Boeing and Wisk Unveil First Operational Roadmap for Self-Flying Air Taxis

The plan’s aggressive timeframe aims to create a pathway forward by the end of the decade.

Wednesday, September 21, 2022 at 03:44 PM ET

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Operating fleets of self-flying aircraft supervised by a human in the loop is seen by many as critical to successful and profitable scaled operations. [Courtesy: Wisk Aero]

Key Takeaways:

Wisk Aero and Boeing released a comprehensive Concept of Operations report for uncrewed, self-flying eVTOL air taxis, outlining their plan for fully autonomous service supervised by ground-based personnel from the outset.
The report details a roadmap for integrating autonomous urban air mobility into U.S. national airspace, proposing new flight rules, boosting stakeholder engagement, and describing operational elements like detect-and-avoid technology and emergency landing procedures.
A significant criticism of the report is its failure to adequately address the crucial issues of noise levels and community acceptance, which experts believe are vital for the successful deployment of vertiports and the overall UAM system.

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For the first time, California-based electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft developer Wisk Aero and its major backer Boeing (NYSE: BA) have released a comprehensive concept operations report for their uncrewed, self-flying air taxis.

The 64-page document represents the next step in Wisk’s plan to move ahead of its competitors by launching service with automated air taxis, operated by “multi-vehicle supervisors” (MVS) on the ground. Wisk’s competitors, including Archer Aviation (NYSE: ACHR) and Joby Aviation (NYSE: JOBY), intend to fly passengers initially using on-board pilots, before eventually transitioning to an automated platform. Wisk, Archer, Joby, and others are flight testing full-size prototypes of their eVTOLs. Both Archer and Joby have said they expect to achieve FAA certification in time to enter service in 2024.