Infrastructure Promise AAM’s
Vertiports and
heliports at medical facilities like Vassar Brothers Medical Center in
Poughkeepsie,
New York (above), will need to
accommodate not
just helicopters in the future but cargo
drones and electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, as well. (Heliplanners Photo)
Funding and technology for advanced air mobility will benefit all vertical aviation.
By Mark Huber W 44 ROTOR JUNE 2024
HEN IT COMES TO GOVERNMENT investment, vertical aviation has tended to get the short end of the stick compared with the fixed-wing industry. But times are changing.
Te billions of dollars and environmental enthusiasm
backing a new generation of advanced air mobility (AAM) electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) vehicles could have a spillover benefit for the entire rotorcraft sector. “We’ve always been second fiddle to the airlines,” laments
Rex Alexander, president of aviation consultancy Five-Alpha and a member of VAI’s Vertical Flight Infrastructure Sub- Working Group. “People who fly at 1,000 ft. and below really don’t get nearly the money the fixed-wing community that flies at 3,000 ft. and above receives.” But infrastructure expert Alexander sees promise in the excitement surrounding AAM. “I think there’s an
op por tunity here,” he says. “We’ve been told by people at the FAA and on Capitol Hill that if you can tie this new low-altitude infrastructure, including vertiports, low-level weather predicting and reporting, and air traffic control, to advanced air mobility, we can help you,” Alexander continues. “Te legacy helicopter industry will definitely benefit from the influx of funding and technology AAM is going to bring to the low-altitude flight environment.” Chris Martino, VAI’s senior director of operations and
international affairs, echoes Alexander’s assessment. “Our members won’t operate just helicopters; some will transition over to these next-generation vehicles, and some will operate both,” Martino says. “It’s not just the vertical aviation fleet that will become
more diverse—we expect to see that diversity reflected in an operator’s hangar. And we see our purpose as supporting all vertical aviation aircraft,” Martino explains.
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