Compared to the sleek private jets around it on the tarmac, the ALIA resembles something of a big toy. It has a bright white exterior and rounded edges, but it’s still a serious plane with a 50-foot wingspan.
“So the coolest thing about this aircraft is the view,” said Emma Davis, a flight test engineer at BETA Technologies, the Vermont-based aerospace company that created the ALIA.
“You'll notice that the windscreen is basically uninterrupted. It's just, it's beautiful, it's breathtaking, and it's exciting just to be able to fly in a piece of, you know, future history.”
Back in October, the Federal Aviation Administration recognized Electric Air Taxis as a new type of aircraft, joining helicopters and airplanes. It also outlined training and regulations for pilots to fly them.
On the ALIA’s belly are five large batteries, like the kind that power a Tesla.
“I'd say the all-electric part is a pretty big innovation, a pretty big step away from what we have,” Davis said.
Even the flight deck looks more like the inside of an electric car than a cockpit with gauges and levers. Its display is all on a sleek screen.
BETA’s ALIA comes in two flavors: one that takes off like a plane and another that takes off vertically, like a helicopter. The conventional model is what was demonstrated in Salt Lake City. It sped down the runway like any other plane and then lifted into the air.
It was the first in a series of demonstrations around Utah to show off the technology. Aviation, transportation, technology and government leaders celebrated the aircraft and the state’s plans to make it part of the transportation ecosystem.
The agreement between BETA Technologies and 47G, Utah’s aerospace and defense consortium, pledges to bring electric air taxis and charging stations into regular use in time for the 2034 Winter Olympic Games. The timeline begins with test flights and cargo, eventually scaling up to passenger use sometime in 2030.
Science fiction has long dreamed of a world where flying is a daily activity, as simple as hopping on the bus or in a cab. Matthew Maass, director of the Utah Department of Transportation’s Aeronautics Division, is excited about what comes next. Utah’s transportation, however, won’t look like Blade Runner or Star Wars just yet.
“You know, 100 years, 200 years, maybe it'll look like that, but it's not going to be anything like that in the near term,” he said.
Even though the technology is here and despite Utah’s excitement, questions remain, including who will use it.
Laurie Garrow, a professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology, studies how passengers make decisions about flying. She has not been involved in the Utah venture.
“So it all depends on the price, right?”
She expects air taxis will probably start as something for the wealthiest passengers.
“But as the battery advancements come out, the price point should come down,” she said. “And, you know, the question is, will there be enough market penetration to get that down to the price of an Uber or down to the price per mile of like a car.”
BETA Technologies said they designed the ALIA to be versatile, so it can be used for more than just luxury travel. They see uses for their electric plane for cargo, medical transport and regional passenger traffics.
There is also the question of infrastructure. Aircraft need a place to take off and land, whether that’s at an airport or a new vertical port. Part of the agreement between 47G and BETA would create that infrastructure. UDOT has already been studying the siting of vertiports and conducted a demonstration last year.
Safety is also top of mind, especially as passengers come into the equation.
“Cargo is safe to move. We can do that over deserts and areas that you know are safe to test,” Garrow noted. “But, you know, putting people over urban areas is going to take longer to do, right? We want to make sure we're doing that safely.”
State Sen. Wayne Harper has worked for years to clear the way for Utah to implement this technology. His most recent piece of legislation, SB96, directs UDOT to conduct a public outreach and education campaign around the aircraft.
“All the companies say nope, the barriers are out of the way,” Harper said. “The only challenge we have is to make sure we get FAA certification and we can have air space that we can fly in.”
With all of the changes under the Trump administration, that piece is still not guaranteed. On Monday, the FAA said it would temporarily suspend enforcement of the air taxi rule for review.
