UAM Market Readiness Index
The AirIndex UAM Readiness Score measures a market's structural readiness for commercial urban air mobility operations across seven independently verified factors. It is not a forecast — it reflects current, documented conditions.
What the Score Measures
The Readiness Score is a 0–100 composite index that answers one question: how prepared is this metropolitan area, right now, for commercial eVTOL operations? Each market is evaluated against seven factors spanning physical infrastructure, operator commitment, and regulatory environment.
The score is evidence-based and reproducible. Every factor is verified against public records — FAA databases, federal and state filings, municipal zoning codes, and operator disclosures. Anyone with access to the same sources should arrive at the same number.
This is not an investment recommendation, demand forecast, or prediction of commercial launch timelines. It measures structural readiness: the infrastructure, regulatory framework, and operator engagement that must be in place before commercial operations can begin.
The Seven Factors
Has the market launched or hosted an active UAM pilot program? Pilot programs demonstrate real-world operational commitment — not just regulatory intent, but aircraft flying in the airspace under FAA-approved conditions. This is the strongest signal of market readiness because it requires simultaneous coordination of regulatory approval, operator participation, infrastructure access, and community engagement.
FAA-approved pilot program active or completed within the market area. Includes UAS Integration Pilot Program (IPP) participation, BEYOND program selection, Part 135 commercial eVTOL operations, or FAA-sanctioned demonstration flights with a defined operational area.
Announced partnerships without FAA operational approval. MOU signings. Feasibility studies. Operator interest without flights in the airspace.
Host or participate in an FAA-sanctioned pilot program. Coordinate with operators who have active type certification programs and need flight test environments.
FAA UAS Integration Pilot Program (IPP) records, BEYOND program designations, operator announcements, local government press releases.
Does the market have at least one permitted, under-construction, or operational vertiport site? Vertiports are the physical infrastructure that makes commercial UAM possible. A market with approved vertiport sites has cleared the hardest regulatory and zoning hurdles — environmental review, community input, building permits, and FAA airspace coordination.
One or more vertiport sites that have received municipal permits, are under construction, or are operational. Heliport conversions with documented eVTOL adaptation plans also qualify.
Sites in the planning or feasibility stage without permits filed. Announced locations without municipal approval. Existing heliports without documented UAM conversion plans.
Advance vertiport sites through the permitting process. Fast-track environmental review for vertiport-zoned parcels. Partner with operators on site selection and FAA engineering briefs.
Municipal planning records, FAA vertiport engineering briefs, operator filings, local zoning board decisions.
Is at least one eVTOL manufacturer or air taxi operator actively engaged in the market? Operator presence is a market signal — operators choose launch markets based on regulatory readiness, infrastructure availability, demand projections, and competitive positioning. An operator committing resources to a market validates the other readiness factors.
One or more operators with announced partnerships, signed agreements, test flights, or commercial intent specific to the market. Includes eVTOL manufacturers (Joby, Archer, Wisk), air taxi platforms (Blade), and cargo/delivery operators with UAM-adjacent infrastructure.
General statements of interest without market-specific commitments. Operators listing the market in investor materials without operational plans. Conference appearances or trade show presence.
Establish operator engagement programs. Create incentive packages for eVTOL operators to select the market for early commercial routes. Reduce regulatory friction to attract operator commitments.
Operator press releases, partnership announcements, SEC filings (for public operators like Joby and Archer), airline partnership disclosures.
Has the city or county adopted zoning provisions that accommodate vertiport development? Zoning is the earliest and most controllable municipal signal of UAM readiness. Markets that have proactively updated land-use codes to permit vertiports are removing barriers before operators arrive — signaling institutional readiness and reducing timeline risk for commercial deployments.
Municipality has enacted or amended zoning ordinances to permit vertiport or heliport-equivalent use in at least one zoning district. Includes conditional use permits, overlay zones, or specific vertiport land-use categories.
General aviation zoning without vertiport-specific provisions. Draft ordinances not yet adopted. Study commissions without enacted code changes.
