Air Traffic Will Get More Congested in the Near Future

American skies are already congested around major cities, but the introduction of drones, private rockets, and air taxis could push that to the brink without an overhaul of the entire air safety infrastructure.

The Crowded Picture: Last week’s tragic collision between a passenger jet and a Black Hawk helicopter at Ronald Reagan National Airport put the entire aviation industry under a spotlight. The inclusion of more vehicles in crowded airspace could now be subject to extra scrutiny from the government and the public at large.

Behind the Flights: Within the next decade, air traffic controllers may have much more on their hands than passenger planes and military aircraft.

• Air taxis or eVTOLs (electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft) from companies like Joby and Archer are set to launch as low-altitude rideshare services. There could be thousands of them in the air within the decade.
• Rocket launches are increasing, thanks to the renewed space race. There were 259 last year, some of which required planes to divert their course to avoid. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk hopes to launch 1,000 rockets per year (mainly for Starlink).
• Drones are taking to the skies in record numbers, as the tech becomes cheaper and the guardrails for flight loosen. There are currently 1.1 million registered commercial and private drones in the US.

The Future: Statistically, commercial aviation is still the safest way to travel, with chances of being in a fatal accident considerably smaller than driving in a car. But, when crashes do happen, it’s a large-scale incident that shakes the flying public’s trust.

Considering how short-staffed and overworked air traffic control has become in recent years (and there have been plenty of warnings), the FAA will either need to supercharge hiring (there are about 14,000 right now manning 5,000 US airports) or build automated systems to keep up with the ever-increasing complexity of America’s airspace.