Uber wants to test flying taxis with people on board by 2020
Uber has announced its ambition to test flying taxis with passengers on board by 2020. The plan was unveiled at the Uber Elevate summit held this week, which focused on electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft. Uber is building a team to develop operational flying cars headed by former Nasa aeronautics engineer Mark Moore. The first partner cities to offer the new "vertiports", where the cars would take off and land like helicopters, are expected to be Dallas-Fort Worth in Texas and Dubai. Uber hopes to have its flying taxi service transporting customers from 2023.

Uber

Uber is more than fly-curious about taking ridesharing to the air. The company announced Tuesday that it plans to roll out a network of flying cars in Dallas-Fort Worth and, of course, Dubai by 2020.

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If that sounds ambitious, you possess a basic understanding of the challenges involved here. The kind of aircraft Uber envisions shuttling customers through the air—electric, with vertical takeoff and landing capability, and capable of flying 100 miles in just 40 minutes—don’t exist yet. Nor does the infrastructure to support them. The FAA, an agency not known for speed, must ensure these aircraft meet all federal safety regulations and figure out where and how they fit into a complex air traffic control system.

Instead of cracking those problems on its own, Uber plans to punt. It hopes to play the role of a catalyst, spurring manufacturers to build the aircraft, the FAA to figure out the regulations, and cities to wave them in. Company CEO Travis Kalanick apparently wants to play the role of Elon Musk, who came up with the idea for hyperloop and is letting everyone else figure out how to make it work. The reward for playing Kalanick’s game? Accessing Uber’s 55 million monthly active riders in nearly 600 cities worldwide.