Boeing, the worlds largest aerospace company, has completed the first test flight of their autonomous air taxi. There were no pilots, staff, or passengers on board.
The prototype is 30 feet long and 28 feet wide, and was designed to complete short flights of approximately 50 miles at a time. The test flight lasted less than a minute, according to Boeing, and the air taxi did not go anywhere far. The taxi hovered over the runway before successfully landing.
Boeing has hailed the successful flight test as a major milestone for their NeXt division, which specializes in autonomous flight. Boeing and its competition in the aerospace industry now believe that small, autonomous airplanes are set to revolutionize transportation in the coming decades. Small autonomous “air taxis” could potentially be used as a solution to urban congestion.
The technology is at the furthest stages of development within the aerospace industry, but there are several companies in Silicon Valley that are developing the same technology. In technical terms, the technology is known as electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing (eVTOL). It will likely be a while before “flying taxis” become commonplace, however. Uber is set to deploy air taxis by 2023. Boeing has set an earlier date, in 2020, but it is unclear whether or not those companies and others can meet these timelines.
