Air taxi

An air taxi is a small commercial aircraft that makes short flights on demand.

The concept of air taxis existed as early as the 1910s. This concept goes back as early as 1917 with Glenn Curtiss’ prototype, the auto-plane. Furthermore, during the 1920s to the late 1950s, various inventors created their own prototypes. Such inventors included Henry Ford, Waldo Waterman, and Moulton “Molt” Taylor. However, each of these projects faced challenges which included crashes, lack of funding, or technical difficulties. After all this experimentation and challenges faced, the urban air mobility industry had shifted focus on “improving safety and enhancing economic and operational efficiency of vertical flight".

The next phase from the 1950s to the late 1980s included urban air mobility services through the use of helicopters within major cities such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York; however, the challenges of fuel costs and safety have made it difficult to commercialize using helicopters for urban air mobility.

During the 2010s to the present day, there was  the “reemergence” of catering to “on-demand aviation services” that focus on goods delivery and passenger mobility such as the ability of booking a helicopter through a smartphone. BLADE, SkyRyde, and UberCopter are just some examples of companies that are offering passenger mobility helicopter services. Additionally, NASA and the United States Air Force initiated a focus to improve safety and scalability of UAM systems through the launch of the AAM National Campaign and Agility Prime. NASA showed this initiative by signing agreements with 17 companies to test UAM vehicles and systems. On the other hand, the U.S. Air Force's Agility Prime program demonstrates a focus on scalability through exploring vertical flight opportunities for military applications.

The air taxi market is an application of Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) – air transportation systems that utilize advanced technologies such as vertical takeoffs, autonomous capabilities, or fully-electric systems – for short to mid range on-demand flights. Many AAM vehicles are designed for Short Takeoff and Landing (STOL) or Vertical Takeoff and Landings (VTOL); electric VTOL aircraft are also prominent, known as eVTOLs.

Another noteworthy term for the air taxi market is Urban Air Mobility (UAM), which is a sub-category of AAM focused on applications in urban settings.

Air taxi designs vary to accommodate various numbers of passengers. NASA has proposed various designs that could accommodate various numbers of passengers such as: single, six, and fifteen passenger air taxi aircraft. NASA has analyzed three possible options of  vehicle design to outweigh the most optimal model for missions, in which they compare mathematical statistics for a hybrid, turboshaft, and electrical aircraft models. Whereas for more of a single path commercial use the European Union Aviation Safety Agency propose that electrical aircraft will be the main source of power for air taxis, to ensure that air taxis are being designed with the new electronical technology.

Various designs have been considered when it comes to the development of air taxis. Development of designs are used for different purposes in based on the following criteria