Advanced Air Mobility Community Integration Considerations Playbook

Aviation is undergoing rapid change due to advancements in technology, new business models, changing consumer preferences, and other trends. These trends are poised to change the way people travel by air. Advanced air mobility (AAM) is a broad concept focusing on leveraging these trends to include routine aviation mobility in urban, suburban, and rural communities. NASA envisions AAM as safe, sustainable, accessible, and affordable aviation for transformational local and intraregional missions. But it’s worth noting that this vision, AAM associated terms, and even the definition of AAM will also continue to mature. The AAM Coordination and Leadership Act defines the terms “advanced air mobility” and “AAM” as a transportation system that transports people and property by air be-tween two points using aircraft with advanced technologies, including electric aircraft or electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft, in both con-trolled and uncontrolled airspace. AAM includes moving light, time-critical packages by small uncrewed air systems – informally known as “drones.” These packages could include medical supplies to isolated areas or sensors to inspect pipelines or rail tracks. AAM also includes the movement of people and cargo within com-munities, whether this is transporting rural patients to the hospital, passengers to the airport, or packages to a central distribution point where they could be delivered with the mail in electric vehicles. AAM includes regional travel too short or lacking demand for existing air travel, but too long for an easy ground trip. AAM is made possible through integrated and connected multimodal infrastructure and data networks. Infrastructure networks will include existing transportation structures such as roads, airports, and train and bus stations and new AAM infrastructure such as vertiports. Data networks include new equipment, such as navigational aids, connections, such as satellite frequencies, and data such as, local weather observations.