The General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) praised the news that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) would be establishing an Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) Integration Executive Council to provide further support for enabling a new generation aviation sector.
“We applaud Administrator Dickson’s announcement that he is creating an executive level integration council, internal to the FAA, to ‘move forward in a coherent way’ on Advanced Air Mobility. To effectively facilitate this emerging sector, many aspects in addition to safety will need to be managed, including air traffic, airports, operations, licensing, domestic policy as well as international coordination. The work of the council will be important to the long-term success and scalability of Advanced Air Mobility in meeting the transportation needs of our communities. This announcement, coupled with the recent introduction of the Advanced Air Mobility Coordination and Leadership Act by Senators Moran and Sinema and Representatives Davids and Graves, shows that this transformative aviation sector is rightfully becoming a priority in the eyes of policymakers,” said GAMA President and CEO Pete Bunce.
“Advanced Air Mobility is a rapidly emerging sector of the aerospace industry, and the FAA must bring together all of its expertise across the agency to facilitate the safe, scalable, and timely integration of these operations into the National Airspace System,” said Administrator Steve Dickson. “Our executive council will cut across FAA organizational lines to support innovation and solutions for this aviation sector, and we look forward to getting started.”
GAMA member companies are making advancements in innovation and technologies for the development of electric propulsion and vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (VTOL) and have been working closely with FAA Aircraft Certification and Flight Standards to address the necessary safety requirements for design and operation of these new aircraft. Entry into service will require coordination of policies and priorities across all FAA operational divisions such as air traffic, airports, environmental policy and international affairs to enable integration of this essential transportation service to rural and urban communities.
“In 2015, GAMA began outreach to new and exciting member companies exploring electric and hybrid propulsion to establish a forum where they could work collaboratively with each other, academia and federal agencies such as NASA and the FAA as well as other global aviation regulatory authorities. From a modest group of 11 entities in 2015, this Electric Propulsion and Innovation Committee has grown to well over 100 today. Yesterday’s FAA announcement, coupled with congressional attention toward Advanced Air Mobility, comes at a critical time in the development of this new sector, particularly as the world looks more toward environmentally sustainable solutions in human mobility,” said Bunce.
The Advanced Air Mobility Coordination and Leadership Act (S.516 and H.R. 1339) authorizes the Secretary of Transportation to establish a working group with other federal agencies to plan for and coordinate efforts for the advancement of operating AAM aircraft. The working group will be tasked to review and make recommendations for the federal role in the AAM sector, beyond the initial critical stage of aircraft certification and operations, with a focus on economic and workforce opportunities, potential physical and digital security risks and mitigations, and infrastructure development.
The announcement of the Advanced Air Mobility Integration Executive Council was made during a recent town hall hosted by the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA).
