How It Works

How AirIndex works.

AirIndex evaluates regulatory readiness, physical feasibility, and operational exposure — answering whether a market or facility is operationally viable, not just approved.

Three questions most assessments don't answer

Every site and market is evaluated across three layers:

01 — IS IT ALLOWED?
Regulatory compliance, FAA records, airspace determinations, state and local requirements. The baseline that most assessments cover — necessary but not sufficient.
02 — CAN IT WORK?
Physical feasibility, dimensional constraints, pad geometry, and obstruction environment. A site can be fully compliant and still be physically unable to support the operations it was approved for.
03 — WILL IT BEHAVE?
Potential operational exposure — airflow, ventilation, wind interaction, and site-level environmental conditions that are not captured in FAA records or standard compliance checks.

Most assessments stop at the first question. AirIndex evaluates all three.

The AirIndex Score (AIS)

At the market level, AirIndex produces a 0–100 readiness score across seven independently weighted factors covering legislation, infrastructure, operator commitment, regulatory posture, and weather readiness. Scores map to four published tiers, each with an operational definition describing what distinguishes it. The full methodology — including factor rationale, tier definitions, and missing-data treatment — is published at airindex.io/methodology.

Scores update continuously as AirIndex detects changes in regulatory, infrastructure, and operator signals. Every score change traces to a specific primary-source document and is fully auditable over time.

Primary sources

AirIndex draws exclusively from primary government and regulatory databases — state legislatures, federal agencies, FAA registries, and regulatory filings. No third-party aggregators. No unverified reports. Every data point traces to its origin.

Facility-level assessment

At the facility level, AirIndex produces RiskIndex Assessments — structured evaluations that go beyond market readiness into site-specific compliance, dimensional feasibility, and operational exposure. The output is formatted for direct inclusion in underwriting files, planning documents, and investment memos.

Buyer-specific delivery

One scoring engine. Multiple purpose-built outputs. Each delivers the same underlying intelligence in the form a specific decision-maker uses — operators, insurers, developers, cities, and investors each see the data shaped to their world.

Operator Intelligence
Market-by-market deployment readiness
Infrastructure Developer
Gap-to-readiness analysis
Municipality
Peer benchmarking, gap identification
Insurance
Facility-level risk assessment with underwriting recommendation
Investor
Capital deployment timing and catalyst mapping
RiskIndex Site Assessment
Per-facility operability assessment

What this is

AirIndex applies a ratings-agency discipline to vertical flight infrastructure — published methodology, continuously updated scores, and auditable history. The system detects and responds to market-moving signals from primary sources. The output goes directly into the documents where decisions are made.

Not a dashboard. Not a quarterly report. An intelligence system that answers whether a market is ready and whether a site is actually operable.

Read the methodology →Talk to us →