Following the failure of its IPO, Uber is placing huge bets on its next big offering – Uber Air. At Uber Elevate – the company’s flying taxi conference held in Washington D.C., the company unveiled the first design for its Uber Air taxi cabin.
The cabin, built in partnership with aircraft interior designer Safran Cabin, is designed to seat four people at a time. Given the number of Uber Air vehicle partners, the MDC is easily modifiable.
“Together with Safran Cabin, we’ve designed for the first time in history, a bespoke aircraft cabin that is truly mission-driven for aerial ridesharing on Uber Air,” said John Badalamenti, Uber Elevate’s Head of Design. “Starting with the customer experience, it’s highly considered from the inside-out, yet extensible across different fuselage profiles, and carefully engineered with a path to certification.”
SOURCE: TechCrunch
“To realize this design physically in the interactive cabin mockup, combined with the photo-real VR flight experience, has been extremely encouraging. I think we’re at a transitional time for designs like this to serve as the influential typology in aerial ridesharing standards for generations of aircraft to come,” John added.
At the conference, Uber also unveiled its newest partner in the mission – Jaunt Air Mobility.
“Jaunt Air Mobility has assembled a highly talented team of experienced engineers with a long history of designing and certifying eVTOL vehicles,” Uber Elevate Director of Engineering Mark Moore said in a statement. “Martin Peryea, Jaunt’s Chief Technology Officer, has led many helicopter development programs as a chief engineer and brings invaluable insights to developing low noise, reliable, and safe aircraft. I look forward to seeing what our teams accomplish together as we aim to accelerate Jaunt’s commercialization efforts.”
Presently, Uber is working with more than five vehicle partners including Boeing, Embraer, and Bell. At the Consumer Electronics Show earlier this year, Bell unveiled its first flying taxi model called the Bell Nexus.
The ride-hailing giant plans to begin testing Uber Air in 2020 and is optimistic of its launch goals for 2023 in Dallas-Fort Worth/Frisco, Texas and Los Angeles, California.