Amend local zoning codes to define vertiport as a permitted or conditional use. Identify suitable zoning districts (commercial, industrial, transit-adjacent). Streamline conditional use permit processes for vertiport applications.
Municipal code databases, city council meeting minutes, zoning board records, urban planning documents.
What is the overall regulatory stance toward UAM at the municipal level? This is the only graduated factor in the model. Rather than binary yes/no, regulatory posture is assessed on a three-level scale: Friendly (10 points), Neutral (5 points), or Restrictive (0 points). This reflects the reality that regulatory environments exist on a spectrum — a city can be passively permissive without being actively supportive.
Friendly: City has formed a UAM task force, joined federal programs (e.g., NASA AAM National Campaign), issued public statements of support, or allocated staff/budget to UAM planning. Neutral: No active opposition or support; standard permitting processes apply without UAM-specific provisions. Restrictive: City has enacted ordinances limiting drone/eVTOL operations, issued public opposition, or created regulatory barriers beyond standard requirements.
N/A — all markets receive a posture assessment. The assessment is based on documented actions, not inferred attitudes.
Move from Neutral to Friendly: form a UAM advisory committee, participate in federal engagement programs, issue a public statement of support, or designate a point of contact for UAM operators.
City government publications, mayor/council public statements, FAA Community Engagement records, USDOT participation records, local ordinances.
Has the state enacted legislation specifically enabling or regulating UAM or advanced air mobility operations? State-level legislation creates the legal framework that allows (or blocks) commercial UAM at scale. States that have passed enabling legislation signal long-term institutional commitment and provide legal certainty that municipal actions won't be preempted.
State-level UAM or advanced air mobility legislation signed into law. Includes enabling acts that define UAM in state code, task force creation with legislative mandate, state DOT integration directives, or dedicated appropriations for AAM infrastructure.
Bills introduced but not passed. Resolutions without legal force. Executive orders without legislative backing. General aviation legislation without UAM-specific provisions.
Advocate for state-level AAM enabling legislation. Support bills that define vertiports in state building codes, establish state-level UAM task forces, or direct state DOTs to integrate AAM into transportation planning.
State legislature records (LegiScan), governor's office press releases, state DOT publications, legislative tracking services.
Does the market have FAA LAANC (Low Altitude Authorization and Notification Capability) infrastructure in place? LAANC provides automated airspace authorization for UAS operations — a foundational infrastructure layer for UAM corridor management and real-time flight coordination. Markets without LAANC coverage face significantly higher friction for any low-altitude commercial operations.
LAANC is available at one or more airports within the metropolitan area, providing automated near-real-time airspace authorization for UAS operations below 400 feet AGL.
Markets where LAANC is available only at distant airports outside the metropolitan area. Manual airspace authorization processes without LAANC integration.
This factor is primarily FAA-driven. Airports can request LAANC facility activation through the FAA UAS Data Exchange. Municipal advocacy to the FAA for LAANC expansion can accelerate coverage.
FAA LAANC facility map, FAA UAS Data Exchange, airport authority records.
Scoring Methodology
Binary Model
Six of seven factors use binary scoring: a factor is either present or it isn't. This is a deliberate design choice. Binary scoring eliminates subjective grading, makes scores reproducible across analysts, and provides clear, actionable thresholds for city planners and operators. A market either has an approved vertiport or it doesn't — there is no partial credit for “almost permitted.”
The one exception is Regulatory Posture, which uses a three-level graduated scale (Friendly / Neutral / Restrictive). This reflects the reality that regulatory environments exist on a spectrum and a binary model would lose meaningful signal. As reliable sub-indicators become available for other factors, the graduated model may be extended — Regulatory Posture serves as the proof of concept.
Differential Weighting
Factors are not equally weighted. The model uses a three-tier weight structure that encodes a thesis about what drives commercial readiness:
Pilot Program, Approved Vertiport — these are the hardest to achieve and closest to commercial readiness. They require real capital, real approvals, and real operations.
