Whenever I read about air such ideas this the question is can the costs be lowered enough enough for wider usage. Before we even get to the operating and purcha

Whenever I read about air such ideas this the question is can the costs be lowered enough enough for wider usage. Before we even get to the operating and purchase cost of the air craft. All these taxi ideas seem always over look one the largest costs. The biggest problem short taxi like air travel tend forget about is the infrastructure. Your going to need a lot of landing and take off locations for it to be any use. You just can't land anywhere unless you have pilot that can see areas clear of cars, power lines, and people or other hazards. So any autonomous system is going to need lots landing and take off areas. Even with a pilot they probably would still be needed. The next largest costs of an air-craft is generally initial purchase. Then the required on going maintenance to ensure the air-frame remains safe. While an all aircraft electric may reduce the mechanical complexity. It does nothing to reduce the labour cost per hour required to inspect an air-frame, and repair. Also unlikely traditional aircraft a battery pack is more complex than a fuel tank, any problems with it can be dangerous for any aircraft that do not use a fixed wing design. Also with a completely electric air craft energy density is even more important than a car. This effectively limits them to short distances. While energy costs may be lower than fuel. Fuel for small aircraft is cheaper than a lot people realize. Lastly, while getting rid of a pilot for routine flight is already in our technological grasp. Unsurprisingly any failures or sudden problem are going to be hard to handle. For instance how would an autonomous air-craft choose a safe landing location if it detects problem that requires landing right away. A busy street would be less than ideal where as a human could easily see less occupied areas. It also would need to make sure that there are not tree branches or power lines are crossing any part of it's chosen landing zone. It would also need to detect that it's not landing on anything like a car or anything else.