The Federal Aviation Administration timeline published Tuesday is three years beyond the agency’s initial goal of certifying the first of such aircraft by 2025. During initial phases, the taxis will have human pilots, rather than the robotic controllers the industry is eventually seeking, the FAA said.
The FAA’s 2028 timeframe represents the reality of how long it is likely to take to not only get aircraft designs approved, but also to set up small airlines, create pilot-training standards and a host of other requirements before the new devices can carry passengers.
The FAA used lofty language in its implementation plan to describe how the devices will operate, calling it “a new era of aviation once only portrayed in movies or science fiction.”
Still, the operations will closely resemble the existing aviation system as new technology is introduced. The agency also wants to create taxi corridors to keep them away from other aircraft and limit additional work for air-traffic controllers.
Source: Bloomberg
