Advanced Air Mobility

Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) is an air transport system.

According to the Advanced Aviation Infrastructure Modernization Act, Advanced Air Mobility is defined as an air transportation system that transports individuals and property between points using aircraft, such as remotely piloted, autonomous, or vertical take-off and landing aircraft, including those powered by electric or hybrid-electric propulsion, in both controlled and uncontrolled airspace.

AAM seeks to integrate Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) and sustainable aircraft like electric Vertical Take Off and Landing (eVTOLs) into the sovereign airspace of nations throughout the world such as that of the United States and its National Airspace System (NAS). It requires the development of the physical infrastructure of vertiports as well as the evolution of the digital infrastructure of a highly automated framework of operations, i.e. UAS Traffic Management (UTM).

AAM is an overarching term that combines both Urban Air Mobility (UAM), which involves transporting persons and cargo above the traffic within a city and the Regional Air Mobility (RAM) which is focused more on connecting suburbs, villages, and small towns in the countryside as well as islands or communities separated by mountainous regions and rivers. While UAM has attracted the majority of attention and investment, The initial rollout of AAM operations will likely start in more remote, rural settings to minimize collateral damage in the event of a mishap. AAM includes and expands upon the principles of UAM into applications beyond the urban environment:

  • Intra-city airborne transportation
  • Inter-city airborne transportation
  • Cargo delivery
  • Public services
  • Private / Recreational vehicles

In February 2020, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine published a report that expanded the scope of the developing UAM concept beyond midtown Manhattan use cases. Since March 2020, UAM has been considered a key element of the broader concept known as Advanced Air Mobility (AAM), as defined by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Just four months later, in July 2020, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) formally adopted the umbrella term 'Advanced Air Mobility.'

According to a May 2021 market valuation by Morgan Stanley, AAM is projected to be worth $1 trillion US dollars by 2040 and up to $9 trillion a decade later. However, the consulting firm Drone Industry Insights, which primarily focuses on the commercial drone market, offers a more conservative forecast of $20.8 billion by 2035, with a CAGR of 22.1%.

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