Transportation Secretary Announces First-Ever Special Airworthiness Market Survey Certificate for eVTOL
The U.S. Department of Transportation has issued the first-ever Special Airworthiness Market Survey Certificate for an electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, a milestone for Advanced Air Mobility with high potential for future inter-island Caribbean connectivity.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy has announced that the Federal Aviation Administration has issued the first-ever Special Airworthiness Market Survey Certificate for an electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft.
Announced Wednesday, October 21, 2026, at the NBAA Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition in Las Vegas, the certificate was issued to BETA Technologies to conduct flight operations with its ALIA eVTOL aircraft (A250). After careful review by FAA safety experts, BETA's A250 is now authorized to conduct flight operations with operators and participants for the purpose of conducting market surveys. The certificate also expands the geographic scope of BETA's operations, allowing the aircraft to fly in more environments and gather more data.
"The FAA's special airworthiness certification of BETA's A250 aircraft is another critical step towards enabling the future of flight in America," said Secretary Duffy. "From bringing the next generation of aircraft online to modernizing our nation's air traffic control system, we are delivering generational wins for the flying public at record speed."
What this means
The certificate supports one of the world's largest real-world testing environments for next-generation aircraft, spanning projects in urban air taxi services, regional passenger transportation, cargo and logistics networks, emergency medical response, autonomous flight technologies, and offshore and energy-sector transportation. It is part of the FAA's eIPP initiative, created under the Unleashing Drone Dominance Executive Order.
"Operators can now experience the A250 firsthand and begin planning how it fits into their businesses, from connecting communities to moving people and goods at a lower cost," BETA said. "That's an important step toward commercial adoption."
This milestone signals significant regulatory progress for Advanced Air Mobility, a sector with high potential for future inter-island connectivity in the Caribbean.