Five of the area's smaller airports will get some help preparing for what could be the next big thing in aviation. The OKI Regional Council of Governments is hiring a firm to study how to prepare the airports for advanced air mobility, or AAM.
鈥淣o, this is not about flying cars,鈥� says Robyn Bancroft, strategic initiatives manager for OKI.
鈥淚t really relates to the new types of electric, and electric-hybrid aircraft that are being developed to transport goods and people.鈥�
Bancroft says that includes drones and vertical takeoff and landing planes.
鈥淭his isn鈥檛 鈥� this year you鈥檙e going to see them flying around,鈥� she says. 鈥淏ut definitely over the next 鈥� I would say three, four, five, definitely next 10 years 鈥� you鈥檒l be seeing more of these deployed.鈥�
She says the consultant will work with the airports to create infrastructure that will accommodate AAM, like charging stations.
鈥淭he deliverable for the firm will be to look at each of the airports and what are their existing electrical infrastructure?鈥� she says. 鈥淲hat鈥檚 there now? And then given the future in AAM and these aircraft, where鈥檚 the gap? What is needed?鈥�
She says the airports 鈥� Cincinnati鈥檚 Lunken Field, Middletown鈥檚 Hook Field, Miami University鈥檚 airfield, Butler County Regional Airport and the Clermont County Airport 鈥� will all work with the consultants to meet their individual needs.
鈥淭hey鈥檒l come up with a conceptual plan of what electrical infrastructure is needed and missing, and then a cost estimate.鈥�
She says who will pay for the upgrades is a bridge they'll cross when they get to it. She says there were federal funds available last year for upgrades, and that鈥檚 when the airports came to OKI. Numerous federal grant programs have been terminated or suspended in the first months of the Trump administration, leaving that source questionable.
Bancroft says public-private partnerships also are a possible source of funding.
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