Opinions split at FAA over prospect of early commercial eVTOL ops

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During an online investor conference on June 8, Beta Technologies CEO Kyle Clark was asked whether his company’s electric aircraft will be able to start commercial operations before receiving type certification by the Federal Aviation Administration.

“Yes, they can through this new eIPP,” Clark said, responding to the question from Jefferies analyst Sheila Kahyaoglu. “It’s an eVTOL Integration Pilot Program, which allows within limited geographies with specific operators to do for-hire operations.”

Clark told Kahyaoglu that the FAA was open to revenue-generating medical and cargo operations through the program, but was still undecided about passenger flights. Although this was more detail than the FAA had confirmed previously, it was generally in line with what the agency told The Air Current in May and what FAA officials said at industry conferences around the same time.

The following week, however, FAA deputy administrator Chris Rocheleau told reporters at the FAA-EASA International Aviation Safety Conference that revenue-generating operations would not take place under the eIPP with non-certificated aircraft. When asked by TAC for clarification, the FAA said on June 25 only that it “is exploring pathways that could allow commercial operations under the eiPP.”

The FAA’s mixed messages suggest there are still many unresolved questions around when and how these operations will take place, and disagreement within the agency over whether they should occur at all. The fact that the topic is even up for debate underscores the unique positioning of eVTOL aircraft as both passenger vehicles and emerging technologies with considerable political support.

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