Billy Nolen: The man bringing air taxis to the skies

When Billy Nolen asked a room of aviation leaders in New Zealand last November how soon they believed electric air taxis would take to the skies, almost no hands went up. Some predicted 15 years or more. Nolen just smiled. 

 

For the former head of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), now Chief Regulatory Officer at Archer Aviation, a California-based company developing electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (eVTOLs), scepticism is part of the job. But what drives him isn’t whether the crowd believes, it’s whether the skies will be ready.  

Turning bold ideas into action 

Nolen has spent four decades preparing for the next era of aviation – from piloting Boeing 757s and 767s to overseeing US aviation safety at the highest level. Now at Archer, his objective is clear: replace gridlock with quiet, clean flights. Imagine zooming from Newark Airport to Midtown Manhattan in 10 minutes instead of crawling through an hour of traffic. That vision, Nolen insists, isn’t far-off science fiction, it’s the next chapter of aviation. 

“Our mission is to unlock the skies and rethink mobility,” he explains. “We want to deliver solutions that don’t exist today.” 

Nolen imagines a transformation in how people move and connect. This new generation of aircraft could carry organs for transplant across a city in minutes, support firefighters during emergencies, or connect communities long cut off from fast, reliable transport.  

“We’re at an incredible moment in aviation history,” he says. “Regional aviation, advanced air mobility and new technologies are set to shape the next decade of flight.” 

 

“Our mission is to unlock the skies and rethink mobility. We want to deliver solutions that don’t exist today” 

 

How technology is shaping safer flight 

These innovations aren’t just theoretical, they will make aviation safer, quieter, and more reliable for real-world travel. Augmented and virtual reality put pilots and crew into hyper-realistic training scenarios, allowing them to rehearse complex situations before ever taking off. Artificial intelligence (AI) aids decision-making in crowded airspace, helping pilots navigate efficiently and safely. 

“Modern simulators now offer near-perfect fidelity,” Nolen says. “Pilots can rehearse everything, from traffic management to unusual attitudes and upset recovery. It strengthens reliability across pilots, cabin crew, ground staff and operations. AI isn’t to be feared; it’s an aid that makes the system stronger.” 

With crews trained and airspace managed by these advanced technologies, the next challenge is integrating them into an increasingly busy sky. 

  

Managing a crowded sky 

When it comes to progress, Nolen doesn’t measure it in decades, he thinks in deadlines. Few were bigger for him at the FAA than preparing for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. 

“If we’re flying 55,000 commercial flights a day, and then adding millions of drones and new propulsion systems like eVTOLs and hybrid systems, what do we need to do between 2022 and 2028 to make this a reality? And, if we can pull it off in LA’s crowded airspace, we can scale it anywhere.” 

That urgency sparked Innovate 28, a framework to bring regulators, airlines and governments together to prepare for a radically busier sky. The idea caught on fast. “We’ve seen countries, industries and airlines around the world begin aligning with this vision,” Nolen shares. 

For him, collaboration is the real fuel of aviation. He saw it first-hand during Brexit negotiations, when even sharp disagreements gave way to workable solutions, so long as safety and respect stayed at the core. “In aviation, no one succeeds alone. Progress only happens when we move together.” 

Combining teamwork, advanced technologies, and innovative aircraft, he believes air travel will become faster, greener, and more accessible, connecting communities in ways once thought impossible. “For me, the sky is not a boundary,” Nolen says. “It’s the beginning of a new chapter in how we live, work, and travel.”