The National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) today welcomed a new, U.S.-led partnership with Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the UK to coordinate as the countries take steps to integrate advanced air mobility (AAM) into their aviation systems.
Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and acting Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Administrator Chris Rocheleau joined other government and industry leaders in signing a declaration at the Paris Air Show last week committing to implement the Roadmap for Advanced Air Mobility Aircraft Type Certification.
The roadmap aims to align on the countries’ AAM airworthiness and certification standards by sharing data, research and safety information, with the aim of harmonizing and streamlining the certification and safe deployment of electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft.
“This global partnership moves advanced air mobility forward and fosters the collaboration needed to bring AAM to our skies safely and efficiently,” NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen said.
The partnership announcement comes just months after the FAA unveiled a Special Federal Aviation Regulation (SFAR) for AAM at NBAA’s Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (NBAA-BACE) to guide companies as they work through certification toward operations in the U.S.
NBAA and a group of industry stakeholders have been informing the work of government leaders to chart a course for the integration of AAM technologies into airports and airspace for years. NBAA’s AAM Roundtable, which includes the world’s leading manufacturers developing eVTOL vehicles and other AAM aircraft, helped shape the SFAR introduced by the FAA last year.
NBAA and its members also played a role in ensuring the five-year FAA reauthorization bill signed into law last year included language encouraging the government to harmonize international regulations to bring AAM aircraft to market and strengthen U.S. leadership in aviation.
