GAO: U.S. Electric Aircraft Still Years From Routine Use; FAA Hasn’t Certified a Manned Model

Electric aviation in the U.S. is still far from routine commercial use, according to a new Government Accountability Office report that found the Federal Aviation Administration has not yet issued a type certificate for a manned electric aircraft and that airport charging plans remain limited. As of March 2026, the FAA was still evaluating electric aircraft and engine designs case by case, while as of December 2025 just 47 U.S. airports had identified electric-aircraft charging stations in their airport layout plans.

That gap matters because electric propulsion has been promoted as a way to cut operating costs, reduce noise and environmental impacts, and expand air service on shorter regional routes. Manufacturers are developing fully electric and hybrid-electric aircraft, mostly for short- and medium-range flying, with potential uses including air taxi service, cargo transport and flight training. But the GAO said the basic pieces needed for broader deployment — a settled certification pathway, enough specialized FAA expertise and airport charging infrastructure — are still limited.

The report, published Tuesday and titled “Electric Aircraft: FAA Is Evaluating Designs for Certification and Considering Long-Term Regulatory Approaches,” said charging infrastructure is still sparse. FAA data cited by GAO showed that 47 airports had identified electric-aircraft charging stations in their airport layout plans as of December 2025. The majority of those airports were tied to one company’s network: 34 of the 47 were part of BETA Technologies’ charging network.

Airports and FAA officials told GAO that the main obstacles to installing charging infrastructure are cost, uncertain demand, and the availability and reliability of electricity. Those constraints underscore how early the market remains even as companies work on aircraft intended for regional trips and other relatively short missions.

On certification, GAO said the FAA had not issued a type certificate for a manned electric aircraft as of March 2026. A type certificate is the FAA’s approval of an aircraft design for airworthiness. In the report’s highlights, GAO said plainly: “FAA hasn't yet certified an electric aircraft for commercial operations.”

Instead, the agency has been reviewing designs individually. GAO said the FAA was evaluating electric aircraft and engine designs for certification on a case-by-case basis as of March 2026, rather than under a fully standardized framework tailored to the technology. In its regulatory dockets, the FAA had issued special conditions for four of 10 electric engine or propulsion products as of March 2026, GAO found.

The FAA is also weighing longer-term changes. According to GAO, the agency is considering dedicated airworthiness standards for electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, or eVTOL aircraft, as part of a broader effort to standardize certification over time. The FAA has been updating rules for newer aircraft categories, but GAO said electric-aircraft certification is still largely being handled individually.

Industry stakeholders interviewed by GAO pointed to two main problems with the current approach: not enough FAA staff with expertise in electric propulsion and limited standardization in the certification process. GAO linked those concerns to a recommendation it made in 2021 that the FAA “ensure that planned skill gap assessments are quantitative and include all mission-critical occupations.”

FAA officials told GAO that the agency has hired engineers in disciplines such as propulsion and has deployed experienced personnel as needed to emerging technology areas.

The report was required by Section 1012 of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024. For the review, GAO examined literature published from 2019 to 2024, public information and FAA regulatory dockets, and interviewed federal officials and 30 nongeneralizable industry stakeholders.