The Shift From Flagship Sites to Networks: What Changed in Advanced Air Mobility

Something fundamental shifted in the Advanced Air Mobility sector over the past six months. The conversation moved from flagship locations to networks—and that changes everything.

From Individual Sites to Connected Systems

"Within the last three or four months, they've stopped looking at individual sites and started looking at networks," explains Lisa Wright, Founder and CEO of Landings. "Every three or four days, there's a network being announced in the news—whether it's Miami, Ohio, Texas."

This isn't just a change in marketing language. It reflects a maturation in how the industry thinks about infrastructure. You can't deliver on the promise of point-to-point electric aviation with a handful of high-profile locations. You need density. You need coverage. You need actual networks.

What's Driving the Momentum

Several factors are converging to accelerate this shift. eVTOL manufacturers are having consistent successes with certification and testing. Drone activity is expanding rapidly. Perhaps most significantly, there's growing acceptance that this technology is coming—and coming soon.

"There seems to be an appetite now that's less not in my backyard about drones," Lisa notes. "That's just been the last couple of months. And again, I think that's because the administration and the DOT and the FAA even have really taken to the Advanced Air Mobility sector."

The regulatory environment under the new administration, with Sean Duffy at DOT, has created momentum that didn't exist a year ago. States are releasing guidelines. Federal and state agencies are forming working groups focused on integrating Advanced Air Mobility into existing transportation infrastructure.

Traditional Aviation Players Enter the Market

Another signal of this shift: FBO operators and regional airports are adding vertiports to their portfolios. Companies like Atlantic Aviation and Signature Aviation—traditional fixed-base operator giants—are actively planning vertiport infrastructure.

"They're really looking into building an FBO or a vertiport at regional airports," Lisa explains. Interestingly, these developments aren't competitive with Landings' rural focus—they're complementary. I'll be the end points for their locations, and they'll be the end points for mine."

This is exactly what network thinking looks like. Urban and suburban vertiports will need rural endpoints. Rural networks will need connections to regional aviation hubs. The system works when it's genuinely interconnected.

The Mohawk Valley Network Example

Landings' approach in upstate New York demonstrates what network density actually means. "In the Mohawk Valley, which is six counties, we're proposing 12 vertiports. Each of those vertiports is probably within 30 to 40 miles of three or four other vertiports in the network."

This isn't arbitrary spacing. It reflects the current range limitations of electric aircraft and the operational requirement that you're never more than 30 minutes from a charging station when you're in the air.

As aircraft range improves, these networks become even more valuable. The infrastructure you build today for 70-mile range aircraft will support 150-mile range aircraft tomorrow. The network becomes more capable as the technology improves.

Energy as the Real Constraint

One challenge that's become clearer through this work: energy infrastructure is the bottleneck, not land availability or airspace. "We're still working on the Mohawk Valley sites. What we realized very quickly was that energy was going to be our biggest bottleneck."

This has led to creative solutions. Last week, Landings met with NYSERDA, New York State's energy research and development authority. "My conversation with them was about having a multimodal EV charging center at my vertiports. The heavy charging that we're talking about for vertiports would also be great for rural school buses and municipal fleets."

This is another form of network thinking—not just connecting vertiports to each other, but connecting vertiport infrastructure to broader community energy needs.

What This Means for Property Owners

The shift from flagship sites to networks creates opportunity for property owners who might have assumed they weren't in prime locations. Network coverage matters more than individual landmark sites.

If you own commercial property in rural markets, the question isn't whether you're in a "destination" location. The question is whether you're positioned to be part of a regional network that connects multiple use cases and endpoints.

As this industry moves from concept to deployment, the properties that become valuable are the ones that enable connectivity—not necessarily the ones with the highest profile.

The shift to network thinking is real, it's happening now, and it's creating opportunities for property owners who recognize what infrastructure connectivity actually means.

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