{"id":166527,"date":"2026-02-24T03:30:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T03:30:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/166527\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T03:30:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T03:30:08","slug":"st-petersburg-plots-course-for-air-taxis-at-albert-whitted-airport-task-force-delivers-roadmap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/166527\/","title":{"rendered":"St. Petersburg plots course for ‘air taxis’ at Albert Whitted Airport, task force delivers roadmap"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – More than a century after the world\u2019s first scheduled commercial airline service lifted off from St. Petersburg<\/a>, city leaders say they want to be ready for what could be aviation\u2019s next big leap: electric “air taxis,” also known as eVTOLs (electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft).\u00a0<\/p>\n

These aircraft aren\u2019t just delivery drones. The concept is closer to a short-hop, electric rideshare<\/a> in the sky, moving people and cargo between key destinations.<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

At a recent city council meeting, task force chair Ed Montanari told council the city\u2019s role in aviation history is part of the motivation to plan early, pointing back to 1914, when the world\u2019s first regularly scheduled heavier-than-air airline service took off from St. Petersburg\u2019s Municipal Pier.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Montanari told council: “Preparation is not optional. It\u2019s essential.”<\/p>\n

Big picture view:<\/p>\n

The task force outlined both short-term and long-term steps for Albert Whitted Airport, including\u00a0creating additional aircraft parking areas and\u00a0adding electrical charging stations and safety upgrades, including fire safety systems.<\/p>\n

RELATED: St. Pete task force readies path to future aviation through electric air taxis<\/a><\/p>\n

Longer-term, Montanari said the goal is dedicated vertiports, purpose-built takeoff\/landing areas for eVTOLs, on airport property within four to 10 years, tied to market demand and designed not to disrupt day-to-day airport operations.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

Airport manager Richard Lesniak told FOX 13 he expects the aircraft will eventually show up at Whitted in some form: “Whether it\u2019s a commercial operation, private ownership, we\u2019re definitely going to see them here.”<\/p>\n

Why you should care:<\/p>\n

St. Pete\u2019s planning is happening alongside broader federal efforts to speed the rollout of advanced air mobility.<\/p>\n

Last fall, the FAA announced a new pilot initiative, the Electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing Integration Pilot Program (eIPP), which is designed to accelerate safe advanced air mobility operations (AAM) through public-private partnerships.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

This month, a bipartisan group of senators introduced the Aviation Innovation and Global Competitiveness Act, which aims to streamline FAA type certification for AAM aircraft by setting expected timelines and standards without compromising safety.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Local perspective:<\/p>\n

Even as timelines get discussed, the refrain from local leaders stays the same.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As Montanari put it: “The foundation of aviation is safety. Without safety, nothing\u2019s going to take off.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

READ: Highways in the skies: FDOT outlines phased rollout of flying cars in Polk County<\/a><\/p>\n

The report also recommends St. Petersburg explore standalone vertiports in other parts of the city \u2014 prioritizing locations near business centers, hospitals, tourist attractions, and major activity hubs. The task force listed examples including downtown, the Historic Gas Plant District, Carillon, and Tyrone.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

Montanari and the task force also tied the effort to workforce development.\u00a0<\/p>\n

One recommendation: create a Jannus Center for Aviation and Innovation focused on education, training, research, industry partnerships, economic development, and manufacturing.\u00a0<\/p>\n

What’s next:<\/p>\n

City Council has received the task force\u2019s final report and unanimously approved a resolution to sunset the task force, with additional discussions expected at a later date as the city weighs next steps.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Source: FOX 13’s Genevieve Curtis gathered information for this report from a St. Pete City Council meeting, Advanced Air Mobility Task Force recommendations and timeline, FAA data, legislation filed in Congress and previous reporting by FOX 13.\u00a0<\/p>\n

St. Petersburg<\/a>Transportation<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – More than a century after the world\u2019s first scheduled commercial airline service lifted off…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":166528,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[47,115,1157,202,204,203,199,201,200,1798,628],"class_list":{"0":"post-166527","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-st-petersburg","8":"tag-fl","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-pinellas","11":"tag-st-pete","12":"tag-st-pete-headlines","13":"tag-st-pete-news","14":"tag-st-petersburg","15":"tag-st-petersburg-headlines","16":"tag-st-petersburg-news","17":"tag-transportation","18":"tag-us"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166527","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=166527"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166527\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/166528"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=166527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=166527"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=166527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}