Future Logistics 2 : Urban Air Mobility -Get Ready to fly

UAM: The Challenges and Possibilities

Hi, I’m Priyanka Sunil- A final year MBA student from Amrita School Of Business majoring in Operations and Marketing. Welcome to my progressive learning space for Logistics and Supply Chain Management.

As a kid, I was always fascinated by flying cars and always wished I was able to fly one during my lifetime. I remember watching Bruce Willis in the movie The Fifth element flying his cute yellow cab through the sky in the 23^rd Century New York City.

For decades the fantasy of flying cars projected through comics, science fiction stories, television shows, and movies have captivated us.

By 2030, the urban population will be 60 percent of the world population. It is expected that this significant population growth will create a real need for innovative mobility options as ground infrastructure becomes increasingly overcrowded. A solution could be to provide people with a safe, sustainable, and convenient solution that leverages the airspace above towns

Urban air mobility (UAM) is an  aviation concept for on-demand and automatic passenger or cargo-carrying air transport systems usually operated without a pilot. This new programs, while reducing congestion, would offer new ways for people to travel across cities and metropolitan centers.

 

So where is your flying car?

Many start-ups and tech giants have started investing in the innovative technologies needed to make this dream a reality. Enabled by vertical-takeoff and -landing (VTOL) systems, electric propulsion, and advanced flight-control capabilities, these vehicles could eventually reach price points rivaling today’s taxi services. Airbus and Hyundai are among the few companies that have their own UAM divisions.

The companies should plan now to make this a reality as the timelines for designing and constructing these are really long. If they hold back until air-mobility solutions are ready to hit the skies, their drones will be the aerial equivalent of a bridge to nowhere: expensive technologic marvels that serve no purpose.

Physical Infrastructure to address the market

Flying vehicles need places to take off, land, receive maintenance, charge batteries, and refuel their tanks and park to offer sustainable service. This is further complicated by the fact that the demand to fly is different during different times of the day.

The physical infrastructure will be a major determinant of the size of the addressable market, as the only possible trips are between VTOL ports. Flying-vehicle transport could follow a pattern similar to that seen in today's helicopter market, where there is a limited number of potential destinations. The location of the infrastructure will determine the level of market conversion. If a landing spot is too far from its origin or destination, the customer may not save enough time to make sense of a trip to the UAM.

Illustrating the Infrastructure Network design

·       Vertihubs-Conceptualized as stand-alone buildings built-in central, high-traffic areas

·       Vertibases- To be located in medium-traffic areas like  suburbs, or at major work or retail locations

·       Vertipads- Typically located in suburban or rural locations

Pic: MCKinsey & Company

On the government side, there appears to be growing interest in infrastructure as well, with some public agencies investing in developing air-mobility infrastructure for drone use cases. They are also figuring out possibilities to integrate these systems with the existing air traffic management system.

Safety, convenience and sustainability

·       Many are electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft designed for quiet, emission-free operation and energy conservation

·       Most manufacturers transfer the mechanical complexity as much as possible to the software to improve safety

·       The infrastructure will need to include takeoff and land points that are close to where people live and work

·       Riders will use an app to book their air taxi and will be able to browse flights based on route or time and integrate your personal electronic presence and devices with the buildings and infrastructure you have to move through.

Air-mobility solutions could transform commutes, package delivery and other mundane tasks into ways that seemed impossible just a few years ago. By making distant suburbs a viable option for urban workers, eVTOLs could help reduce pollution and alleviate the housing congestion in urban areas. Rapid delivery of the drone could speed up the already steep e-commerce spike and boost the bottom line at many companies. And air mobility's overall economic benefits could be immense, as new applications increase efficiency and productivity. First, however, companies, governments, and other stakeholders need to take careful steps to create an environment that allows for these societal benefits. Just as with any new industry, much is uncertain, but the potential for gains is also great.

Get Ready To FLY .....!!!!!

Reference

https://www.airbus.com/innovation/zero-emission/urban-air-mobility.html

https://www.honeywell.com/en-us/newsroom/news/2019/01/what-is-urban-air-mobility

https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/automotive-and-assembly/our-insights/to-take-off-flying-vehicles-first-need-places-to-land?cid=other-eml-alt-mip-mck&hlkid=bd756ecece11481ca3b5702705582e0c&hctky=12024655&hdpid=6b6acce2-37ab-4754-a105-af775901c0d2