Societal changes, new technologies, and new business models have set the stage for a new mobility infrastructure for people and cargo. New technologies like stronger, lighter aircraft materials and distributed electric propulsion have made safe, quiet, fast electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft possible. Against the backdrop of urban congestion and now public health concerns about density, the opportunity is emerging to create on-demand, multimodal mobility businesses that leverage the third dimension — the skies above us. These businesses will make up a new distributed mobility infrastructure for this century and beyond. Aerial Innovation is working to advance that future in Silicon Valley and Japan.

The promise of advanced air mobility has drawn a robust ecosystem of players, each bringing their contribution. Hundreds of electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft concepts have been proposed, and the leaders among them are moving toward certifying the first aircraft. Developers of a wide variety of materials, subsystems and safety technologies are coming together to form the supply chain for manufacturing these vehicles at scale. Operators are outlining pilot and crew requirements. And the ground infrastructure for vertiports, airspace management and operations management is coming into focus. Community outreach efforts are also starting to engage local communities on how new air mobility can improve people's lives.

 The density of advanced air mobility aircraft envisioned will far exceed commercial aviation today and could not be supported by current airspace or aviation communications technologies. Integrating take-off and landing sites, electric charging, and crew and passenger hubs into existing infrastructure and providing for maintenance and repair is only part of the infrastructure challenge. Advanced air mobility will require traffic management, air operations management, and other systems to make the business viable.