocation of resources to support research and development of new technologies, such as autonomy.
“The technologist Peter Thiel once observed that, quote, ‘We wanted flying cars; instead we got 140 characters,” said Kratzios. “But now, we’re going to get the flying cars.”
“Flying cars” is a bit of a misnomer. While there are a handful of drive-and-fly vehicles in development, eVTOL air taxis and most AAM aircraft will stick to the skies.
But officials on Wednesday lauded the potential of AAM as a way to move people and packages more efficiently. They described it as a great equalizer in expanding access to underserved areas despite criticism in some corners of aviation that VTOL air taxis will price out average Americans.
They made one thing very clear: Fostering AAM innovation is a top strategic priority for the White House.
“We are not going to cede this territory to the Chinese,” said Duffy. “We are going to lead, and we are going to win because we are going to out-innovate.”
What Is AAM?
Though it is a somewhat nebulous phrase, AAM is defined by the FAA as an umbrella term encompassing a range of novel passenger and cargo aircraft technologies, which will typically fly below 5,000 feet.
Often, AAM is used to describe VTOL air taxis, which the FAA considers powered-lift—a new category comprising models that can take off like a helicopter and fly at low speed on fixed wings. But large autonomous aircraft, as well as those with electric, hydrogen, and other alternative propulsion systems, also fall under AAM.
The FAA and DOT will need to regulate the design and operation of these aircraft, how they are maintained, and how their pilots are trained. Stakeholders will also need to develop a workforce and supply chain to produce the aircraft, and infrastructure—such as electric chargers—to accommodate them.
In some areas, such as autonomy, regulations are incomplete or nonexistent. But regulators have made some progress.
The FAA’s Part 194 special federal aviation regulation (SFAR) defined initial pilot training and operational requirements for powered-lift aircraft in 2024. The agency has also released guidance for powered-lift aircraft certification, vertiport design, and harmonization of AAM standards among National Aviation Authorities (NAA) regulators.
The AAM National Strategy is intended as a complement to these regulatory efforts. Rather than hard policy, it is a set of recommendations to accelerate the technology’s adoption in the U.S.
The Strategy
The AAM National Strategy is the product of years of work, beginning with former President Joe Biden’s establishment in 2022 of an AAM Interagency Working Group (AAM IWG), comprising about 20 federal agencies and departments.
The AAM IWG was tasked with creating the strategy, which organizes federal policy priorities around six core “pillars”—airspace modernization, infrastructure, security, automation, workforce, and community engagement and planning—like the blades of a rotor.
Each pillar comes with a set of recommendations, of which there are 40 total. Each recommendation includes agency roles, required resources, and associated “next steps.”
Below are some of the most notable:
Automation
For pilots, the most consequential pillar of the strategy is perhaps its embrace of automation, with the FAA playing the lead role.
“While humans must remain a key component in safe aircraft systems operations, the future airspace envisions humans working in concert with automation and intelligent systems to accomplish tasks safely and more consistently while scaling airspace operations,” the document reads. “This approach reduces the need for manual orchestration of operations and increases the use of automation to operate vehicles safely.”
In short, expect a coordinated federal push for partially or fully autonomous aircraft.
Working with other agencies, the FAA will gauge automation’s potential benefits and risks. It will study the potential for virtual testing to collect data on high-tempo autonomous operations. Regulators will also collaborate with the private sector to devise an “aviation autonomy roadmap.”
Airspace Modernization
Automation will also have a role to play in preparing the NAS for AAM, per the strategy.
It directs agencies to tap into the air traffic control (ATC) modernization efforts taking place under Duffy’s $12.5 billion Brand New Air Traffic Control System (BNATCS) project, which aims to replace outdated systems and build new towers and centers. Per the comprehensive plan, “new automation systems and decision-support tools” should be adopted to help controllers manage the influx of new AAM traffic.
The plan calls for ATC to be complemented by third-party AAM traffic management providers, whose roles and responsibilities will need to be defined. Agencies will also research how AAM aircraft communicate with these air traffic systems, as well as new technologies that could be used to track them.
Infrastructure
A core tenet of the strategy is the repurposing of airfield infrastructure for early AAM operations.
To facilitate that, the plan calls for DOT to coordinate with state, local, tribal, and territorial (SLTT) governments on future infrastructure financing models. That could include an AAM Infrastructure Pilot Program—similar to the UAS Integration Pilot Program for small drones—that funds real-world evaluations of electric chargers and other systems.
Agencies will also work with airfields to determine the facilities and equipment required for autonomous and remotely piloted aircraft. Through shared testing by the FAA, NASA, and Department of Defense, they will collect data to create a performance-based Unified Vertical Lift Infrastructure Advisory Circular.
