ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — They’re being called a potentially transformative change to transportation in Tampa Bay.
While it’s uncertain when advanced air mobility aircraft (AAM) will start carrying passengers in the region, St. Petersburg is one of the municipalities getting ready for them.
“You want to be ready for the latest technology. You want to be prepared. You don’t want to be reactive when something kind of comes on the horizon,” said Ed Montanari, chair of St. Petersburg’s Advanced Air Mobility Task Force.
During an interview at Albert Whitted Airport, Montanari pointed out a model of the first commercial airliner. A sign on the display says it took off from downtown more than 110 years ago.
“A lot of people don’t know this, but the airline business started right here in St. Petersburg in 1914, and this is the newest airborne transportation system that’s coming along,” said Montanari.
A report from the task force describes AAM as “an emerging sector of the aviation industry that enables the quick and efficient transport of passengers or cargo over short distances.”
While the report says this encompasses different kinds of aircraft, the most common kind being developed is the electric vertical take off and landing aircraft, or eVTOL.
Montanari said they haven’t been approved by the FAA yet, but that could happen later this year or early next. Thursday, he told city council what can be done to prepare.
“I think it’s going to be transformative to transportation throughout the region, and the state, and around the world,” he told Spectrum News.
Improvements to Albert Whitted Airport were among the recommendations. They included creating AAM parking spots and installing electrical charging stations and fire safety systems in the next three years. It says one or more vertiports – or takeoff and landing sites – should be built in the next decade.
“I see the first place these aircraft are going to operate out of would be right here at the airport,” said Montanari.
He also said there’s a potential for standalone vertiports in different areas of the city, like downtown. He compared those sites to helipads on the tops of tall buildings in New York City. Montanari said AAMs would first operate out of the airport.
Council Member Brandi Gabbard said a critical part of the getting the introduction of AAMs right will be cooperation beyond St. Pete.
“I think we can look at our transit today and note that if there had been regional collaboration decades ago, we would be in a much different place,” Gabbard said during the meeting.
The task force’s report does recommend working with regional planners to develop flight corridors to link Whitted with Tampa International Airport and other facilities.
“We also want to capture the jobs that might come with these new vehicles, the education, the training, and then the manufacturing,” said Montanari. “We’re going for it all right here. We really wanted to plant the flag of – this is the home of commercial aviation, we want to keep it the home of commercial aviation.
Montanari said next, a study is needed to determine where at Whitted the infrastructure and landing spots should be.