I told everyone they were coming, and those who listened will profit from the information; those who didn’t, well, they’ll be trying to catch up with the rest of the world.  But on Friday, June 6, 2025, Trump did what I had been talking about for many years prior: he signed the Executive Order on Advanced Electric Air Taxis and Advanced Drone Operations, along with others involving U.S. Airspace Security Against Drone Threats, and lifting the ban on Supersonic Flights.  However, it was the air taxi order that was the most important and the quickest to market benefit.  As I have been saying, Joby Aviation, up the road from my house in Cincinnati, is building electric sky cars that were going to arrive on the market in 2025.  They are already being placed into the Abu Dhabi market and in China.  Japan will have them soon, as will Toyota, which is in a partnership with Joby, so I’ve been warning that America will be left behind.  And I also said that Trump would make it a priority, because America doesn’t want to be last in anything.  With this order from President Trump, the development of electric air taxis is promoted and commercial drone operations are expanded, which these air taxis essentially are – big, fancy drones.  The order directs the FAA to allow commercial users and public safety officials to fly drones beyond their line of sight, easing current restrictions.  It also supports a program to test vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, which could enhance cargo transport, medical response times, and access to rural areas.  Additionally, it encourages federal agencies to prioritize the purchase of U.S.-made drones and directs the Secretary of Commerce to promote the export of American drones to other markets.  This is a significant step into a Jetsons-like world, and as I said, the technology was already there.  All that was needed was a regulatory environment to allow for that technology to be applied to society in general. It’s a big step in the right direction.

However, regarding the supersonic flight ban that has been in place over the United States for commercial aircraft, it has been frustrating to deal with such an artificial limit.  If you’ve ever had to fly across the Pacific Ocean on a 13-14 hour flight, no matter how long you spend in first class, it’s a hard flight.  It’s challenging to travel from airport to airport over 24 hours to reach the other side of the world.  It isn’t easy to fly from New York to Los Angeles routinely, because the airplanes are just too slow.  Boom Aviation has been in operation since 2014 and has been dedicated to developing passenger air vehicles that exceed the speed of sound. They have been successful and, like Joby Aviation, are poised for market entry.  Their Overture airliner can carry 64-80 passengers at Mach 1.7, which is 1,100 miles per hour.  That would reduce the six-hour flight from New York to Los Angeles to 3 hours.  They are working on lowering the transoceanic times to 3.5 hours, for instance, to London, which is a significant improvement from the current time.  They intend to have 1,000 supersonic airliners available for business class fares to make it economically viable, and they currently have 130 orders for aircraft from most major airlines, including United, American, and Japan Airlines.  So, Trump’s executive order is not a distant hope for the future.  It’s for right here, right now.  All we needed was a president who would embrace these innovations and nurture them forward.  All we needed was a Trump election to unleash the opportunities.

Speaking about the air taxi service for Joby, the pricing will be in the range of Uber Black, and initially, it will focus on airport travel.  For instance, as I have been talking about in my local area of West Chester, Ohio, the Joby partnership with Delta Airlines would allow passengers who arrive at CVG, which is about an hour away from West Chester, because of the traffic, its not very far away, it just takes time to get down I-75 at the rush hour times to get there, passengers could arrive from their flight, get to the skyport, and take an air taxi to West Chester to their hotel.  They could just about walk to everything they needed without having to rent a car; then do their business, and then fly back the same way.  On a business trip, which is something I see a lot of, it’s a real problem for a lot of business travelers, to catch a 5:30 PM flight, they essentially have to leave at 2:30 PM to beat the rush hour traffic, then deal with all the TSA nonsense wasting most of their day in the process.  I have people who come to see me who have to travel overseas, who deliberately leave for the airport to stay at a hotel there so they don’t have to deal with the traffic on the day of their flight, which is a massive waste of their time.  Therefore, there is a sufficient need for this service to become helpful immediately.  And it will be as common as taking an Uber within months once commercial utilization is accepted.  Uber Black pricing to CVG from West Chester would likely be around $142-$170, which is comparable to the cost of Uber Black when traveling from Manhattan to JFK, approximately 15-20 miles. 

The most important thing to consider here is not the technology itself, but valuing time.  There has been a concerning trend in the world to reduce all forms of travel and to encourage people to rely solely on Microsoft Teams, for instance, and avoid face-to-face meetings.  That was undoubtedly the unintended consequence of COVID, and it turned out to be a disaster, which the Biden administration only made worse with an anti-technology approach to the economy that was devastating.  There was no reason not to be first to market with sky cars or supersonic flight.  When you enable more people to accomplish more in a day, you expand the economy.  For businesspeople to be able to do more with their time rather than travel, the economic benefits are undeniable.  I know many people who would gladly pay $170 per person to fly over the traffic to CVG so they could work for an additional 2 hours on their Delta flight back to where they came from.  For most businesspeople, their time on the road is worth a lot more than that, and they should not be wasting it sitting around in airports or flying in slow crafts that are restricted to speeds under the speed of sound.  I would say that in just a few years, once people get used to accepting that a sky car is more useful than ordering a normal Uber to drive them around, the pricing will come down significantly and be much less.  It will take time for people to get used to the option, but once they do, lots of things will improve, including street traffic.  I see only good things coming from these Trump executive orders, and it’s about time somebody dares to implement them.  Many of these companies, like Joby and Boom, have been waiting for politics to catch up to them.  And now is the time. 

Rich Hoffman

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