It is reported that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said on Tuesday that it has adjusted the certification method of future electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (evtol) pilots, but it is not expected to delay the certification or operation approval Evtol aircraft has been advertised as an air taxi, which is expected to become the future of urban air traffic. With the listing of many evtol companies, this low altitude urban air traffic aircraft has also attracted great attention all over the world.
The FAA said in a statement that it would pursue "a predictable framework to better meet the training and certification needs of these new aircraft pilots." The FAA added that this flexibility "will eliminate the requirement for special circumstances and exemptions".
The FAA said it was revising the regulatory approach because the rules for aircraft and helicopter design did not take into account the training needs of pilots in power lifting operations. The so-called dynamic lifting refers to the use of helicopter mode during take-off and landing, and the transfer to aircraft mode during flight.
Peter Bunce, President of the General Aviation Manufacturers Association of America, said that the FAA's decision "in our view is harmful to safety and will greatly increase the workload of the FAA. In many ways, it is a bad policy."
Many evtol startups are supported by large airlines and other large enterprises. Toyota holds the shares of Joby aviation, Archer aviation is supported by United Airlines and stellantis, and vertical Aerospace attracts the support of American Airlines and Honeywell.
Joby plans to launch its air sharing travel service in 2024.
FAA said that their "aircraft certification process remains unchanged, all the development work done by the current applicants is still valid, and our regulatory adjustment should not delay their projects."
The FAA informed the U.S. Congress of the issue on April 29, and the inspector general's office of the Department of transportation said in March that it would review the certification basis of evtol.