The Federal Aviation Administration has formally recognized a new category of aircraft for the first time in roughly eight decades — a technology not so different from the flying cars of “The Jetsons” and “Back to the Future.”
The FAA officially finalized training and pilot certification rules for advanced air mobility aircraft, more commonly known as air taxis — electric-powered flying vehicles that scientists in the United States and elsewhere have been developing for roughly a decade. It’s “the last key step needed to get them flying safely,” the FAA said Wednesday, adding that they will “soon appear in the skies.”