Accessibility in Advanced Air Mobility: Boarding Passengers with Reduced Mobility onto Vertical Takeoff and Landing Aircraft

A plethora of electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft development projects aim at developing passenger-carrying aerial vehicles for the purpose of providing point-to-point mobility services within and between metropolitan areas. The nascent passenger-carrying advanced air mobility (AAM) industry promises more affordable fares and seamless experience through innovation in aircraft design with the roll-out of these novel eVTOL within five years, new concepts of operations involving more automation, and higher utilization than with today's helicopter charter operations. AAM operators plan to leverage existing heliport facilities as well as trigger the development of new vertiports-some of them could be located on existing city real estate (e.g., high-rise buildings and parking garage rooftops). Moving vertical flight toward higher-intensity passenger operations and enabling a broad adoption as outlined during the dawn of AAM raise the question of accessibility. This includes access to the VTOL door sill for passengers with reduced mobility (PRMs), the VTOL boarding and deplaning process, and the feasibility of carrying their equipment onboard (including wheelchairs). This context includes the intermodal aspects of the first and last miles to the vertiport, the availability of equipment for facilitating PRM boarding, and the broad variety of aviation facilities that are served by VTOL aircraft-including small helipads and vertipads that are not all PRM-accessible. The study identifies key design and operational criteria for reducing barriers to an unhindered boarding and deboarding of VTOL aircraft-including helicopters and eVTOLs. It suggests mitigation in aircraft design and vertiport design. The analysis emphasizes the importance of incorporating accessibility considerations in the development of the different components of AAM in order to enhance operational safety, efficiency, and customer experience and to prevent adverse impacts on dignity, fairness, and mobility for all.