Will air taxis fly in Los Angeles in 2028?
by Daniel Fink, MD, Chair, The Quiet Coalition
Photo credit: Kindel Media
ABC TV reported that Uber is planning to operate air taxis built by Joby during the 2028 Olympics. Air taxis are part of advanced aviation mobility, or AAM. The Joby eVTOLS will operate from specified vertiports and the air taxis will be booked through the regular Uber app, with pricing similar to Uber Black car services. In fact, the entire trip will include Uber Black rides to and from vertiports, and the air taxi flight.
ABC reports that the piloted Joby eVTOLS have a 100 mile range, 200 mph speed, are powered by four independent battery packs and have a triple-redundant computer system. A competitor, Archer Aviation, planned to have its air taxis available for the 2024 Paris Olympic games, but didn’t obtain flight certification from European authorities. Despite that failure, Archer is the official air taxi service for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
Uber Air is planning to begin operations in Dubai later this year.
Operators were looking for possible vertiport locations in Los Angeles, but it doesn’t look like any have been approved or built. I found a Los Angeles Department of Transportation AAM document from 2021, but there’s nothing about regulations for noise, hours of operation or zoning in the Los Angeles Municipal Code.
The Federal Aviation Administration has several documents about AAM, which it calls “powered lift.” One specifies pilot training requirements. Another discusses the infrastructure needed for powered lift aircraft, or vertiports.
As I have written, I don’t follow aviation noise issues or AAM closely. My noise interests are the safe noise exposure level for humans and convincing my medical colleagues and the public that what is called Age-Related Hearing Loss is really noise-induced hearing loss in elderly persons from a lifetime of cumulative excessive noise exposure.
But, if and when the air taxis fly here in Los Angeles, I’ll be sure to let you know what that’s like.