The National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) Roundtable recently celebrated its two year anniversary with continued momentum in the legislative and regulatory arenas and growth in membership.

The AAM Roundtable, a forum for high level policy planning with sector leaders to chart a course for the integration of AAM technologies into the nation's airspace and infrastructure, is focused on maintaining the US position as a global leader in aviation and aerospace, as well as harnessing the full safety, economic, environmental and national security potential of AAM.

This year, the AAM Roundtable will focus on ensuring US competitiveness in the AAM market by working with the bipartisan congressional AAM Caucus and the leading authorisers in Congress to advance pro-AAM policies in the FAA reauthorisation bill. The current FAA authorisation is scheduled to expire on 30 September, 2023.

“Electric aviation and AAM represent the next generation of air transportation in this country with the first commercial AAM flight scheduled to occur in 2025,” says NBAA senior vice president, government affairs Kristie Greco Johnson. “To achieve this deadline, the FAA must keep pace with aircraft type certifications and the promised regulatory schedule.

“NBAA submitted its priorities to congressional committees and is working with committees of each jurisdiction on priorities for FAA reauthorisation that will support the launch of this sector with investments and infrastructure and congressional oversight of the FAA's upcoming Special Federal Aviation Regulation."

NBAA is focused on ensuring the regulatory process moves forward in a timely way to reduce commercial risks and ensure international competitiveness for this emerging sector. A key challenge in achieving necessary milestones is the FAA's ability to hire and retain a workforce with the right technical expertise.

A January AAM Roundtable meeting featured congressional representatives from both the House of Representatives and the Senate, and high-level FAA and Department of Energy officials, allowing roundtable members to share their challenges and discuss solutions with those in positions to support progress.

In 2022, the NBAA AAM Roundtable advocated for two key measures that were signed into law. S. 516, the Advanced Air Mobility Coordination and Leadership Act, requires the Secretary of Transportation to establish an advanced air mobility interagency working group to review and examine factors that will allow the maturation of the AAM ecosystem within the US and develop an AAM national strategy.

It also supported the Advanced Aviation Infrastructure Modernization Act (AAIM Act) establishing US Department of Transportation (DOT) grants to assist state, local and tribal governments and other entities in planning infrastructure to support AAM operations.

“NBAA is proud of the work we have done together to start putting in place the building blocks for successful integration of AAM into the national airspace system, and I'm excited for the road ahead, taking advantage of the opportunities that lie before us,” says Johnson.

Founding members of NBAA's AAM Roundtable include Joby Aviation, Lilium, Wisk, Beta Technologies, Supernal and Hillwood Aviation, with Overair joining earlier this year.