Introduced by the U.S department of transportation and NASA, Advance Air Mobility (AAM) has begun gaining momentum in recent years, but what exactly is this new technology, and who is it for?
AAM is an air transport system concept that integrates new, transformational aircraft designs and flight technologies into existing and modified airspace operations whose main objective is to move people and cargo between places not currently or easily served by surface transportation or existing aviation modes.
The aircraft that fly in this new airspace are small compared to airplanes and helicopters. Many of these aircraft are Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, or UAVs, meaning they are self-flying or autonomous. The vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft used for AAM are also mostly electric. They can operate complete trips in close proximity to where they begin, thus improving mobility for those with disabilities. It also has the potential to alleviate noise and reduce surface congestion and traffic.
This new way of transportation is intended for commercial aviation but because of the nature of this early innovation, it’ll probably take a few years after launching to reach general audiences, which means that it would probably first be used by the private aviation sector. According to recent NASA-commissioned market studies, by 2030 there will be as many as 500 million flights a year for package delivery services and 750 million flights a year for air metro services.
Source: STEM LEARNING: Advanced Air Mobility: What is AAM? Student Guide
Private or commercial, the whole industry is on the outlook for this technology to develop and change the way we commute in our daily lives to a clean and efficient way.