Taking Action: The Need to Build a National Roadmap for Advanced Air Mobility 

From Technological Innovation to Systemic Execution 

Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) is entering a pivotal phase in its development. After more than a decade of strong growth driven by technological innovation, platform maturation, and the proliferation of demonstrators, the central challenge is no longer technical feasibility, but the collective capacity to transition to real-world operations.  

AAM is no longer a futuristic projection centered solely on passenger transport. It now represents a set of multi-purpose aerial capabilities designed primarily to address critical operational challenges. Emergency response, wildfire suppression, public safety support, infrastructure inspection and maintenance, environmental monitoring, specialized logistics, and operations in remote or hard-to-access areas constitute the first credible and relevant use cases. These applications, often dual-use, spanning civil and institutional missions, place AAM at the heart of operations where inter-agency coordination is non-negotiable.  

 AAM must therefore be defined as a fully-fledged aeronautical system, designed for sustainable integration into complex urban and shared airspace environments. Integration with conventional aviation, safety management in mixed-traffic airspace, operational predictability, and social acceptability become structural conditions for success, well before any large-scale deployment of commercial passenger transport services.

In this context, the development of a strategic roadmap becomes an essential structuring tool to align stakeholders, reduce systemic risks, and transform technological ambition into sustainable operational capability. 

Why a Roadmap Is Now Essential 

Disruptive ecosystems that successfully transition from innovation to industrialization share a common lesson: without a structured vision and a shared trajectory, technological maturity does not translate into operational capability. The absence of a roadmap therefore represents a major strategic risk. 

Without such a shared framework, initiatives develop in silos, critical decisions are taken asynchronously, and interdependencies are poorly managed. Governments, regulators, operators, manufacturers, infrastructure managers, and training institutions move at different speeds, guided by sometimes divergent priorities. The outcome is predictable: fragmented efforts, diluted investments, extended timelines, and increased downstream bottlenecks. 

The absence of a roadmap also weakens the transition from strategy to execution. Long-term ambitions (decarbonization, territorial accessibility, logistics performance, safety) remain declarative without clear operational milestones: transparent certification frameworks, credible operating models, adequate training capacity, adapted infrastructure, and defined governance mechanisms. Without this concrete translation, the ecosystem exposes itself to structural delays that are difficult to recover from. 

Lacking a clear trajectory also undermines the sector’s collective credibility. For public authorities, investors, and the general public, the inability to demonstrate a realistic, sequenced, and measurable path erodes trust and slows acceptance. At this stage of maturity, the challenge is no longer to prove that AAM is possible, but to demonstrate that it is controllable. A roadmap is therefore the prerequisite for safe, predictable, and sustainable deployment. 

From Innovation to Execution: A Shift in the Nature of the Challenges 

The success of Advanced Air Mobility now depends largely on non-technological factors that directly determine operational credibility and economic viability, including: 

• organizational and workforce readiness; 

• robust and transparent certification frameworks; 

• seamless integration with conventional aviation; 

• safety management in mixed-traffic environments; 

• regulatory trust and social acceptance; 

• the ability to structure credible financing and investment models aligned with the actual operational maturity of the sector. 

In an industry still under construction, those who define execution frameworks early will shape the market over the long term. The ability to structure execution thus becomes a decisive strategic advantage. 

A Strategic Workshop as a Turning Point 

To address these challenges, a strategic workshop on advanced air mobility will be held in Montreal and Mirabel in April 2026. Unlike several international initiatives, the approach adopted here is deliberately ecosystem-based. 

Co-organized by ADM Aéroports de Montréal, the Centre d’excellence sur les drones (CED), Espace Aéro, GUAMobility, the City of Mirabel, and Innovitech, the workshop will bring together all critical links in the value chain: government decision-makers, regulatory authorities, operators, manufacturers, infrastructure managers, training organizations, and public institutions. 

The objective is not to align the ecosystem around a single solution or actor, but to collectively confront the real-world constraints of AAM deployment (regulatory, operational, human, financial, and territorial) and to identify trajectories compatible with the responsibilities and realities of each stakeholder. 

The goal is clear: to lay the foundations for a credible, pragmatic, and shared roadmap, grounded in the operational realities of the territory, authorities, and end users. 

Investing in such an approach is essential to transform innovation into real capability and to establish AAM as a sustainable lever for economic, technological, and societal development. 

About the Partners

ADM Aéroports de Montréal

The airport authority of Greater Montréal, ADM Aéroports de Montréal is responsible for the management, operation, and development of YUL Montréal–Trudeau International Airport and YMX International Aerocity of Mirabel. 

Centre d’excellence sur les drones (CED)

The CED is a community-of-interest and non-profit organization dedicated to the development, management, and promotion of services, expertise, and competencies related to the drone sector.

Espace Aéro

Espace Aéro is the economic development and attractiveness hub of the Greater Montréal aerospace cluster. Its mission is to support the growth, competitiveness, and transformation of the aerospace industry. 

GUAMobility

GUAMobility is an international platform dedicated to the development and structuring of Advanced Air Mobility ecosystems, with recognized expertise in complex environments and institutionally driven projects.

Innovitech

Innovitech is a strategy and innovation consulting firm specialized in the design and implementation of innovation, transformation, and socio-economic development strategies.

Ville de Mirabel

The City of Mirabel holds a strategic position at the heart of Québec’s aerospace ecosystem, notably through the presence of Montréal–Mirabel International Airport and significant industrial and innovation infrastructure.