Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
ride in a Self-driving car It may seem pretty futuristic, but one company is aiming to take autonomous transportation to new heights with air taxis.
Wisk, founded in 2010 and acquired by Boeing in 2023, is developing self-driving planes that can get you across a city in a fraction of the time it takes to drive. Airborne taxis can fly 90 miles at speeds of up to 120 knots, or about 140 miles per hour — on par with the average speed of a commercial helicopter.
The Wisk air taxi can fly without a pilot. The company has just unveiled the sixth generation model.
Wisk has carried out nearly 2,000 test flights and recently unveiled its sixth generation air taxi. CNET stopped by the company’s headquarters in Mountain View, California, for an exclusive early look.
Unlike other companies developing air taxis, e.g Gobi And Archer, Whisk aims to launch it as a self-flying transport from the beginning. The planes are designed without a pilot’s seat, providing interior space for four passengers. The company plans to launch its self-driving flights in 2030, pending certification from the Federal Aviation Administration. It will launch first in Houston, Los Angeles and Miami.
The sixth-generation WHISK aircraft feature a spacious four-seat interior.
An exclusive look at the redesigned Wisk aircraft
The new sixth-generation Wisk looks more like an SUV than an airplane. It has a spacious interior with four seats and four doors. There are armrests, cup holders, and charging ports, as well as compartments for storing small carry-on items like backpacks and wallets.
Everyone has access to their own door, so you don’t have to awkwardly climb over anyone to get in or out. No middle seats here! There’s also Wi-Fi and air conditioning on board – something not always available on smaller planes – which will hopefully make the flight more comfortable.
Wisk’s Director of Product Design, Uri Czarnotzky, gave me a tour of the latest aircraft designs.
Screens inside the plane show a safety summary — especially important if there is no pilot or flight attendant on board — followed by the flight path during the flight.
“Part of trusting a self-driving aircraft is believing and knowing that it knows where it is going,” said Uri Czarnotzky, director of product design at Whisk. “If you’re flying in a dense urban area with skyscrapers, or if you’re flying (over) the Los Angeles basin and you’re surrounded by terrain, knowing that the plane knows that stuff there is huge. It’s like Tesla Or your Waymo It shows you that there are other cars or pedestrians. It’s the same thing.”
Wisk’s air taxi may not have a pilot on board, but there are still people on the ground monitoring the plane and can intervene if there’s a problem. They can communicate with air traffic control and facilitate a quick landing if there is a problem. A camera constantly monitors the cabin in case of an emergency, and there’s a call button on the plane and in the Wisk mobile app if you need help.
The trunk at the front of the plane can hold up to four suitcases.
Preparing for take off
The sixth-generation Wisk has not yet flown, but the goal is to have it in the air by the end of this year for testing. It will take at least a few years before customers can get into the car.
“Getting passengers on board is a major accomplishment, and it requires a lot of attention along the way — and a big set of eyes is the FAA,” Czarnotsky said. “We are currently in the process of FAA 6th generation certification. It is the first four-seat, all-electric, autonomous flying taxi in a certification program with the FAA now.”
Wesk could get the green light to take off with passengers before the end of the decade, but that’s ultimately up to the FAA, Czarnotzky said. In the meantime, the company will continue testing and integration with the airspace to prepare for launch.
Although Whisk’s plane is self-driving, artificial intelligence does not play as central a role as one might expect.
“The plane doesn’t think, it doesn’t do machine learning. It actually does something that is very reliable and predictable,” Czarnotsky said. Like commercial flights today, which rely heavily on automated systems to reduce pilot workload, “we fly a pre-programmed route — with alternate locations in case of emergency, alternate locations in case of weather — but everything is pre-programmed.
“The only thing you do quickly is spot potential risks and avoid them,” Czarnotzky continued. “So, if you have someone who’s not talking to ATC flying your way, our planes can see that plane, avoid it and then get back on track and finish that flight without anyone having to intervene. That’s the only real aspect of autonomy.”
When landing, the plane will communicate with systems on the ground that can see the landing area and make sure everything is clear.
The aircraft screen will first display a safety summary, followed by the in-flight flight path.
Call a self-driving air taxi
When Wisk becomes available to the public, you’ll use an app to plan your entire trip.
This includes how you get to the plane, the flight itself, and then getting from your landing point to your final destination. Wisk will partner with other companies to make every step of this transportation ideally available in this app – whether it’s riding a motorbike, riding a bike or sharing a ride – so that your trip is covered from start to finish.
How much the flights will cost is still up in the air.
“It’s going to change over time. It’s obviously going to decrease over time, especially when this starts to expand — which you can only do with an autonomous system,” Czarnotsky said. “Right now, we’re talking about something like Uber Black. That’s the kind of volume you can expect when you get into the service.”
Initially, this service will likely cater mostly to business travelers getting off commercial flights who want a quick flight to their next destination – especially since prices are likely to be high to begin with.
Don’t miss any of our unbiased technical content and lab reviews. Add CNET As Google’s preferred source.
Over time, Wisk plans to expand availability and have the aircraft land at more central and convenient locations at so-called vertical airports. They are helipads with cargo infrastructure, which may also contain passenger amenities such as bathrooms and restaurants.
Wisk says it only takes 15 minutes to charge the plane. This means this can be done in the time it takes to remove passengers from the flight and prepare the cabin for the next passengers. If you still feel uneasy about flying a drone, Weiske says its technology will make flights safer.
“There are redundant systems on board — redundant software, battery, propulsion system,” Czarnotsky said. “Everything is fail-safe, there is no single point of failure. It is incredibly safe.”
However, there may be a learning curve to getting used to an aircraft flying itself. But autonomy appears to be shaping the future of transportation – both on the ground and in the sky.
Watch the video above for a look at Wisk’s latest sixth generation aircraft.