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WFRC staff brief TAC on advanced air mobility: eVTOLs, infrastructure and outreach toolkit
Summary
WFRC staff provided an informational briefing on advanced air mobility (AAM), including vehicle types (eVTOL, CTOL), potential Utah applications, infrastructure needs and a recently announced memorandum of understanding with Beta Technologies and state stakeholders.
Che Basqueda of WFRC gave an informational overview of advanced air mobility (AAM), summarized potential use cases and infrastructure requirements, and described state‑level coordination efforts including an MOU with Beta Technologies.
"For those who don't know, what answer Advanced Air Mobility is, it's a, a different mode of transportation that, is kind of new and up and coming," Che said, then explained two vehicle categories: electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (eVTOL) and conventional takeoff and landing aircraft (CTOL). He noted most AAM aircraft under discussion carry four to six occupants including a pilot, have top speeds roughly around 200 mph, and in many designs operate on electricity or hydrogen with zero operating emissions.
Basqueda outlined Utah use cases such as small cargo delivery, medical deliveries and emergency response, infrastructure inspection, and potential passenger services to airports, resorts or regional destinations. He described the Project Delta coalition (referred to as "47 g" in the presentation) and said a memorandum of understanding had been signed between the state aviation group, UDOT Aeronautics and Beta Technologies to coordinate planning, charging infrastructure and aircraft operations.
The briefing covered operational and planning considerations: vertiport siting, integration with existing airspace and FAA procedures, required electrification/charging infrastructure, workforce needs (pilots and maintenance), and the scale and sequencing of operations. Basqueda said a state bill (identified in the meeting as Senate Bill 96) would support outreach and an education toolkit being developed by UDOT Aeronautics to help local communities understand vertiport planning, airspace impacts and community engagement.
Participants asked operational questions about recharging time and the status of the referenced senate bill. Basqueda said recharge times vary by system and that larger aircraft may take a couple of hours to recharge or use battery‑swap approaches to smooth grid demand; he said he would provide a follow‑up update on the bill after a meeting with UDOT Aeronautics.
Basqueda emphasized AAM is at an early but accelerating stage, with cargo operations and small delivery already in limited use and larger passenger operations planned for later phases as certification, airspace integration and infrastructure scale up.
