Regulatory Considerations for Future Regional Air Mobility Aircraft

Regional Air Mobility (RAM) is a term that is used to describe equitable, economical, and environmentally friendly access to air commerce at local airports. The term “regional” can imply a wide range of aircraft payload and/or number of passengers carried, types of airports served, distances between aircraft origin/destination pairs, crew requirements, runways lengths, required energy reserves, and much more. This paper describes the regulations and other considerations that apply to RAM operations in the conterminous United States and defines a notional set of requirements to apply to a planned NASA study on RAM aircraft sizing. These notional requirements include: (1) a payload sufficient to carry up to nine passengers or equivalent cargo, (2) nominal distances between the origin and destination of at least 100 miles, with 300 miles desired, (3) ability to operate from a runway that is no more than 3,364 ft in length at a density altitude of 3,100 ft, with a desire for a 2,665 ft runway at 4,100 ft density altitude, and (4) energy reserves at least sufficient for 45 minutes of operation at normal cruise power, with a desire for energy reserves that also include diversion to an alternate airport at least 50 nautical miles away. Aircraft that meet these desired capabilities will be able to provide commercial access to at least 2,507 airports in the conterminous United States without revision to airworthiness, operating, or security regulations.