By Think piece from James:
A Winning Platform Politicians Are Missing: The Economics of Electric Air Mobility
If you’re a politician looking to get elected—or re-elected—this is worth your attention. For those of us working inside the advanced mobility and aviation space, the implications of electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) technology are obvious. The challenge is that what feels self-evident to insiders is still poorly understood outside the industry.
Which raises a simple question:
Why aren’t more local, state, and federal leaders running toward this opportunity?
The coming wave of eVTOL technology—air taxis, to keep it simple—represents not just innovation, but a once-in-a-generation economic catalyst. The benefits fall cleanly into three categories: economic productivity, infrastructure investment, and job creation.
1. Economic Productivity: Time Is the New Currency
Start with the most immediate impact: time.
When traffic congestion ceases to be a dominant constraint—when commute times fall from over an hour to under 15 minutes—stress declines and productivity rises. Opportunity costs drop. Barriers to participation shrink. People are more willing to work, socialize, travel, and spend because mobility becomes effortless.
This alone would be transformative.
But it doesn’t stop there. The first cities and countries to fully embrace advanced air mobility will become global showcases. Tourism will surge. Business investment will follow. The places where a Jetsons-like lifestyle becomes normal—not speculative—will be magnets for talent, capital, and attention.
2. Real Estate: Geography Finally Loosens Its Grip
This part may shake the real estate industry, but it can’t be ignored.
As personal air mobility becomes viable, geographic constraints soften. Land that was once undervalued or impractical becomes accessible and desirable. People gain the freedom to live where they want rather than where congestion forces them to be. This doesn’t hollow out cities—it reshapes regions. It creates new hubs, revitalizes overlooked areas, and expands economic participation beyond traditional corridors.
That is profoundly positive if managed thoughtfully.
3. Infrastructure: A Massive, Durable Build-Out
Even if we focus only on air taxis, the infrastructure requirements are enormous.
Vertiports.
Charging facilities.
Maintenance hubs.
Emergency response systems.
Grid upgrades.
Digital traffic management.
This is not theoretical. Joby Aviation, one of America’s leading eVTOL companies, is launching its initial air taxi operations in Dubai. While it’s disappointing this isn’t happening first in the United States, the reason is instructive: Dubai’s leadership embraced the opportunity early and decisively. Dubai’s Electric Air Taxi Network 2026
They are already breaking ground on a city-wide electric air taxi network targeting 2026. Infrastructure of this scale doesn’t build itself—and it doesn’t disappear after ribbon-cuttings. It creates long-term construction, operations, and maintenance work across public and private sectors.
3. Jobs: Far Beyond Pilots and Engineers
The employment impact is often underestimated.
Yes, there will be demand for electrical, mechanical, and software engineers. But there will also be thousands of non-engineering roles: technicians, operators, planners, safety personnel, logistics staff, and support services.
And this is before autonomy fully arrives.
When eVTOLs transition to autonomous operation, scalability increases dramatically—unlocking new services, lowering costs, and accelerating adoption. The second-order job creation from that shift alone is difficult to overstate.
The Political Case Is Simple
This is not a niche technology play. It is economic development policy, infrastructure policy, and jobs policy rolled into one.
People vote with their hearts and their wallets.
eVTOL technology speaks to both.
Leaders who recognize this early—and act accordingly—won’t just be backing innovation. They’ll be standing on one of the most compelling platforms of the next decade.