OPINION:
Imagine summoning an air taxi to avoid gridlocked traffic, receiving lifesaving medical supplies in a remote community within minutes or watching emergency responders reach disaster zones faster than ever before.
What once sounded like science fiction is rapidly becoming reality.
America stands at the threshold of the next great era of aviation. Advanced air mobility, including electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicles and cargo drones, has the potential to transform how people and goods move across our country.
Just as America led the world into the jet age, we now have the opportunity to lead the world into a new era of aviation innovation.
These vehicles could dramatically improve mobility in urban and rural communities, expand access to emergency medical services, support firefighting and search-and-rescue operations, strengthen supply chains and create entirely new economic opportunities.
The technology is advancing rapidly, and the United States is well-positioned to lead.
The Federal Aviation Administration is laying the groundwork for this future. Using a rigorous, time-tested certification process, the agency is working with innovators to safely integrate advanced air mobility vehicles into the National Airspace System.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy recently announced the eVTOL Integration Pilot Program, a public-private partnership that will accelerate the deployment of emerging aviation technologies while maintaining the highest safety standards.
The program will test how electric air taxis, cargo drones and other advanced aviation systems can safely integrate into our airspace. It is generating real-world data that will help regulators and industry develop the rules and procedures needed to support future operations.
The initiative reflects an important reality: Innovation and safety are not competing priorities. They must advance together.
Yet successfully integrating this next era of aviation will require more than new aircraft and new regulations. It demands a 21st-century air traffic control system.
The FAA operates the world’s safest and most complex aviation system. On a typical day, the agency safely manages more than 45,000 flights. Commercial airliners descend into busy hub airports. Business jets navigate around the weather. Military operations launch on tight schedules. Medical helicopters transport critically ill patients.
Every day, this intricate network functions with remarkable precision.
Although the system remains extraordinarily safe, the skies are changing rapidly. Drones inspect infrastructure, monitor crops and deliver cargo. Commercial space launches are becoming increasingly common.
Supersonic passenger travel is reemerging. Electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicles are transitioning from prototypes to operational testing, and we could see demonstration flights later this year under the Integration Pilot Program.
These new entrants will not simply fit into an airspace architecture built for traditional aviation. Electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicles and other unmanned systems are expected to operate primarily at lower altitudes, often in dense corridors, and to exhibit flight characteristics that differ from those of conventional aircraft.
As these operations expand beyond the visual line of sight and scale up, demands on the air traffic system will grow significantly.
That is why the administration’s effort to build a Brand New Air Traffic Control System is so important. This is more than a modernization project. It is an investment in American competitiveness, innovation, mobility and safety. It is a generational transformation of how America manages its skies.
Most important, safety will be strengthened. Tomorrow’s aviation environment will rely less on fragmented information and manual coordination, and more on shared situational awareness across the entire aviation network.
Modernization will also provide the scalability needed to accommodate diverse future growth, including autonomous delivery drones and electric air taxis. Achieving that level of integration requires infrastructure built for the aviation ecosystem of tomorrow, not yesterday.
This transformation is also an investment in America’s workforce. By embracing modern technology, we are ensuring that future generations of air traffic controllers, pilots, engineers, technicians and safety professionals have the tools they need to continue leading the world in aviation.
When historians look back on this moment, they may see it as the point when aviation entered a new era. The question will be whether the U.S. had the foresight to prepare for it.
The technologies are no longer theoretical. They are flying today. Advanced air mobility technologies are rapidly progressing from demonstration to deployment, promising to transform how people and goods move through and between communities.
These innovations have the potential to reduce congestion, expand transportation access, create new industries and strengthen American economic leadership.
The opportunity is in front of us. The technology is ready. Electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicles and advanced air mobility are poised to reshape transportation in the 21st century. This fall, America begins the next chapter of flight.
• Chris Rocheleau is the deputy administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration. He previously served the FAA for more than 20 years in multiple roles, as well as serving as an aviation industry executive and U.S. Air Force officer, bringing extensive experience in aviation safety and operations.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.