by Michael Willoughby
The Community Air Mobility Initiative (CAMI) announces its launch with the support of its founding members.
CAMI is a new nonprofit industry association aimed at communities and the decision-makers that support them. It will supply them with the information and tools that will be vital to the successful integration of aviation into our daily transportation options.
CAMI’s mission is to support the responsible integration of urban air mobility (UAM) into communities through education, communication, and advocacy. CAMI connects communities and industry by providing resources and education to the public and decision-makers at the state and local level. CAMI is supported by its members, which cover a wide spectrum of stakeholders in the emerging urban air mobility industry.
On the genesis of CAMI, Co-Executive Director Anna Dietrich says: “New technologies and new aircraft promise to make flight accessible and practical on a daily basis for more people than ever before. With that promise comes the responsibility to integrate those aircraft into our communities safely, responsibly, and equitably. We created CAMI as the industry’s commitment to our neighbours and the decision-makers who support them to work to ensure that happens.”
CAMI is pleased to announce its founding members:
- Bell
- Black & Veatch
- Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma
- General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA)
- Joby Aviation
- Jump Aero
- Karem Aircraft
- Massachusetts Department of Transportation
- National Business Aviation Association (NBAA)
- Raytheon
- SAE International
- Unmanned Safety Institute
- Vertical Flight Society
Members prioritize safety, bring credibility to CAMI and the industry, and have a demonstrated desire to be a good neighbour within their communities. Members recognize the importance of working with local communities to understand their needs and support CAMI in providing resources to decision-makers, agencies and the public, as well as assisting the aviation industry in understanding those community needs. CAMI is grateful for their support to launch this initiative.
Greg Bowles, Head of Government Affairs at CAMI Founding Supporting Member Joby Aviation, says, “We are excited to be a part of CAMI and work closely with communities to achieve the goal of creating a new transportation solution that saves people time. Communities will play a very important role in realising the benefits of safe, urban air transportation in a clean and quiet manner.”
For urban air mobility to succeed, it must be safe, quiet, and a desired component of our communities. A successful urban air mobility industry requires the integration of aviation into existing urban and regional transportation systems that are currently fraught with their own challenges, including traffic congestion, urban sprawl, environmental impacts and noise. CAMI recognizes that to be successful, this requires the collaboration of many stakeholders, including elected officials, urban planners, transportation agencies, architects, real estate developers, business owners, and essential services.
CAMI’s strategic priorities include education, outreach, advocacy, public relations, and model policy development. CAMI has a team of experts in the fields of urban air mobility, electric aircraft, sustainability, infrastructure, operations, markets and innovative personal aviation industries who will contribute to the resources CAMI will develop. CAMI also works closely with other industry associations to collaborate on these issues.
“As the aviation industry continues to mature the technologies needed to bring electric aircraft into communities, it became clear that the most important need was to bridge the work of the industry with the local communities where this technology will be implemented,” said Yolanka Wulff, co-Executive Director. “CAMI understands the importance of working with all of the stakeholders to develop urban air mobility that integrates with existing and future urban and regional transportation systems.”
More than 200 electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft concepts — primarily targeting UAM missions — are being explored around the world, according to the Vertical Flight Society’s authoritative World eVTOL Aircraft Directory: https://www.eVTOL.news/aircraft.
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