Boeing invests $450 mln in flying taxi developer Wisk

"Our view is that is the big strategic advantage of Wisk, going straight to a self-flying aircraft, building those principles in at every level of the design and development," Boeing's Chief Strategy Officer Marc Allen told Reuters. The decision to leapfrog a generation of piloted eVTOL aircraft being developed by independent startups and some aerospace groups entails a later entry to service than the target date of 2024 envisaged by most competitors.


Reuters | Updated: 24-01-2022 17:27 IST | Created: 24-01-2022 17:00 IST
Boeing invests $450 mln in flying taxi developer Wisk
Representative image Image Credit: Flickr

Boeing Co is investing a further $450 million in Wisk to support development of future pilotless flying taxis, the U.S. aerospace giant said on Monday.

California-based Wisk, owned by Boeing and Kitty Hawk - the air vehicle firm launched by Google co-founder Larry Page - is one of dozens of electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) makers but differs in focusing its energy on autonomous flight. "Our view is that is the big strategic advantage of Wisk, going straight to a self-flying aircraft, building those principles in at every level of the design and development," Boeing's Chief Strategy Officer Marc Allen told Reuters.

The decision to leapfrog a generation of piloted eVTOL aircraft being developed by independent startups and some aerospace groups entails a later entry to service than the target date of 2024 envisaged by most competitors. Boeing declined to give a date for what it terms the sixth-generation Wisk passenger vehicle, but industry sources said the idea was to present it for certification in around 2028.

Boeing said it would be the first autonomous passenger-carrying vehicle to be certified in the United States.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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