How Autonomy Is Accelerating Advanced Air Mobility

Meet the Power Behind Honeywell Ensemble

For Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) innovators, autonomy comes standard. And at Honeywell, we’ve spent decades advancing the systems that make this possible, long before autonomy became an industry buzzword.

Whether piloted air taxis, uncrewed cargo vehicles or fully autonomous commercial drones, the AAM ecosystem is leaning into simplified, intelligent flight.

“High levels of autonomy in AAM will set the stage for broader industry adoption of simplified vehicle operation (SVO).”
— David Shilliday, VP and GM, Advanced Air Mobility, Honeywell Aerospace Technologies

Simplified Flight, Built for Scale

To scale urban flight safely and efficiently, operators need systems that reduce complexity and support a range of use cases — from piloted operations to uncrewed missions.

Enter Honeywell Anthem: a next-generation, cloud-connected flight deck purpose-built for the AAM era. With intuitive controls, predictive automation and built-in redundancy, Anthem dramatically lowers pilot workload and training time.

“Anthem takes a cue from modern consumer electronics with interfaces that simplify flying … it’s a platform for the future, but also serves the present.”
— Jeff Woirhaye, Senior Director of Project Management, Honeywell

Autonomy by Design: Key Technologies Powering AAM

Autonomous and semi-autonomous vehicles depend on systems that see, think, act and communicate. 

Honeywell’s portfolio includes mission-critical technologies enabling safe, reliable operations across a range of AAM aircraft:

• Inertial Navigation Systems – Deliver precise position and velocity data, even in GPS-denied environments
• VersaWave – Lightweight hybrid satcom/cellular system that ensures seamless two-way communications
• Fly-by-Wire Systems – Offer envelope protection and input filtering to reduce risk and increase control precision
• Ground Control Station (GCS) Capabilities – Allow remote supervision, detect-and-avoid support and real-time route optimization
• Honeywell Anthem – Intelligent, SVO-ready flight deck debuting on multiple AAM platforms

“Navigation is the heartbeat of autonomy. It ensures aircraft can operate in complex airspace environments without human intervention.”
— Grant Lodden, Research Scientist, Honeywell

Solving for the Pilot Shortage

One of AAM’s biggest growth constraints? A global pilot shortage. With an estimated 674,000 new pilots needed in the next 20 years, the industry must rethink training and crew operations to support demand.

Honeywell’s solutions are central to that transition. By enabling SVO, reducing flight training time, and eventually supporting single-pilot and uncrewed modes, these systems help make air mobility accessible at scale.

Safety Through Automation

Many of today’s aviation incidents stem from human error. Honeywell’s advanced sensors and decision-support systems are already reducing those risks. As trust grows, greater autonomy will improve outcomes across passenger, cargo and emergency response use cases.

From collision avoidance to predictive maintenance (via Honeywell Ensemble), autonomous aircraft can now detect issues before they occur and respond faster than humans when they do.

Leading the Charge into the Skies of Tomorrow

From single-pilot taxis to cargo drones and military ISR vehicles, autonomy isn’t a distant future. It’s already lifting off.

By delivering proven autonomy technologies for sensing, navigation, communication and flight, Honeywell leads the way with modular, scalable solutions built to evolve alongside OEMs as the AAM market matures.

Explore the full Autonomy story or download our whitepaper to see how Honeywell is helping AAM developers simplify the skies — safely, intelligently, and with confidence.