The U.S. Department of Transportation released a new Advanced Air Mobility National Strategy on Wednesday. The strategy document lays out how federal agencies plan to integrate advanced air mobility aircraft, including eVTOL and other powered-lift vehicles, into the national transportation system over the next decade.
Developed by an interagency working group spanning more than 25 federal agencies, the strategy frames AAM as an expansion of existing aviation rather than a replacement, with an emphasis on safety, security and coordinated planning across federal, state, local, Tribal and territorial partners.
The AAM strategy document presents a multi-stage timeline. That timeline kicks off in earnest with demonstrations and initial operations by 2027 that would leverage existing airport infrastructure. From there, it expands toward broader operations by 2030 in multiple urban and rural areas, including flights that aim to reduce noise impacts.
By 2035, the document anticipates more advanced concepts, including autonomous operations in specific environments, while describing that integration is expected to be incremental and tied to certification, oversight and operational readiness.
AAM airspace and infrastructure priorities
On the airspace side, the strategy points to ongoing air traffic control modernization and calls for research into low-altitude surveillance, communications and data-sharing methods that can support higher-density operations. It also describes a longer-term move toward more distributed, “cooperative” operating models in defined portions of airspace, with third-party service providers operating under FAA rules and oversight, and with an emphasis on interoperability with existing systems.
Infrastructure is treated as both an enabler and a constraint, with the strategy encouraging early use of existing airports and heliports while acknowledging that scaling would require new or modified facilities such as vertiports, along with energy distribution, spectrum planning and improved low-altitude weather detection. The document also highlights the role of state and local planning in siting and community integration, while noting the federal focus on guidance, standards and coordination as more proposals move from case-by-case reviews toward repeatable processes.
Security, community engagement and workforce
Beyond airspace and facilities, the strategy attempts to apply existing aviation security frameworks to early operations while calling for continuous risk assessments as concepts evolve toward remote and autonomous models. These would include specific attention to cybersecurity, vetting and supply chain resilience.
It also flags community planning issues. These include questions about authority, engagement practices, operational impacts like noise, privacy concerns, and accessibility. It identifies these as areas where clearer guidance and more data will be needed. The strategy document urges workforce development steps aimed at expanding training pathways and formalizing AAM-related job classifications through updates to federal occupational codes.
First thoughts
These first observations are just that—first observations. The document deserves more review, and as such, we will follow up with a deeper dive soon once we’ve had more time absorb it.
In the meantime, one of the likely more controversial points will be the plan’s ultimate aims toward autonomous flight in AAM. The strategy positions autonomous flight as an eventual outcome rather than a near-term driver of AAM deployment, but does venture to put dates on early autonomous AAM deployment in 2035.
What it does not seem to clearly define is what sort of cargo these flights might carry, or whether human passengers might be an option. Fully autonomous operations are framed as conditional, incremental and geographically limited, emerging only after piloted and remotely supervised models have matured. It also assumes that relevant supporting systems, including airspace management, communications, surveillance, cybersecurity and weather sensing are in place and proven.
At the same time, the strategy leaves several foundational questions unresolved, particularly around standards, accountability and public acceptance of autonomous passenger flight. There is no definition of what level of autonomy would be considered equivalent to today’s safety expectations, nor how responsibility would be allocated in cooperative or third-party-managed airspace. In that sense, the document sketches the direction of travel without fixing the destination, reflecting a federal posture that prioritizes flexibility over firm goals.
However attainable its aims may or may not be, the document at least rightly emphasizes preparation over prescription, signaling that autonomy will only advance through certification experience, operational data and coordinated system evolution rather than a single regulatory or technological breakthrough.