Active Operator Presence, Vertiport Zoning — strong signals of intent that can be reversed or stalled. Operators can exit markets; zoning can be amended.
Regulatory Posture, State Legislation, LAANC Coverage — necessary but not sufficient. A friendly regulatory environment without infrastructure or operators does not make a market ready.
This hierarchy reflects a core observation: infrastructure and operational factors are leading indicators of commercial readiness, while regulatory factors are lagging indicators that tend to follow market demand. A state passes UAM legislation after operators express interest, not before. A pilot program, by contrast, requires the full stack — regulation, infrastructure, and operations — to exist simultaneously.
Readiness Tiers
Scores map to four readiness tiers that provide at-a-glance context for where a market stands in its UAM journey.
Market has most or all infrastructure, regulatory, and operator requirements in place. Commercial UAM operations are imminent or active.
Significant progress across multiple factors. Key pieces are in place but gaps remain — typically missing infrastructure or operator commitment.
Some foundational elements present. Regulatory posture may be favorable but physical infrastructure and operator activity are limited.
Minimal UAM readiness. Market may have LAANC coverage or early regulatory signals but lacks substantive infrastructure or operator engagement.
Update Frequency
Scores are updated continuously as new evidence is ingested and verified. Weekly snapshots capture the state of all rated markets for historical tracking. When underlying data changes — a new vertiport permit is approved, legislation is signed, an operator announces market entry — the affected market's score is recalculated and the change is logged in the AirIndex activity feed with a link to the source record.
Data Sources and Verification
Every score change is traceable to a specific source document. AirIndex draws from five primary categories of public data:
Real-time facility maps, airspace authorization records, and UAS Data Exchange feeds for LAANC coverage verification.
Proposed and final rulemaking, airspace designations, notices of availability, and FAA advisory circulars related to UAM and vertiport operations.
10-K/10-Q filings, 8-K disclosures, and S-1 registrations from publicly traded operators (Joby Aviation, Archer Aviation, Blade Air Mobility) for market commitments and partnership announcements.
Bill tracking via LegiScan and state legislature databases for UAM/AAM enabling legislation, task force creation, and appropriations across all 50 states.
City council minutes, zoning board decisions, planning commission records, and building permit databases for vertiport approvals and zoning amendments.
Verification Process
New evidence enters the system through an ingestion pipeline that classifies source documents against the seven scoring factors. High-confidence classifications (unambiguous evidence matching a single factor and market) are applied automatically. Ambiguous or multi-factor evidence is flagged for manual review before any score change is made.
Source citations for each scored factor are displayed on individual market pages in the AirIndex dashboard. Every citation includes a verification date indicating when the underlying source was last confirmed. Markets are re-verified on a rolling basis, with high-activity markets reviewed more frequently.
Limitations and Future Development
What the Score Does Not Capture
The Readiness Score measures structural conditions, not market dynamics. It does not account for consumer demand, operator financial health, airspace complexity, weather patterns, noise sensitivity, community opposition, or competitive intensity between markets. These factors matter for commercial success but are outside the scope of a readiness assessment.
Binary Model Tradeoffs
The binary model intentionally trades granularity for verifiability. Two markets at the same score may differ in depth of readiness — a market with three committed operators scores the same on the Operator Presence factor as a market with one. This is a known limitation, and it is accepted because the alternative (graduated sub-scoring) would require defining and defending sub-factor weights that don't yet have empirical support.
The Regulatory Posture factor already uses graduated scoring as a proof of concept. As historical data accumulates and reliable sub-indicators emerge for other factors, the graduated model will be extended. Any such changes will be published as a new methodology version with a full changelog.
Geographic Scope
The current index covers 20+ US metropolitan areas selected for existing UAM activity, regulatory engagement, or operator commitments. International markets and smaller US markets are not currently tracked. Coverage expansion will be based on evidence of UAM activity rather than geographic completeness.
Citing AirIndex Data
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