Improved weather detection and forecasting is another key goal. The plan aims to enable near real-time reporting by developing a ground-based, low-altitude, weather-sensing network. It suggests equipping aircraft with weather sensors to make each a “contributing beacon” in the network. The FAA may also look to certify third-party weather providers.
Workforce
To lead the world in AAM, the U.S. will require a domestic workforce.
For example, the strategy proposes leveraging the FAA’s Aviation Workforce Development Grant Programs to create a pipeline of AAM pilots, engineers, and maintainers. Workforce development efforts would begin at the kindergarten level and extend all the way to universities to “introduce K-12 learners to careers in AAM.”
“We’re gonna build these aircraft here, and we are going to export them around the world with American jobs,” said Duffy. “What we don’t want is those products to be built somewhere else and imported to this country.”
What They’re Saying
Officials on Wednesday compared the introduction of AAM to the Wright brothers’ first flight, framing it as a new era of aviation that will move people and packages faster, cheaper, and more sustainably.
Agency heads variously described it as the “dawn of the next generation of flight” or a “revolution.” Duffy framed it as an existential competition with China, which has already certified autonomous eVTOL air taxis for limited commercial operations.
“It is about the future of American ingenuity, our national competitiveness, and the way that this country moves its people and goods across the skies safely and efficiently,” said Kratsios.
The AAM National Strategy was similarly lauded by the industry, from developers of eVTOL air taxis and self-flying planes to groups such as the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA).
Many of them said the strategy aligns with their plans to utilize a mix of new and existing infrastructure, hire domestically, and fly test aircraft as often as possible.
“Global leadership in advanced air mobility will be held by those who build, certify, and deploy first,” Kyle Clark, founder and CEO of electric aircraft developer Beta Technologies, said in a statement. “This creates a clear pathway for us to continue producing American-made, next-generation technology to support both the needs of civilian communities and the mobility needs of our troops.”
JoeBen Bevirt, founder of eVTOL developer Joby Aviation, expressed excitement about the future of AAM.
“It’s a powerful signal that our federal government, in coordination with state, local and tribal communities, is prepared to usher in the next generation of U.S. leadership in aviation,” Bevirt said.
Adam Goldstein, founder and CEO of eVTOL developer Archer Aviation, is also eager for his company to contribute to what lies ahead.
“We’re past the question of ‘if’ and firmly into ‘when and how’…The focus now is execution—building, deploying and flying these aircraft here in the United States.”
Robert Rose, CEO and co-founder of Reliable Robotics, told FLYING that the strategy endorses autonomy, in particular, as key to the U.S. leading the way in AAM. Reliable’s autonomy system—a continuous engagement aircraft automation system designed to be equipped on a range of type-certified aircraft—will soon be installed on a U.S. Air Force Cessna 208B Grand Caravan and deployed in the Indo-Pacific, it told FLYING in August.
“It is crucial for the long-term economic security and national security of the United States, and for the safety of the national airspace system, that we place specific focus and effort on making aviation autonomy a reality,“ Rose said.
Beta, Joby, Archer, Reliable, and many others—including Boeing’s Wisk Aero, cargo drone developer Elroy Air, and flying car maker Alef Aeronautics—intend to participate in the upcoming eVTOL and AAM Integration Pilot Program (eIPP), a three-year effort to evaluate AAM aircraft in real-world conditions before they are certified.
The FAA is expected to lift restrictions on eIPP participants, allowing them to perform passenger-carrying, cargo delivery, and other precertification operations. Clark told FLYING that the agency may even permit operations for compensation.
By collecting data on real-world AAM operations, the initiative could serve as a guide for the actions recommended in the AAM National Strategy and AAM Comprehensive Plan.
“The EIPP will ensure that advanced air operations are not confined to demonstrations or isolated trials but are integrated safely and lawfully into the national transportation system in a way that can scale for all of us,” said Kratzios.
Archer on Wednesday said it worked with cities in California, Texas, Florida, Georgia, and New York to submit eIPP applications. That includes what it called an “exclusive” application with the city of Huntington Beach, California—a few miles from Hawthorne Municipal Airport (KHHR), which it acquired for $126 million in November.
Beta plans to pursue eIPP projects with partners in Ohio, Michigan, and North Carolina. Joby has announced partnerships in Texas, Florida, Ohio, New York, and California. Others have kept their plans under wraps.
Rocheleau said Wednesday that the FAA will select at least five eIPP lead participants by spring 2026. Operations are expected to begin in the summer.