Orlando wants to greet tourists with one big change that is straight out of the Jetsons

Orlando is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the country. 

A vacation there could look very different in the near future. 

And Orlando wants to greet tourists with one big change that is straight out of the Jetsons. 

Orlando could have flying cars by 2028 

The dream of a flying car is something that has captivated people dating back to the Hanna-Barbera cartoon show The Jetsons in the 1960s. 

Flying cars have been featured in futuristic movies like Blade Runner, The Fifth Element, and Back to the Future. 

Orlando, Florida, wants to make them a reality by 2028. 

The Greater Orlando Aviation Authority announced that it was looking for companies to help it build vertiports, launch pads for flying cars, at the Orlando International Airport. 

Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer (D) envisions flying cars taking people all around Central Florida. 

“We envision the airport to be a multimodal hub of the future,” Dyer, a member of the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority, stated. “That means expanding the SunRail to the airport, Brightline from there to Tampa and making sure we have readied the airport as a vertihub of the future.”

Dyer told ArcaMax that people should not expect to see the skies of Orlando filled with flying cars right away. 

“You can’t just have a vertiport at the airport; you have to have places for the vehicles to go from the airport to downtown Orlando or Tampa,” Dyer explained. “I think before we see The Jetsons, this is going to be developed slowly.”

The flying cars are expected to have room for six people and be powered by electricity. 

ArcaMax reported that they would take off and land vertically like a helicopter. 

Dyer said that Orlando was working with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). 

Orlando wants to be the leader in flying cars 

Orlando has been trying to become the hub for flying cars in the country. 

German company Lilium Air Mobility announced that it was going to supply flying cars for the Tavistock Development Corporation at a community the company was developing in 2020. 

The plan was to have customers use an app to book them like an Uber or a Lyft ride. 

Tavistock wanted to have flying cars operational there by 2025, but the project fell through. 

Mayor Dyer said that how quickly flying cars get off the ground will depend on the FAA. 

“A lot of the timing hinges on the development of rules and regulations by the FAA,” Dyer said. “They’re responsible for things like developing routes or how they integrate with traffic control systems that we already have at airports, so there’s a lot going into it before we have The Jetsons flying around.”

The FAA issued a regulation last fall that established training standards for flying car pilots and instructors. 

Lilium Air Mobility announced last February that it was interested in developing a vertiport at the Orlando International Airport. 

What seemed like something out of a science fiction movie could become a reality in Orlando by the end of the decade.