THE MARKET-READINESS RATING FOR VERTICAL FLIGHT.

The eVTOL aircraft are ready. The question is where they'll fly first.

AirIndex is the independent market readiness rating system for Urban Air Mobility — scoring 25 U.S. cities on the ground conditions that determine where commercial eVTOL operations actually launch.

Who We Are

AirIndex is built by Vertical Data Group, LLC, a South Carolina-based data intelligence company founded in 2026. We are not an aviation company. We are not a software company. We are a data intelligence company that builds continuously updated scoring systems for emerging infrastructure markets.

AirIndex is our first product — the UAM market readiness index we built because it didn't exist and the industry needed it. Where others track the aircraft and the companies building them, AirIndex tracks the geography — the regulatory, infrastructure, and political conditions that determine which markets win the race to commercial operations.

Our scoring methodology is developed in consultation with infrastructure developers, weather intelligence providers, and industry organizations active across multiple US markets. Factor weights and thresholds are field-validated against real capital allocation decisions — not theoretical models.

AirIndex does not represent operators, municipalities, or investors. Our ratings are independent. That independence is the foundation of their value.

Our Mission

Urban air mobility is generating enormous quantities of fragmented public data — FAA filings, state legislation, city planning documents, operator disclosures, SEC filings. No single entity was aggregating it into organized, auditable intelligence.

City planners were making infrastructure decisions without knowing what peer markets had already done. Operators were evaluating market entry without systematic readiness data. Investors were conducting due diligence on UAM companies without understanding the regulatory landscape those companies would operate in.

AirIndex exists to close that gap. We approach UAM market intelligence the way a ratings agency approaches credit markets — every score is standardized, every change is sourced and timestamped, and the methodology is public. Not a forecast. Not a projection. A live index built on what is actually happening.

What We Track

Every market receives a 0-100 AirIndex Score (AIS) computed from seven weighted factors. Scores update continuously as conditions change. Methodology v1.3 is fully published.

State Legislation
Enacted, in-progress, or absent UAM-enabling legislation
Active Pilot Program
FAA eIPP participation or equivalent demonstration flights
Approved Vertiport
Permitted or operational eVTOL-capable facilities
Operator Presence
eVTOL manufacturers with active market commitments
Vertiport Zoning
City-level zoning frameworks for vertiport development
Regulatory Posture
Friendly, neutral, or restrictive municipal stance
Weather Infrastructure
Low-altitude weather sensing and ASOS/AWOS coverage

Data Categories

Every score change is sourced, timestamped, and traceable. We don't rate cities on press releases or announcements — we rate them on verifiable primary-source data. Specific providers and ingest pipelines are shared under license.

Federal Regulatory
Rulemaking, airspace actions, powered-lift SFARs, docket activity
Legislative
Federal bills, state-level UAM legislation, committee activity
Market & Financial
Operator filings, disclosures, capital-market signals
Infrastructure Registry
Registered heliports and landing zones mapped to tracked metros
Operator Activity
Announcements, partnerships, certification milestones
Geospatial & Imagery
Satellite imagery and airspace determination data
25
MARKETS
2,719
RECORDS
5,647
HELIPORTS
v1.3
METHODOLOGY

Intelligence Architecture

AirIndex scores are backed by a five-container intelligence system — each container stores a different class of structured evidence. Scores are traceable through the full chain: from the raw regulatory filing to the factor it affects to the market score it changes.

FKBFactor Knowledge Base
Factor definitions, weights, per-market scores with confidence levels and audit trail
RPLRegulatory Precedent Library
Structured regulatory documents — federal rules, state legislation, FAA orders — with factor mappings and momentum tracking
MCSMarket Context Store
State-level enforcement posture, regional clusters, and peer market groupings for benchmarking
OIDOperator Intelligence Database
Operator deployment stages, certifications, financing history, and vertiport commitments per market
FSPForward Signals Pipeline
Tracks events approaching resolution — legislation advancing, operators committing, infrastructure clearing approval

This architecture ensures that every score change has a paper trail — from source document to factor impact to market score. When a state enacts AAM legislation, the document enters RPL, maps to the LEG factor in FKB, and the market score updates with full provenance. See our terminology reference for standardized definitions used across the platform.

Who We Serve

AirIndex serves professionals making decisions in the UAM ecosystem. The index is designed to be the benchmark the industry cites — an open, auditable standard that grows more useful as more people use it and challenge it.

eVTOL Operators
Market entry timing, corridor readiness, competitive landscape
Infrastructure Developers
Site selection, gap analysis, heliport conversion potential
City Planners & Airport Authorities
Peer benchmarking, readiness gap closure, policy guidance
Investment & Finance
Due diligence on market-level readiness and trajectory
Defense & Aerospace
AAM landscape intelligence for strategic planning
Policy & Government
Federal program alignment, legislative tracking, state comparisons
Economic Development Alliances
Regional readiness benchmarking and investment attraction
Weather & Sensor Companies
Market coverage mapping and infrastructure gap identification
View the RatingsRead the MethodologyTalk to Us

Research access, data partnerships, API inquiries: info@airindex.io

Platform and subscription questions: hello@airindex.io

Legal and terms: legal@airindex.io

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