When considering the challenges of realizing the goal of flying taxis and personal commuting aircraft, thoughts of airspace management, aircraft certification and operational safety may immediately spring to mind.

Critical to the success of this nascent industry, however, will be adequate ground infrastructure to support the ambitions of an increasing number of Urban Air Mobility (UAM) visionaries. How best to create a successful network of urban and suburban vertiports raises many questions and engineering challenges that will need to be addressed before this new aviation vertical can flourish.

Who Will Develop Vertiports?

Most airports around the world are owned by federal or local governments. And while many private companies deliver fuel and food, provide security and perform a myriad of other functions, the vast investment needed to develop airports is principally provided through public finance.

The question is whether those same central or local government agencies will step up to fund a network of potentially very expensive hubs to allow UAM to develop. Many are skeptical, especially based on their assumption that, in the early years at least, electric-powered air taxis will be exclusively used by only the most affluent passengers.

If the private sector steps up, one of the questions observers frequently ask is whether the facilities for docking and charging will be agnostic to a variety of aircraft. A scenario similar to the auto industry, where Tesla has developed an exclusive network of charging stations, would require several independent vertiports in the same downtown location.

That seems both illogical and highly unlikely to succeed. Private or public sponsors of vertiports, in addition to regional planning authorities, will likely insist on a support network able to manage several different aircraft types. The answer may be partnerships, where publicly owned vertiports are financed in part via long-term leases to private Fixed Based Operators…