Trump promises VTOL aircraft “revolution”

Donald Trump sitting in the Oval Office during his presidency. Source: Official Website of Donald J. Trump

At the 2023 CPAC, Donald Trump publicly announced his plans for America’s “revolution” in personal flying vehicles, known as Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL) aircraft:

“Dozens of major companies in the United States and China are racing to develop vertical takeoff and landing vehicles for families and individuals. Just as the United States led the automotive revolution in the last century, I want to ensure that America, not China, leads this revolution in air mobility.”

– Former President Donald J. Trump

Building Nests, Where Young Families Soar!

With a plethora of US companies scrambling to takeoff in this new, emerging market of VTOL aircraft and air traffic management, Trump’s proclamation couldn’t come at a better time for the American VTOL industry.

With rising housing costs that has hit young adults the hardest, especially those trying to buy their first homes, there has been a dilemma for those who cannot work from home. They often have to choose between pricier real estate closer to work or less expensive options that may be more difficult to commute from. Trump, a longtime real estate developer mentioned in his CPAC speech about plans to build completely new cities from undeveloped federal land that would improve the quality of life for young families through affordable housing. VTOL aircraft could allow for more efficient and sustainable transportation between these new American cities and the already established ones where young adults are currently working. This could potentially open doors for many who’ve been stuck living near their workplace and paying exorbitant rent/mortgages, or spending hours in commutes back and forth from their workplace and distant homes.

Urban Air Traffic Management

VTOL aircraft have brought new challenges and thereby new opportunities regarding the safe and efficient management of air traffic. While Trump has not won the GOP nomination thus far, it is interesting to speculate how would the federal government’s role in VTOL urban air traffic management look like with a Trump administration. It seems reasonable to consider that Trump may expand or rearrange the US Dept. of Transportation, including its National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), in a similar fashion to how the U.S. Space Force was created as separate U.S. uniformed service branch within the Department of the Air Force. Under the Trump Administration, the Transportation Research Board (National Academy of Science, Research and Medicine) held a panel discussion with two deputy Transport Secretaries as well as representatives from both the NHTSA and the FFA to discuss automation in the transportation space.

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