Paris Air Show: US leading the way for electric air taxi certification
June 18, 2025
The US is positioning itself as the global frontrunner in the development and certification of electric air taxis.
On Tuesday 17 June US transportation secretary Sean Duffy, attended the show where he revealed that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is leading a major international collaboration to develop a certification roadmap for electric air taxis.
Regulator collaboration
The FAA is collaborating with regulators from Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the UK to establish a unified certification roadmap for electric air taxis, alongside other aircraft in the advanced air mobility segment. The aim is to harmonise standards and processes across borders with a completion target date of July 2027.
Following Duffy’s announcement and discussing the lay of the land around eVTOL certification, four US air taxi developers, Archer Aviation, Beta Technologies, Joby Aviation and Wisk Aero gathered to share their insights on the progress and challenges of scaling AAM. They unanimously welcomed the FAA’s announcement as a boost to the momentum behind certification efforts and the support the sector now enjoys from both industry and government.
“This is an incredible time in the industry,” commented JoeBen Bevirt, CEO Joby Aviation. “We now have all the pieces in place to move at pace through certification. We’re working closely with the FAA and are making fantastic progress especially on building our flight test aircraft and training pilots to fly those aircraft,”
Wisk Aero CEO, Sebastien Vigneron echoed this optimism, citing the executive order backing AAM as a key turning point. “We now have political support, industry support and the financial backing to achieve our goals.”
Similarly, Beta Technologies CEO, Kyle Clark, also highlighted the administration’s strong support, noting that in line with the “strong uptick from the administration,” Beta is expecting to announce some “major milestones in 2025.”
2028 Olympics are target for eVTOL certification
Nikhil Goel, CMO at Archer Aviation pointed to the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles as the “North Star” for launching certified eVTOL services in the US. “Parallel to that is our aim to launch in the UAE this year,” he added.
While certification is a critical next step, Goel also stressed the importance of investing in the necessary infrastructure. Archer has already announced vertiport networks in Los Angeles, San Francisco Bay area and New York. “We’re working with airports, FBOS including Signature and Atlantic Aviation. Without robust infrastructure scaling AAM effectively and at pace will be difficult,” he added.
The need for a unified and modernised airspace is also key, added Vigneron. He noted Wisk’s close collaboration with NASA and the FAA to digitalise air traffic control systems and enable autonomy in flight operations. “We’re building an entirely new mode of transportation,” he said. “This will require more tolerant and digital airspace systems,” he continued.
Clark added that Beta is also focused on addressing financial frameworks to reassure customers and stakeholders that eVTOL technology is not only viable but economically sound.
Game changer for the US
Concluding that the executive order is “a game changer for the US”, Bevirt added it will drive rapid adoption and ensure the US stays at the forefront of this industry.” However, he also noted that there needs to be a rapid expansion of manufacturing capacity to ensure the sector has the necessary resources in place to scale production at pace.
The US will lead, Archer’s Goel agreed.”But the fastest-growing urban centres aren’t in the US, they’re in places like Southeast Asia, Africa and East Asia. I’m excited about taking the talent base that we’ve built in the US and exporting the technologies we’ve developed to the largest 50 cities worldwide. Duffy’s announcement yesterday is the start of that process,” he said.
“The demand from cities around the world is impressive. That’s why we need to lean in and scale as rapidly as possible,” Goel concluded. Establishing a framework for global deployment of electric air taxi technology is the critical next step in achieving that.
