Sept. 8, 2023
The future of air mobility continues to look bright and new technologies are making aviation more efficient, more sustainable and ultimately safer. That’s the message experts delivered Sept. 6 and 7 at Revolution.Aero in San Francisco.
NBAA, an event partner and participant, continues to work on educating and informing legislators, regulators and the public on the importance of adopting new technologies to help the industry become more sustainable and more connected.
The association, which views its most important responsibility as advancing safety, noted that its ongoing commitments to innovation and sustainability has resulted in the industry driving regulatory and legislative initiatives to accelerate change.
“The crawl, walk, run approach to bringing advanced air mobility and related safety technologies only makes sense in evolving the National Airspace System while demonstrating U.S. leadership,” said NBAA Chief Operating Officer Christopher J. Rocheleau. “It’s why we assembled a team of experts from our membership and fellow associations to provide comprehensive feedback to the FAA’s SFAR. Our collective input will make a difference.” Read more about NBAA’s response to the SFAR.
When asked about the key elements of a successful urban air mobility framework, Rocheleau said, “While there are a number of considerations for a successful introduction of the new aircraft into the system, three of the most important are: an adaptable regulatory framework, infrastructure development and community acceptance. Without these crucial elements in place, advanced air mobility adoption will be unnecessarily delayed.”
Finally, there were multiple questions regarding the upcoming expiration of the FAA’s authorization to operate, and Rocheleau stressed for the aviation system to operate well “it requires that authority, stable funding and leadership.”
When asked specifically about the Biden administration’s announcement on the nomination of Mike Whitaker, he said, “Mike is an accomplished airline executive and former FAA deputy administrator that helped lead many of the NextGen initiatives we are benefiting from today.
“In addition to his technical knowledge and leadership skills, he’s also a pilot that understands what it’s like to operate in the U.S. airspace,” added Rocheleau. “NBAA welcomes the president’s nomination and enthusiastically supports his confirmation.”
International Business Aviation Council Ltd.