Choosing the First Launch City and Research Plan for an eVTOL Air Service

You are a product manager working with the marketing team on the launch of EVE, presented as the first electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicle, in one country. The team wants to find the best opportunity to begin, and operations will start in a single city. How would you choose that first city, and what studies or research would you run to make the choice? ```hint Two different filters Ask separately where people would actually want this and where it could realistically operate on day one. Think about which kind of evidence answers each question. ``` ### Clarifying Questions - Will EVE be sold to owners, or run as a passenger service such as an air taxi or airport shuttle, and are business customers such as hospitals or corporate travel in scope? - Which country is this, and is the vehicle already approved by its aviation regulator, or will local permits decide which cities are possible at all? - What must the first city prove, and by when: demand and willingness to pay, safe and reliable operations, unit economics, or public acceptance? - What range and passenger capacity does the vehicle have, and does it need dedicated landing pads and charging equipment? ### What a Strong Answer Covers - A clear statement of what the first city has to prove, used to set the selection criteria and their weights. - Demand criteria that fit short electric flights: slow, congested trips that a flight would shorten, people and businesses able to pay a premium, and anchor uses such as airport or medical transfers. - Feasibility gates: airspace and local rules, sites for landing pads and charging, weather, noise tolerance, and a cooperative city government. - A research plan that ties each study (data analysis, surveys and price tests, stakeholder interviews, demonstration flights) to the criterion it informs. - A path from long list to decision, plus the risks of a first launch, such as a safety incident or community backlash. ### Follow-up Questions - Your highest-scoring city has the strongest demand but the slowest permitting process. Do you launch there or in your second choice? - How would you estimate what people will pay for a flight before the service exists? - Residents near your proposed landing sites start a campaign against the noise. How does your plan change?