The AAM Summit featured a breakout workshop on Community Engagement, fostering a discussion on the need to bring voices to the table in a meaningful way and ways to identify collaborative opportunities.

Moderated by Raquel Girvin, FAA’s Western-Pacific Regional Administrator, the panel featured Erik Amend, Regional Administrator, FAA’s Great Lakes Region; Yolanka Wulff, Community Air Mobility Initiative; Mike Romanowski, Archer Aviation; and Nancy Mendonca, NASA’s AAM Mission Integration Manager (Acting).

Mendonca highlighted the importance of engaging with communities from a timeline and integration perspective – that to fully integrate AAM into the NAS when the technology is ready, communities must also be ready for that step. Romanowski discussed how community engagement must occur at every level, from legislators on capitol hill, to working with States and engaging with DOTs on their transportation plans, to working with partners locally and with general aviation authorities.

Wulff discussed the importance of looking at AAM as one transportation mode in a multimodal system, as DOTs are often considering AAM in the view of the limited resources they have to provide transportation services to the public.

The panel then began a discussion of what they have learned from the communities they’ve engaged with. The conversation highlighted how the industry can learn how other modes of transportation create long and short-term state plans when engaging with States, as well as the importance of educating the community on the benefits of AAM to get them excited and supportive of it.

The session finished with comments on the importance of proactive, active outreach to communities, as being open and honest from the beginning ensures the communities feel included and builds trust between stakeholders.