Organizing the Coming Skyward Chaos (Transmission #307)

The future is one with many, many machines and devices navigating the airspace above us every minute of every day.

With a range of 60 miles, Eva Air is building a full scale prototype of its eVOTL for passengers. Archer’s Midnight electric air taxis are coming. Draganfly is bringing an array of machines—like the Apex and Heavy Lift Drone—to sectors such as public health, oil & gas, and defense & government.

The FAA has registered 791,597 drones as of October 2024. The trend line will no doubt skyrocket up and to the right.

And one day, instead of a way to send 140 characters into the abyss, we’ll finally get those long-awaited flying cars we’ve all been promised.

All of these new machines will be regulated, of course, not unlike how the commercial aviation industry has been for decades. With small devices whizzing around, landing and taking off every few minutes, the operational and technical complexity is exponentially more challenging than whisking 747’s into the air from centralized airport hubs.

Prime Air received FAA approval earlier this year, with College Station (TX) and Phoenix as early test markets. Unlike Amazon, most companies don’t have trillion dollar market caps with nearly unlimited resources for R&D and regulatory work.

There is a category king opportunity to emerge as the air traffic controller for the entire ecosystem.

AN AERIAL FUTURE