Air taxi demonstrations being held across Utah this week
Mar 10, 2025, 8:29 PM | Updated: Mar 11, 2025, 12:01 pm
CEO and President of 47G Aaron Starks speaks before BETA conducts flight demonstrations of its electric aircraft, ALIA, to showcase the future of air mobility in Utah, at Atlantic Aviation in Salt Lake City on Monday, March 10, 2025. (Tess Crowley, Deseret News)
(Tess Crowley, Deseret News)
SALT LAKE CITY — The future comes flying into the present this week as Utah’s aerospace and defense association, recently renamed 47G, conducts the state’s first air taxi demonstrations.
BETA Technologies, a private company that has partnered with 47G, will offer test demonstrations at six airports across Utah this week.
Related: Air taxis in Utah are one step closer to reality
The demonstrations come not long after 47G signed an agreement to bring BETA’s aircraft and charging stations to Utah. UDOT and the Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity are also on board with and are lending support to the project.
FILE: Utah Gov. Spencer Cox speaks before the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with Beta Technologies, an industry-leading electric aircraft and charging manufacturer, and 47G Utah Aerospace & Defense at the Capitol in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025. The agreement aims to provide an electric air transportation system to reduce commute times, increase access to rural communities and improve air quality. (Kristin Murphy, Deseret News)
Chris Metts is the executive director of 47G’s Air Logistics and Transportation Alliance, or Project Alta. He said he wants to make sure the Utah public knows that an air taxi is safe. And that the idea didn’t crop up overnight.
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“This is not something was was invented yesterday. It’s been in the works for years,” he said. “There have been engineers and certification professionals and the right people in place bringing this technology to use.”
The ALIA air taxi
In this instance, the technology is an all-electric aircraft called ALIA made by BETA Technology. And it wasn’t shipped here piece by piece. Metts said it’s important for Utahns to know that the technology isn’t a far-reaching futuristic sounding scheme.
FILE: Vermont-based electric aircraft developer BETA Technologies signed an agreement with Utah’s 47G aerospace group that opens the door for bringing the futuristic planes to Utah in the next two years.
It’s reality.
“We want to move forward the concept that this technology is now technology,” he said. “That this aircraft flew here from Vermont, in the national airspace system. Following federal air regulations.”
Air taxi priorities: cargo first, then people
The electric aircraft being demonstrated across Utah this week isn’t ready for people yet. Instead, the company is implementing the use of the air taxis in steps.
The first step is to safely transfer cargo. Next, the company will increase the payload size, all the while, testing for safety and durability.
Related: Vertiports: The future is coming to Utah sooner rather than later
Metts is quite comfortable about the time the company has taken for testing. He said it shouldn’t be anything but a lengthy process.
“We don’t want to just bring it to the state and say ‘good luck everybody!’,” he said. “We want to make sure that it’s built on an infrastructure of safety and security and economical viability.
If the steps align, the ALIA aircraft should be ready to transport people by 2034, the year that the Winter Olympic Games come, again, to Salt Lake City.
Contributing: Simone Seikaly
