FAA publishes draft design standards for vertiports and heliports, final version targeted for summer 2027

The FAA said on October 22, 2026 that it released updated draft design standards for vertical lift infrastructure. The newsroom announcement calls the draft an initial proposal for industry feedback, meant to help airport and heliport owners, operators and developers design facilities for vertical takeoff and landing aircraft. It is not final guidance. Releasing it does not approve any vertiport.

Urban Air Mobility News reported the release on October 23, restating the FAA's description. AeroCorner reported it on October 22 and read the draft text. Where this page quotes the draft, the quotation is from the FAA PDF, not from AeroCorner's paraphrase.

What the FAA says the draft covers

The newsroom groups the standards in five areas: core layout, including touchdown and liftoff areas, final approach areas, safety areas and approach surfaces; lighting, markings and visual aids, including glideslope indicators; aircraft fueling and electric charging; integrating vertical flight infrastructure at existing airports; and touchdown and liftoff areas on rooftops and other elevated structures.

The FAA says the guidance combines previous design guidance for heliports and vertiports. It says data from the eVTOL Integration Pilot Program will help inform and refine future standards. It says it will seek public feedback before publishing final design standards in summer 2027. That summer date is a target.

FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said: "The next generation of aircraft is here, and we are ensuring we have the infrastructure built to support safe takeoffs and landings for them across the National Airspace System." He also said: "These aircraft have tremendous potential to generate new jobs, connect communities, and strengthen American leadership in aviation."

Draft AC 150/5390-4, and what happens only if it is finalized

The FAA's draft advisory circulars page lists Draft AC 150/5390-4, Vertical Flight Aircraft Infrastructure Design, posted 2026-10-22, with comments due 2027-01-11. The page says that once the circular is finalized and published, it will cancel AC 150/5390-2D, Heliport Design, dated January 5, 2023, and Engineering Brief 105A, dated December 27, 2024. It has not been finalized. The draft PDF is marked "Draft" and its cancellation section is written in the form of a finished circular. That cancellation is what the drafts page says happens on final publication.

The drafts page says the FAA will host a virtual Industry Day on November 10, 2026, from 10:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. EST. The industry letter, dated October 22, 2026, says comments should go in the comment matrix to [email protected] by January 11, 2027, and that questions for Industry Day are due November 2, 2026. The letter says taking part in Industry Day does not replace a written comment. The letter says: "Based on FAA research into the performance of various vertical flight aircraft, the draft AC advances performance-based guidance for facilities serving helicopters and powered-lift aircraft." It gives a registration link for the November 10 session.

AvBrief reported on October 25 that comments will be accepted until January 11, 2027 at [email protected], and that an online industry day is set for November 10. AvBrief links to the same registration page. AvBrief's article says the agency announced the proposal "last Friday." The FAA newsroom item and the letter are dated October 22, 2026. This page keeps October 22. AvBrief describes the draft as a long package with diagrams from downwash protection areas to ramp markings, and says the new standards will supersede those for existing heliports. The letter says that, upon final publication, the circular would replace AC 150/5390-2D and Engineering Brief 105A. That final publication has not happened.

Approach slope and where the draft says conformity is mandatory

The draft says: "If the critical aircraft is powered lift, the maximum approach surface is 15:1 or shallower." It says slopes shallower than the 14 CFR Part 77.23(b) 8:1 obstruction preservation surface are not evaluated by the FAA and are not considered in aeronautical charting for new objects, and that those shallower slopes should be noted in the Airport Data and Information Portal. The same section says the maximum approach surface for a heliport is 8:1, and that this is the only slope the FAA considers when evaluating obstructions under Part 77. The industry letter summarizes the change as "a maximum approach surface slope of 15:1 for powered-lift aircraft."

AeroCorner reported the 15:1 figure and wrote that Engineering Brief 105A used 8:1. This page did not open Engineering Brief 105A, so that comparison with the brief is AeroCorner's.

The draft's applicability section says the circular "does not constitute a regulation and is not legally binding in its own right," and that "conformity with this AC is voluntary" except as that section describes. For federally obligated airports and heliports, it says use of the standards "is mandatory for projects funded under certain Federal grant assistance programs including, but not limited to, the Airport Improvement Program (AIP)," citing Grant Assurance 34. It says use is also "mandatory, as required by regulation, for projects funded by the Passenger Facility Charge program," citing Passenger Facility Charge Assurance 9. AeroCorner reported the same boundary: mandatory for those federally funded projects, and otherwise voluntary.

What is not established

The circular is a draft. The final text may change. Summer 2027 is the FAA's target for publication, not a date that has occurred. The draft does not approve a vertiport, does not require one to be built, and is not an aircraft type certificate or any other aircraft approval. The newsroom's topic list is the FAA's description of what the draft contains.

Sources

Facts as reported by the linked sources as of Nov 11, 2026. Company targets are plans, not guarantees. Corrections: see About.