As schools open across Florida, state officials envision the opening to the 1960s animated series The Jetsons, where Elroy Jetson is ejected outside Little Dipper School in a small bubble-top pod from the family’s flying car.
On Monday, Gov. Ron DeSantis and Transportation Secretary Jared Perdue repeatedly referenced The Jetsons to highlight that testing on electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft will be underway by the end of the year at the SunTrax test facility in Polk County.
DeSantis also recalled the final scene in the 1985 time-travel movie Back to the Future where Marty McFly, played by Michael J. Fox, says the suburban street outside his home wasn’t long enough for the modified DeLorean time machine to reach the needed 88 mph to work. DeSantis repeated that McFly was told by Doc Brown, played by Christopher Lloyd, “Roads? Where we’re going, we don’t need roads.” The DeLorean then flies off down the street.
DeSantis acknowledged, “Obviously … nothing like that’s going to happen.” He added, “But, you know, we believe that you’re going to see major breakthroughs in this technology in the coming years.”
“We are turning this somewhat dream into a reality,” DeSantis said during an event at SunTrax. “I can’t promise we’ll ever be able to take you to the future (or) to the past, but I think we’re going to be able to get you up in the air at some point in the not-too-distant future.”
Earlier this year, DeSantis signed legislation (HB 1093) allowing the Florida Department of Transportation to fund 100 percent of the project costs for a public vertiport if federal funds are unavailable. If federal funds are available, FDOT may fund up to 80 percent of the nonfederal share.
Vertiports are expected to serve as hubs for short aerial commutes by the battery-powered aircraft that have characteristics of airplanes and helicopters.
Last year, DeSantis and Perdue saw prototypes of primarily electric vertical take-off and landing, “VTOL,” aircraft while at the Paris Air Show, an international aerospace trade show.
By October, they announced plans to use the SunTrax test facility to research and help develop an aerial highway network.
DeSantis also signed a wide-ranging transportation package in 2025 that required the transportation department to develop a plan for advanced air mobility with the Department of Commerce. The law also required advances in aviation technology to be included in the annual transportation work program.
The joint department plan is also aimed at identifying “corridors of need and opportunities for industry growth.”
