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The City of Palo Alto is considering alternatives for a new Master Plan for Palo Alto airport, which include options to raise up and/or extend the horizontal runway/airstrip.
For a sustainable future offering services for flyers, pilots and the local community, we propose that the Community should instead focus on building its capabilities to be a successful Vertiport.
Making a Vertiport the focus of PAO's future means adjusting priorities and putting more Master Plan effort into thinking through Vertiport needs.
Vertiport potential
Vertiport potential
Faster local connections: 10-20 minute flights to other bay area/NorCal vertiports (Napa/Sonoma, East Bay, Monterey, Davis...) and connections to airports (SFO, OAK, SAC) for longer distance journeys
Safer and more affordable than traditional helicopters
Zero localized particulate/fossil fuel pollution from operations
Reduced noise impact vs. internal combustion engines (per flight)
Supportive of SF Bay Area-based eVTOL companies (design and manufacturing) market demonstration and growth
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Vertiport needs
Vertiport needs
Multiple takeoff and landing spots enabling different/competing operators to offer commercial services simultaneously alongside private use
Air traffic control equipped to handle multiple eVTOL operations at scale (both commercial and private/shared ownership) while avoiding conflict with legacy runway users
eVTOL charging, battery-swap and data upload/download and software upgrade facilities, maintenance hangars, work spaces for employees
Airport website offering suitable information for retail passengers
Suitable terminal facilities (waiting rooms, coffee, bathrooms, WiFi, booking kiosks, luggage carts, information screens, signage)
Fastest possible connections to ground transportation (rideshare, taxi, buses and shuttles, family dropoff, bicycles)
Training facilities for eVTOL pilots (for non-autonomous fleets)
Runway implications
Runway implications
An increased emphasis on vertiport operations at PAO should ready the City for future aviation needs while reducing the need for a longer runway that had been proposed to support more frequent and longer-distance service by SurfAir's louder larger planes (PC12)
A longer runway will attract bigger, heavier planes needing runways for horizontal takeoff and landing, which may limit vertiport potential in the available ground footprint for the airport
The Bay Area already has several long-runway airports with towers: Hayward Executive Airport which caters to corporate jets; Moffett Federal Airfield which accommodates private, military and goverment operations; SFO, SJC and OAK with large-scale commercial passenger and cargo services
The peninsula community would be best served by frequent, rapid, sustainable, low noise eVTOL connections to the long-runway airports to accommodate longer-distance journeying.
Not satisfied with short hops within the earth's atmosphere? Then visit www.spaceportassociates.com!
More information on PAO Master plan process:
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