US transportation secretary Sean Duffy marked the second day of the show by revealing that the Federal Aviation Administration has partnered with regulators in four countries to write a joint “roadmap” for type certificating electric air taxis.
The USA’s top transportation official also pledged to move forward with a bold plan to modernise US air traffic control (ATC). Duffy is seeking $31 billion in funding for that work.
The air taxi certification roadmap, revealed by Duffy on 17 June, comes from the USA, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the UK – all members of the National Aviation Authorities Network.
The document broadly says those partners will collaborate to establish standards and processes for certificating electric air taxis and other aircraft in the broader Urban Air Mobility (AAM) segment.
It does not include binding requirements. But it does signal the USA’s and its partners’ interest in supporting the segment and therefore could serve as a major lift to the air taxi segment.
“We have a roadmap to move forward with our partners, to have that common platform, which… is going to provide a bigger market share and faster deployment of new technology,” Duffy says.
Called “Roadmap for Advanced Air Mobility Aircraft Type Certification,” the document says the five regulators will collaborate to ensure safety, streamline certification processes, harmonise requirements across agencies, establish “performance-based” requirements and share data for the purpose of enabling “multi-authority validations”.
The regulators seek to complete their tasks by July 2027. The document says regulators will take a “crawl, walk, run approach for type certifying AAM aircraft” but does not estimate when initial type certifications might be issued.
But Federal Aviation Administration acting administrator Chris Rocheleau says US revenue air taxi flights could start as soon as 2026, while cautioning that such operations would “start very slow” and could first involve cargo flights.
“I think the companies have a really good game plan about how they roll this out… I’m encouraged at the progress we’re making,” Rocheleau says.
Several chief executives of US air taxi developers were on hand for Duffy’s announcement.
“It’s… great momentum,” says Wisk CEO Sebastien Vigneron. “It’s paving the way for the future.”
“This… is an incredible moment,” says Archer Aviation CEO Adam Goldstein. “The companies came together, the regulators came together, the administration came together, and all as one defined what the future of aviation is going to look like.”
Separately at the Paris show, Duffy said his team is charging ahead with plans to overhaul ATC – a goal that has become a signature priority of the Trump administration.
The US Congress is now working on a spending bill – dubbed the “One Big Beautiful Bill” – that would fund at least part of the project.
As now written, the bill sets aside some $12.5 billion for ATC modernisation, but Duffy wants more.
“That’s not enough to do the whole project,” he says. “We’re going to keep working with the Senate to get a number that I think will allow us to do the work.”
Duffy seeks a total $31 billion for the project, US senator Jerry Moran said on 16 June during the show.
