U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO)
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) did a study on Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) to look at any issues that can and will arise in its implementation. They spoke with thirty-six stakeholders who identified four main areas that need to be addressed. The first is approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on new aircraft designs. Key features of AAM designs such as electric propulsion and vertical flight are not covered in FAA regulations. The second, is public buy-in of these AAM aircrafts. The general public needs to understand the benefits of safety, reliability and noise reduction that come with AAM. Third, there is not currently infrastructure in place to support the landing facilities or electrical needs for AAM. ACC members, airport directors, and other airport development professionals will need to consider these requirements for future projects. Finally, the entire aviation industry is facing workforce challenges and this will impact AAM as well. There is already a workforce shortage due to cost of higher education, lack of workplace diversity, inadequate awareness of opportunities, and limited training capacity. With AAM, people will to be trained in new skills related to automation and electric propulsion. Schools would need to invest in new curricula, which would cost time and money. To learn more, the full report is accessible on the GAO website.
