Uber has flirted with the urban flying taxi for a couple of years. Still, it looks like Boeing-backed Wisk Aero is getting close to realizing it first as it unveiled its sixth-generation aircraft, an\ all-electric four-seater that can fly without a human pilot.
What is Wisk Aero?
Wisk Aero develops electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) vehicles and is competing to be the first advanced air mobility company to receive approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for passenger testing. Wisk Aero was founded in 2019 as a joint venture between Boeing and Kitty Hawk.
The Wisk airplane has six front rotors with five blades each that can tilt horizontally or vertically and six rear rotors with two blades each that are fixed in a vertical position. It has a cruising speed of 120 knots, a range of 90 miles when its reserves are fully charged, and can fly between 2,500 and 4,000 feet in the air.
What does the future hold?
Production certification gives the go-ahead to start manufacturing the aircraft; type certification certifies that the plane satisfies all FAA design and safety requirements, and air carrier certification authorizes the provider to offer commercial air taxi services formally.
Wisk hopes to one day offer an app-based enter-city flying taxi service similar to Uber or Lyft. Within the next five years, the company plans to introduce an air taxi service, at which point it anticipates operating 14 million flights yearly in roughly 20 significant areas worldwide.
While the FAA is still developing a new regulatory framework to accommodate the eVTOL industry and getting to the market is still an uphill battle, air taxis show potential to ease traffic problems in major cities.
