UAM MARKET PULSE

AirIndex updated its scoring model this week — v1.3 — and the most important thing it revealed is a gap that didn't exist on paper until we looked closely: no tracked U.S. market currently achieves full weather infrastructure coverage for low-altitude UAM operations.

Not one of 21 markets.

Prior to v1.3, markets with an ASOS/AWOS station received full credit on the Weather Infrastructure factor. That was too coarse. An ASOS station tells you what the weather is. It doesn't tell you what the air column looks like at 500 feet over a vertiport approach path. The difference matters for operators planning routes — and it matters for developers underwriting infrastructure. So we split it: full low-altitude sensing networks score 10, ASOS-only scores 5, nothing scores 0. Every tracked market is currently at 5 or 0.

That one change affected 15 of 21 markets. New York saw the largest single adjustment — 70 to 55 — because the weather gap compounded with existing gaps in vertiport zoning and regulatory framework maturity. NYC retains Moderate tier. The operator story there (Archer, Joby) remains strong. But the infrastructure readiness gap is real.

We're in active discussions to integrate real-time, performance-based weather infrastructure data directly into the scoring model. When that's live, this factor changes significantly — and the markets that have done the infrastructure work will separate clearly from those that haven't.

Average across all 21 tracked U.S. metro markets: 40.5 · Full index at airindex.io

A few things worth flagging for this community specifically:

San Diego is the only market that moved up this week, crossing into Moderate at 50. The gain reflects updated operator activity and continued AAM planning progress in the Southern California corridor. It's a market that doesn't get much trade press attention but is building quietly.

Arizona is the most consequential state-level story right now. SB1826 (AAM appropriation) and SB1827 (Office of Advanced Air Mobility) both advanced in committee this week. If enacted, Arizona becomes one of the first states with a dedicated AAM governance structure and funding mechanism. For Phoenix, that's a direct scoring trigger — Regulatory Posture and Legislation factors both move. The market is sitting at 50 Moderate. Legislative passage puts it in Advanced territory.

Joby's first production-conforming aircraft flew this week. That's a certification milestone, not just a press release. When type certification comes, it triggers scoring reviews across every Joby-committed market — Dallas, LA, San Francisco, Miami. The operator presence factor carries more weight when the aircraft is production-conforming and moving through FAA certification.

The weather infrastructure gap is the one I'd most like expert reaction on. The FAA's eIPP is designed to close exactly this — but deployment is uneven and the market-level picture is murky. If anyone has visibility into which markets are actually seeing low-altitude sensing network development, I'd like to know. The model gets sharper with that input.

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AirIndex is a UAM market intelligence platform scoring U.S. metro markets on their readiness for commercial eVTOL operations. Scores are updated automatically when qualifying regulatory, legislative, or operator events are detected.

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UAM Market Pulse · AirIndex by Vertical Data Group, LLC · airindex.io   |   Issue 3 · Week of March 27, 2026