Uber’s sky-high plans for flying taxis

Many MVHS students already have a level of understanding on how American economics work. Businesses are constantly bombarding consumers with flashy ads promising the best prices and highest quality. A task as simple as driving to school can mean having to choose a gas station and looking at the many options with just the slightest difference in prices. In this modern world fueled on capitalist ideas, gas stations are just one example of businesses who must always fight to “come out on top” and “rise above the rest.”

On Tuesday, April 25, Uber Technologies decided to take those phrases to a whole new altitude with the unveiling of their plans to deploy flying taxi services within the next four years. At the Uber Elevate Summit in Dallas, Chief Product Officer, Jeff Holden, announced that Uber has forged new partnerships with numerous aviation companies, as well as with the cities of Dubai, India and Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas.

Holden continued by sharing that Uber sees investments in flying cars is crucial to protecting their business.

“If you’re not planting the seeds for 5-10 years out, you have no company in five to 10 years,” Holden said Tuesday.

He also revealed that Uber aims to test out a network of flying cars in the two distant cities by 2020. Additionally, Uber envisions a launch of full-scale flying vehicle operations just three years later in 2023.

MV freshman, Jenna Nicodemus, said, “That would be so cool. It would be like living in the future worlds from movies.”  Jenna made another important point, “But I would want to know the cars are safe first.”

According to CNN’s coverage on Uber’s skyscraping statements, Uber’s flying taxis have been designed as small-sized aircraft powered electrically. They will both takeoff and land vertically, classifying the taxis as VTOL aircraft. The purpose of these features is to produce absolutely no operational emissions and keep the vehicle’s sound quiet enough for urban use while not disturbing neighbors.

At the Tuesday announcement, Holden mentioned Uber’s plans in Dallas for next year include the building of four “vertiports.” While the term may echo the setting of a space aliens movie, it simply refers to VTOL hubs with multiple takeoff and landing pads, as well as accommodations to allow for charging the VTOL’s.  

This is made possible by one of Uber’s most significant partnerships, with Hillwood Properties. For the development of the flying taxis, Uber has also teamed up with companies such as Bell Helicopter, Aurora, Pipistrel, Mooney and Embraer.

As part of the 2020 World Expo in Dubai, Uber expects to conduct passenger flight.

“What we’re doing with them is they’re going to be funding studies for demand modeling so that we can deeply understand pricing and network optimization in the Dubai area,” Holden said.

Concluding the announcement, Holden explained that Uber believes their innovation will become a standard part of daily transportation, and that it will revolutionize travel through high-traffic areas. Furthermore, Uber expects that rides will be priced similarly to that of an UberX ride today.