Can Flying Taxis Get Off the Ground?

Bold Names

The Wall Street Journal

Technology

4.4 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 26 May 2023

⏱️ 19 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Imagine getting from your home to the airport and skipping all the traffic on the road in a flying taxi. They once were the domain of science fiction and Saturday morning cartoons, but a growing number of companies are working to make taxis in the sky a reality, and the FAA is coming up with regulations to keep them safe. In this conversation from the Future of Everything festival in May, WSJ’s Alex Ossola speaks to Billy Nolen, the acting FAA administrator, about the business and technology behind air-taxi travel and the challenges facing regulators. Further reading: FAA Plans New Sky Lanes for Air Taxis When Will Flying Taxis Get Off the Ground? The CEO of Boeing-Backed Wisk Aero Has Some Ideas. United to Invest $15 Million in Flying-Taxi Maker Backed by Embraer For eVTOLs to Really Take Off, Airspace Needs an Overhaul. Here’s Why. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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0:00.0	As a City National client, you get a dedicated team of banking professionals working alongside
0:06.5	you.
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0:16.3	Bank.
0:17.3	See what personal can do for you at CNB.com.
0:28.4	To get to JFK Airport from my apartment in Brooklyn is a marathon.
0:33.2	I could spend more than an hour taking a bus to a train to another train or spend less
0:39.6	time but more money for a ride share and risk getting stuck in traffic.
0:46.2	Since I'm a frequent traveler who doesn't always pack light, these options aren't exactly
0:51.0	ideal.
0:52.0	Even though the airport is less than 10 miles away.
0:55.8	But what if I could fly to my flight for the same cost as an Uber or a lift?
1:01.0	That's what flying taxis or EV tolls promise to do.
1:04.4	EV tolls, which stands for electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicle, are battery-powered
1:09.6	aircraft that take off vertically like a helicopter, fly horizontally like a plane, and then land
1:15.2	vertically like a helicopter again.
1:17.6	And making short airport runs like from my neighborhood in Brooklyn to JFK, are exactly
1:22.7	what flying taxi companies want to start doing as soon as 2025.
1:26.8	But they're waiting on the go ahead from regulators.
1:29.7	So how could flying taxis fit into our crowded urban airways and fly as safely as a commercial
1:34.7	plane?
	...

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