We examined the feasibility and trade-space of a battery-powered, remotely piloted, semi-autonomous to autonomous small personal aircraft transportation system capable of single-hop flights of up to 500 miles. This aircraft system would be supplemented on the ground by considerable advancements in ground automation, such as on-demand clean automobiles, automated airport servicing, and advanced reservation systems. This study used a series of linked parametric models to determine whether an on-demand aviation architecture within a multimodal transportation system: 1) could meet projected aviation demand; 2) could meet aviation climate change impact goals; 3) would have an overall positive net present value; and 4) would offer quality of service equal to or better than that of today. Because this was a quick-turn study, the study focused on parametric estimations and specifically attempted to explore the trade-space of what could be, without attempting to bound technological progress assumptions with past performance. This was done in recognition of the possible accelerative effects of technological convergences, as well as a desire to sketch the "could be." Our major finding is that a good economic case can be made for on-demand mobility (ODM) aircraft if optimal performance can be achieved, if projected network utilization (percentage of trips that are revenue producing versus total number of trips) and daily utilization (average hours flown per day) can be reached, and if weather is not a major obstacle.
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