Just consider the increasing velocity of technological innovation and change and how it has shaped our lives in the last 20 years, says noted astrophysicist, futurist, and author Neil deGrasse Tyson in kicking off the 2024 NBAA Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (NBAA-BACE) in Las Vegas.

Organizers expect about 19,000 attendees this year visiting 8,000 exhibitors between the Las Vegas Convention Center and Henderson airport, the static display with business aircraft on display.

It was an auspicious start for the Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) sector, comprised of the new generation of electric air-taxi makers such as Joby Aviation, Archer, and Lilium. These firms have had limited displays at past NBAA shows, but yesterday was more like a formal coming-of-age party for the fledgling sector.

During the keynote, Bonnie Simi—pilot, former Olympic athlete, and Joby Aviation's president of operations—interviewed Tyson about the pace of technology as well as the future of the Advanced Air Mobility movement (AAM), which includes electric air taxis.

Tyson told the packed hall that history reminds us that innovations come from places you don't often expect. Take the iPhone, he said. Apple didn't invent GPS, music, or cellular communications, but the company assembled the technologies to create one of the most transformative devices in the history of inventions, the astrophysicist explained.

Aviation is entering a similar innovative period with advanced air mobility, efficiency, and sustainability, added NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen, who also addressed the audience during the keynote. Bolen discussed the pace of aviation advancement with FAA's administrator Michael Whitaker, who was on hand to sign a Special Federal Aviation Regulation (SFAR) establishing the final rule for a regulatory framework for the new category of eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing) aircraft.

"It is an extraordinary moment in history," Whitaker said, noting that AAM represents an entirely new aircraft category, typically involving a combination of rotor and fixed-wing aircraft.