Too fast for the FAA? Companies moving forward to develop flying cars and electric planes, but Florida airspace is just not ready

If bets were to be placed, which would come first for Florida travelers? An FAA approved system for flying cars? Or a completed Orlando-Tampa extension for Brightline, the high speed railroad?

In late October of last year, Florida Secretary of Transportation Jared Perdue, an aggressive advocate for the development of a statewide system for electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft,  penned a sharply worded letter to his counterpart in Washington complaining that the Federal Aviation Administration, which is tasked with setting up rules for the aircraft to fly, is not acting fast enough.

“Last month, Florida released a report detailing our efforts, equipping our public and private sector partners to embrace [Advanced Air Mobility] as soon as the technology is ready to launch,” Perdue told Pete Buttigieg, U.S. Secretary of Transportation. “Unfortunately, Florida faces one roadblock to begin putting our plans into motion: the continued delay of your Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).”

“While the FAA publicly acknowledges that 2028 is an acceptable timeline to finalize these remaining requirements, America’s competitors, like France, are outpacing the U.S. in effectuating this emerging technology now,” Perdue added. “Perhaps this is a deliberate delay by the Administration to allow France the spotlight of deploying this cutting-edge technology at the 2024 Summer Olympics.”

It is not known how Buttigieg responded, and whether the Florida secretary got any satisfaction if he did. An FDOT spokesman did not have an immediate comment. The FAA had no immediate comment when asked for one on Thursday.

But all around Florida, state and private sector actors have been pressing hard since 2021 to develop a system of “vertiports” for takeoffs and landings, and consulting with federal and local authorities on how the Jetson-styled vertical takeoff vehicles will into a state  transportation system that is being populated with more cars, aviation service and rail systems..

Heavy involvement by manufacturers

Already, eVTOL makers, including one in Pompano Beach called Doroni Aerospace, are taking orders for small aircraft designed for personal travel. In addition, a Brazilian firm called Eve Air Mobility based In Melbourne, Florida, has taken orders from a nascent Miami-based air taxi service called UrbanLink, which hopes to start revenue service with six-passenger aircraft in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties by 2026.

But as of now, there is no place for anyone to fly or land their high-end aircraft. While South Florida’s international airports do have a few ideas about where they might operate, it’s up to the FAA to devise a rulebook that would govern the airspace.

The Miami-Dade Aviation Department recently told the South Florida Sun Sentinel  that it has identified several potential sites near Miami International Airport for so-called “vertiports.”

At Palm Beach International Airport, the European infrastructure firm Ferrovial is teaming with the German aircraft maker Lilium to lease land for a vertiport “that would eventually connect to places like Miami, the Florida Keys, Fort Myers, Florida’s Suncoast, Tampa, and Melbourne,” according a summary compiled by the FDOT.

An airport spokeswoman had no immediate comment.

At Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, officials are considering a vertiport site for a planned intermodal transportation center on the airport’s east end, a spokeswoman said. But the idea at the moment remains little more than a possibility.

A rolling collaboration

Yet behind the scenes, there is a broad loose consortium of operators, manufacturers and policymakers who have been toiling to make electric-powered aircraft a reality as a reliable component in the state’s transportation system, officials say.

That collaboration is critical, suggests an FAA “Concept of Operations” summary released to the public in April 2023.

“State and local governments are being encouraged to actively plan for UAM [Urban Air Mobility] infrastructure to ensure transportation equity, market choice, and accommodation of demand for their communities,” the summary says. “The vertiports and vertistops should be sited to ensure proper room for growth based on FAA evaluated forecasts and be properly linked to surface transportation [when possible], especially if the facility primarily supports cargo operations.

“Local governments should also have zoning protections in place to protect airspace in and around vertiports and vertistops,” the document adds. “Metropolitan planning organizations, including state and local governments, may incorporate UAM infrastructure planning into larger transportation and utility planning efforts to ensure seamless coverage and capacity. Community engagement and strategic connectivity to larger transportation planning efforts is key to ensuring UAM provides maximum benefits.”

The most active Florida areas on the planning front, according to the FDOT, have been Miami, Orlando and Tampa.

In a statement to the South Florida Sun Sentinel, an Eve Air Mobility  spokesman said the company “has presented and met with numerous local governments and airports throughout the state to educate them on UAM, understand their concerns and challenges with future implementation and to discuss the benefits to the community and opportunities that come with the introduction of eVTOLs.”

“There are many challenges ahead to implement in any given jurisdiction, but those communities that are leaning into this technology are dedicating the time and resources to pulling together the appropriate ecosystem stakeholders to ensure that it is implemented when eVTOLs become certified by the FAA and enter commercial operations,” the company spokesman said.

For its next phase of planning, FDOT intends “to work in concert with its District Offices to educate local officials about land use considerations, community engagement, and the necessary reviews and site approvals processes for the development of eVTOL landing sites known as vertiports,” an agency spokesman said in a statement.

He said the agency’s Aviation Office is hosting “tabletop exercises with local planners, the Federal Aviation Administration, developers, and partner agencies”  to ensure that a “robust” guidebook will be available to help local officials accommodate the aircraft in their towns and cities.

“As the third most populous state in the country, the eighth-most dense, and one experiencing significant population growth, Florida is a prime target” for advanced air mobility featuring electric aircraft, the state agency said in a 2022 overview.

Get used to them

According to a list compiled by the FDOT, Floridians are likely to see various players involved in the development of eVTOL vehicles and related infrastructure projects as local governments, airports and private property owners decide whether or when to get on board. A sampling from the list:

• Archer Aviation: The Palo Alto, California, firm announced in 2021 its intention to start an urban air mobility network in Miami as an eVTOL owner-operator. It teamed with REEF Technology of Miami, a move that would give Archer access “to thousands of rooftop locations across the country that may serve as vertiports,” the FDOT said.
• BETA Technologies, located in Burlington, Vermont, is developing an eVTOL to “simplify access to the vertical dimension of mobility.”  The firm’s “ALIA,” seats six, can fly up to 250 miles at a  cruising speed of 170 mph. “BETA has plans to develop a system of charging stations up and down the east coast, with ten stations planned for Florida,” the FDOT summary says..
• BLADE Air Mobility, Inc. is a New York urban air mobility platform that provides air transportation with a fleet of jet, helicopters and turboprops “for heavily congested ground routes,” the FDOT summary says. It announced a partnership with Eve Air Mobility to use Eve’s eVTOL aircraft on the East Coast, including South Florida.
• Ferrovial: A transportation infrastructure operator, the European based firm seeks to develop a network of ten or more vertiports across Florida. It is teaming with the German firm Lilium “for a vertiport at Palm Beach International Airport that would eventually connect to places like Miami, the Florida Keys, Fort Myers, Florida’s Suncoast, Tampa, and Melbourne,” according to the FDOT summary.
• Lilium: The Munich, Germany company has orders for its six-passenger eVTOL jet from the startup air taxi service UrbanLink of Miami. The jet can hold six passengers and a pilot and has  a cruise speed of 175 mph and a cruise altitude of 10,000 feet. The company is looking to develop a statewide vertiport network centered in Orlando so that flights could reach Tampa, Jacksonville, Fort Myers or Miami in an hour or less.
• Vertical Aerospace of Bristol, England, had pre-orders for 1,000 of its “vectored thrust aircraft” from American Airlines, Virgin Atlantic, and Avolon, an Irish aircraft leasing firm, said FDOT. The agency added that American had plans to invest in the company. American serves South Florida’s three international airports among others in Florida, while Virgin Atlantic serves Orlando International and Miami International.