The journey of Air Taxis

Manasa Kavya
May 25
4 min read

Overview

Have you ever dreamed of flying over city traffic in your own personal aircraft? That’s the magic of air taxis- tiny flying vehicles that can take off and land vertically, but are quieter, cleaner and could someday be as easy to use as calling a cab! These aircrafts are called eVTOLs (electric Vertical TakeOff and Landing vehicles) and they’re becoming a hot topic in the world of transportation.

If you've ever watched The Jetsons, the classic cartoon where people zoomed around the sky in little flying cars, then you've seen what people have dreamed of for decades. The idea of flying taxis isn’t new. Since the 1950s, scientists, engineers and dreamers have imagined small aircraft taking us quickly over cities, helping us skip traffic jams and save time. It evolved from a far fetched dream to near reality. Yet, even today, it remains just beyond our grasp.

Origin story

After the second world war, when the primary purpose of aircraft development shifted from military, civilian use cases emerged and one of them was air taxis. From the 1950s to 70s, air taxis in US, Europe and Australia referred to jet fueled helicopters. Their services were mainly airport-to-cities & riversides-to-airports, thereby replacing regular public transport.

Hiller Aircraft Company was the first to introduce the concept of a Vertical TakeOff and Landing (VTOL) aircraft as a flying car. One of the first companies to offer air taxi services, Los Angeles Airways (LAA), operated helicopters to carry passengers from the LA international airport to other airports and even Disneyland. LAA’s founder Charles Belinn promoted helicopter transport as a faster, cheaper alternative to road and railway travel.

After nearly 2 decades of operation- carrying around 20 passengers each journey, cutting travel time down and giving people a sense of modernity, fatal crashes caused LAA to shut down.

What went wrong?

Cost- Despite significant public subsidies, the airway fares remained much higher than a bus or train.
Safety issues- Fatal crashes due to component failure, accidents on building tops while taking off and landing occurred.
Inefficiency, sound & air pollution, privacy & security concerns and weather challenges added to the list of growing complications.

These issues led to the decline of air taxis, until recently, where electric VTOLs (eVTOLs) reignited the interest in urban mobility.

Current Status

In 2017, Uber launched Elevate, an aerial ridesharing project, for developing eVTOLs as air taxis and a network of skyports, repurposed decks of parking garages and helipads. Since 2020, companies like Joby Aviation have been conducting flight tests of their eVTOLs for commercial air taxi purposes. Joby Aviation flew in New York skies in 2023 and plans to begin operations in Dubai by early 2026.

Archer Aviation is preparing test flights of its “Midnight” aircraft this year and has identified Abu Dhabi as a key early target market. The United Arab Emirates has taken significant steps to integrate air taxis into its transport network. The General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) of UAE has granted design approval for the country’s first hybrid heliport and is the first regulatory body to develop specific regulatory standards for hybrid infrastructure, expected to be published this year. Meanwhile, Archer is working with the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to obtain full certification for launch in New York city. Parallely, FAA is updating its regulatory framework from 2022 to fit the technological advancements in the sector, along with several other global aviation authorities.

China currently leads the world in the urban mobility sector. The world’s first commercial operation certificates for autonomous passenger drones, issued from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), have already been bagged by two Chinese companies- eHang and Hefei. Their initial flights will be limited to low-altitude urban tourism in cities like Guangzhou and Hefei, rather than full scale air taxi services.

Looking forward

Many other developers in the sector are still in their testing phases and may need a few more years to obtain certification. The global race to launch the first commercial air taxi network is intense and being first could give the company and country a critical edge in terms of policy-making and global market domination.

From the ‘50s to today, air taxi has consistently offered the promise of faster, affordable and more efficient commutes with the ability to provide direct point to point travel, streamlining travel experience and promoting inclusive and efficient transportation. eVTOLS have radically low acoustic footprint, thereby allowing them to blend into the everyday noises of an urban setting. They are reliable, with redundant systems & advanced technologies and cut travel time significantly.

Flying is perceived as an expensive and infrequent form of travel, but that is largely due to the relatively low production volume. With the potential for high volume manufacturing, VTOLs could dramatically reduce per-vehicle costs.

User experience will be a key factor in the adoption of electric air taxis. Air taxi journeys need to be an intuitive and enjoyable experience that passengers can embark on easily with minimal assistance. Developing the infrastructure towards autonomy is crucial for future operations and scalability of air taxis. Supporting ecosystems, including autonomy, battery technology, certification processes, urban Air Traffic Control (ATC) and infrastructure in urban settings for operations and charging, must evolve rapidly to support the growing eVTOL industry.

Meet Manasa Kavya, an aeronautical engineer with a knack for designing drones and making complex tech easy to understand. With over four years in UAV design and development, she’s worked on everything from multirotors to fixed-wing drones for real-world missions.

Whether it's building a drone or breaking down how it works, Manasa brings hands-on experience and clear insight.

Outside her profession, she’s passionate about making STEM fun and approachable. Her articles aim to do just that—mixing deep know-how with a simple, engaging style—exploring ideas, telling stories and making technical concepts more accessible and human.