Will passenger drones exist in our lifetime? For now, operations are severely limited to mostly one-off media stunts. But in these four cities, U.S. passenger drones are more likely to become a reality.

The Lufthansa Innovation Hub, which is an arm of the German airline of the same name, teamed up with V2Air, Roland Berger and Unisphere to study the most viable global cities for launching Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) operations. AAM refers to a broad category of innovative aircraft that includes passenger drones which could be used for situations including intra-city travel or transit between intercity routes that would be too short for a full airplane to cover but too long to drive.

Using June 2024 data, the team analyzed 16 major U.S. cities. From there, it ranked those cities based on factors critical in launching viable operations of U.S. passenger drones. Those factors included:

• Geographical terrain (tall structures and natural obstacles could present greater hazards)
• Airspace
• Authority (including regional aviation legislation and local initiatives supporting technological development)
• Weather
• Aviation infrastructure and area impact
• Time savings (how efficient ground-based vehicles and public transport currently are)

Cities were then given a feasibility score, which consists of:

• 25% terrain
• 25% airspace
• 50% authority

They also received a viability score, consisting of:

• 25% weather
• 25% area impact
• 50% time savings

Of the U.S. cities that had high feasibility but low viability were:

• San Francisco
• New York
• Miami
• San Diego
• Dallas
• Miami
• Detroit

Of the U.S. cities that had high viability but low feasibility were:

• Washington, D.C.
• Seattle

Meanwhile, Denver, Houston and Philadelphia didn’t score particularly well on either metric — so don’t expect passenger drones in those cities anytime soon.

The cities best suited for U.S. passenger drones

But which cities scored well in both feasibility and viability? Four cities stand out: Charlotte, Chicago, Los Angeles and Orlando. Here’s why:

Charlotte: Charlotte stood out for its favorable terrain. Given how flat it is, there are fewer vertical ascents and descents, which in turn reduces energy consumption. More energy-efficient aircraft means aircraft can run longer or turnaround faster without frequent recharges. This makes operations more efficient for passengers and also saves money for operators.

Charlotte also scored highly on the time savings metric, which calculated how much time flying through the skies could save versus sitting on a bus or train. Charlotte has poor public transportation infrastructure coupled with high traffic congestion. Without better public trains and buses, Charlotte could at least be positioned to benefit massively from small aircraft overhead to get people quickly from place to place.

Chicago: Chicago didn’t dominate one category in particular, but it got generally high marks all around. Aside from the skyscrapers, the terrain around Chicago is flat. And while public transportation within Chicago is good, it’s weaker to the surrounding suburbs. Perhaps a small aircraft could pickup passengers on the shores of Lake Michigan in downtown Chicago and fly over the water, quickly funneling people to cities on the other side that would otherwise necessitate an hour or more drive around the lake, such as Michigan City in Indiana, or Milwaukee.

Orlando: Orlando also scored especially-high marks in terrain feasibility. After all, it’s quite flat with no mountains (unless you’re counting Walt Disney World’s Big Thunder Mountain as one). Orlando also scored relatively high on the time savings metric as, again, its public transit is pretty weak.

Los Angeles: Los Angeles has already made some headwinds in the AAM department. For example, it’s already initiated a partnership with a group called Urban Movement Labs, which works with another company called Skyroads, which is based in Germany. Together, they’re exploring the potential benefits of AAM specific to the sprawling SoCal city. That includes some exploratory efforts on developing the necessary infrastructure and regulations for safe and equitable AAM implementation. 

And with Los Angeles hosting the Olympics in 2028, it has some incentive to offer even more innovative transit solutions.

Other standout contenders for U.S. passenger drones

Though the following cities didn’t score highly on both the feasibility and viability metrics, some cities did still stand out for dominating certain categories. Some of those highlights are:

Miami: Miami gets high points in the authority category. That’s because the Florida Department of Transportation already has its own AAM working group that works with other stakeholders, including those from the private sector, to develop an AAM integration plan. It also scored relatively high marks on weather — though watch out for rains and hurricane season.

San Diego: Speaking of rain, San Diego has very little of it. The sunny, SoCal city has very little rain. San Diego scored the highest of any U.S. city in terms of weather. According to Lufthansa’s report, it has excellent weather conditions for more than 95% of the year, which enables more frequent service availability (and more days for AAM companies to generate revenue).

Here’s how all those U.S. cities (coupled with some European cities) all look laid out on both the viability and feasibility scales, in a graphic from the Lufthansa Innovation Hub:

What’s the latest in Advanced Air Mobility?

There are lots of developments in the AAM world. Lufthansa’s conducted a separate analysis earlier this year and found that innovation has been surging, especially over the past couple years. In 2024, a record 760 patents were filed related to AAM, as well as the similar fields of UAM and RAM.

The world of AAM sometimes feels like a confusing alphabet soup of related terms such as UAM (Urban Air Mobility) and RAM (Regional Air Mobility). Another German-based group, Drone Industry Insights, laid it all out in a post earlier this year explaining those terms and their differences.

Perhaps the biggest name in AAM is Joby. It’s eyeing a takeoff of air taxis in Dubai by 2025. They would be piloted by humans, but would operate in a manner similar to the visions for pilotless taxis that would tote people around the congested city through Skyports (sometimes called Vertiports).

Which U.S. city would you most like to see passenger drones operate in? Leave a comment below!

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