Winning the social licence to operate

The importance of social licence

Social licence is the acceptance granted to an organisation or a project by the community and is closely linked to meeting community expectations and gaining its trust. It is achieved when the community trusts that the organisation or the project will act in line with its interests, beyond what is required by compliance or legal obligations.

Today social licence is increasingly relevant – access to information means that communities and consumers are more informed, armed with data and the power to have their concerns expressed and their voices heard through multiple media and on-line platforms. High profile reports and inquiries into misconduct and abuse by institutions has heightened mistrust in corporations; data security issues, heightened concerns around environmental impacts and climate change, increasing pressure on the cost of living and growing wealth inequality all compound the desire of individuals in a community to voice their concerns and have these concerns dutifully addressed.

Winning the social licence to operate will be key to the successful launch of the AAM industry. However, there is no single party responsible for achieving this. It requires the collaboration of multiple parties – federal government, council bodies, regulators, proponents and participants in the broader AAM ecosystem.

5 social licence barriers

1. Noise – electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft (eVTOLs) are expected to be quieter than helicopters in flight (c. 65db versus 85db for a small, four-seat helicopter at 75 metres – depending on the model). However, noise is not just about decibels. Perception also matters and is driven by the pitch and frequency of the noise, but also its unfamiliarity. Issues relating to noise are expected to be mostly at take-off and landing when eVTOLs are at their noisiest.
2. Visual amenity – the appearance of both vertiports and eVTOLs themselves may cause concern from local communities, with the potential to obstruct their view. This is likely to be particularly problematic near or over parks, gardens and water bodies. Areas that would otherwise be suited to early AAM deployments due to their lack of built up form.
3. Safety – It is likely eVTOLs will need to be certified to the same level as commercial aircraft and meet the societally acceptable rate of not more than one catastrophic event per billion flight hours[1]. Arguably, they also offer enhanced redundancy in comparison to general aviation aircraft, through multiple propellers and autonomous enabling technology. However, public perception and mistrust may result in differences in perceived v actual safety.
4. Privacy – Given eVTOLs will fly as low as 400 feet, there are likely to be public concerns about what can be seen from the aircraft. This is likely to be problematic and may force early routes over less sensitive areas such as rail and road corridors, and other tracts of public land. Similarly, any images captured by eVTOLs for future optimisation and planning could also draw concerns
5. Cost – The cost of AAM flights are likely to be high at industry inception, but is expected to approximate the cost of taxi as it scales. AAM is likely to be perceived at first as a transport option only accessible to the wealthy. This could be exacerbated depending on the early routes chosen, particularly if they are perceived to unfairly favour some locations over others.

Winning the battle

Embed social licence considerations into every step of the decision making process. Proponents and government bodies working on AAM should engage early with the communities in which they plan to operate. Ensuring that communities feel heard and engaged with, will be crucial to building ongoing social capital and winning the social licence to operate.

Demonstrate the technology. Holding practical demonstrations and proof of concepts will help the public understand what the technology looks and sounds like. This can, in turn, assuage concerns around noise and safety, and help AAM become familiar to the community.

Identify early use cases with social benefits. Use cases such as patient transport, search and rescue, or critical medical delivery can be used to highlight to the public the ways in which AAM can be beneficial to society as a whole. China’s EHang, for example, tested its autonomous eVTOL’s ability to deliver medical supplies during COVID-19 restrictions. Demonstrate the alignment of the benefits of the technology to the community, and the AAM industry to the country.

Develop a clear, active, and targeted communication strategy. It is essential to ensure that the community understands the benefits of AAM. Translating the benefit (e.g. savings in travel time and tangible benefits of early use cases) in a form that is digestible is key. Ultimately the public will also need to envisage themselves using this new mode of transport, if they are going to accept it.

Looking ahead

The AAM industry is on the cusp of commercialisation, and social licence is one of the key barriers to its ultimate success.

Winning the social licence to operate will be key to the successful launch of the AAM industry. However, there is no single party responsible for achieving this. It requires the collaboration of multiple parties – federal government, council bodies, regulators, proponents and participants in the broader AAM ecosystem. Through effective collaboration and early, deliberate choices to engage with community concerns, the AAM industry can win the social licence to operate.

[1] EASA