Arizona plans for futuristic era for air travel

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(The Center Square) - Arizona is taking a futuristic approach on air travel transportation.

Senate Appropriations and Transportation Committee Chairman David Farnsworth, R-Mesa, told The Center Square he established the Advanced Air Mobility Advisor Team with the goal of bringing this transportation system to Arizona. Farnsworth added he anticipates introducing a bill next legislative session regarding AAMs.

According to the National Business Aviation Assocation, AAM is an “air transportation using electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft to move people and cargo between places not currently or easily served by surface transportation or existing aviation modes.”

Farnsworth’s adviser team meets every other week virtually over Zoom to discuss AAMs, the senator noted. 

These meetings are “well-attended,” with industry leaders and local government officials participating in them, he explained. 

The senator said he is attempting to bring people together to help figure out what Arizona statutes need to be changed to allow AAMs to come to the state.

“Arizona possesses the talent, space, and vision to take the lead in this field. I am committed to establishing a solid foundation now to transform the future of travel into a reality,” Farnsworth said. 

He said transportation is an “important part” of Arizona’s government, describing it as an area that has “been neglected over the years.”

A concern Farnsworth has about AAMs is that if Arizona doesn’t act quickly, private companies will come into the state and build out their own infrastructure for AAMs, which would then require Arizona to pay a fee to use them. He compared it to toll roads. 

Arizona needs a balance between publicly-owned vertiports and privately-owned vertiports, the senator said. Vertiports are landing and take-off areas for these flying transportation vehicles. 

This year, the Arizona passed Senate Bill 1307, which said the Arizona Department of Transportation will need to update its statewide aviation plan to include AAMs in 2026. 

Furthermore, Farnsworth said he included a provision in Arizona's 2025 budget that allocated $2 million to fund vertiports. The money became available Sept. 26, and it has not been spent yet, he said.

Farnsworth said any taxpayer dollars spent on AAMs need to be done “very carefully and not on research.” Private companies are doing billions of dollars' worth of research on AAMs, he noted. 

If Arizona does spend money on AAMs, it should be spent on infrastructure, according to Farnsworth. 

One of the potential developments the transportation committee is looking into creating is a facility similar to a bus station or light-rail station that allows people to travel to and from various locations via AAMs, the senator said.

Farnsworth said he had a meeting with Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego last week, discussing a place where a light rail and an AAM could combine. Farnsworth is meeting with Uber next week to discuss AAMs, he noted.

These vertical lift aircrafts will become more prevalent in the next 10 years, Farnsworth said. He noted these aircrafts have the potential to reduce the congestion of Arizona’s current traffic. 

According to Urban Air Mobility News, a combined 92 cities and airports across America have future plans regarding AAMs. In June, President Donald Trump signed an executive order trying to speed up the development of AAMs and other unmanned aircraft systems.     

As for any possible downsides, Farnsworth told The Center Square the two biggest concerns are safety and traffic. 

The senator noted people will be afraid to fly in AAMs, but he called them “very safe.” 

"A large percentage of people will feel safer in the air taxis than they are on the ground," Farnsworth said.

He said he did not know how high AAMs would fly, noting the federal government is currently working on this topic.