What is Advanced Air Mobility (AAM)? A guide to eVTOL and vertiports

A simple definition of Advanced Air Mobility

Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) is the umbrella term the FAA and NASA use to describe safe, automated, on-demand aviation for passengers and cargo in places traditional aviation hasn’t reached — dense cities, regional corridors between mid-sized towns, and remote communities. Where general aviation depends on runways and helicopters depend on limited helipads, AAM aircraft are designed for a distributed network of small, purpose-built landing sites called vertiports.

What is an eVTOL?

An eVTOL — electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft — is the vehicle at the center of AAM. It takes off and lands vertically like a helicopter but cruises efficiently like a small plane, powered by distributed electric motors and rechargeable batteries. Because it relies on many small rotors instead of one large one, an eVTOL is dramatically quieter than a helicopter, has fewer moving parts, and can be certified to fly over populated areas.

Companies including Joby, Archer, Beta, Lilium, and Volocopter are working through FAA and EASA certification for passenger-carrying eVTOLs. Early commercial routes are expected to cover 20–150 miles — the sweet spot where driving is slow and a full commercial flight is overkill.

Vertiports: the ground layer

A vertiport is a ground facility purpose-built for eVTOL operations. It provides landing pads, high-power chargers, passenger lounges, security screening, aircraft turnaround, and integration with local ground transport. Vertiports can sit on rooftops, at existing airports, on parking structures, or as standalone facilities near transit hubs.

For AAM to work as a network, vertiports need a shared identity and access layer. A passenger arriving at any vertiport should be recognized instantly, boarding permissions should propagate to the operator and the aircraft, and payment should settle across operators without the passenger juggling five different accounts.

Who participates in the AAM ecosystem?

• Passengers — book flights, prove identity at boarding, and pay across multiple operators and vertiports.
• Pilots — hold ratings and medical certifications that must be verifiable in real time by any operator they fly for.
• Aircraft operators — run the fleets, schedule crews, and need trusted identity signals for both pilots and passengers.
• Vertiport operators — control access to the pad, meter charging, and settle usage fees with visiting operators.
• OEMs and regulators — need reliable data on who flew what aircraft, when, and under which certifications.

The missing layer: identity, access, and payments

AAM introduces problems commercial aviation solved decades ago with airline alliances, interline agreements, and shared reservation systems — but for a much more dynamic, multi-operator, multi-vertiport network. Without a shared layer, every operator rebuilds KYC, every vertiport rebuilds access control, and every passenger creates a new account for every provider.

ClearPass Air is the universal account, identity, and payment system for AAM. One verified identity for passengers, one credential wallet for pilots, one billing rail across operators and vertiports — so the network can scale without every participant reinventing the plumbing.

When is AAM actually happening?

Type certification for the first passenger eVTOLs is expected between 2025 and 2027, with early commercial routes launching around vertiports at major airports and urban centers. Regulatory frameworks (FAA Innovate28, EASA SC-VTOL) are already in place, and vertiport construction is underway in the U.S., UAE, France, and the U.K.