Table of contents

What will the next generation of flight look like—and what will it take to make it part of everyday life?

Date

May 21, 2026

Location

Beverly Airport

Participants

More than 100

On May 21, 2026, the Future of Flight: Drones, Data, and Advanced Air Mobility brought that question to life at Beverly Airport. Hosted by the North Shore Technology Council in partnership with MassAutonomy and the MassDOT Aeronautics Division, the event brought together more than 100 people from across Massachusetts’ aviation, technology, transportation, research, and education communities.

Moving technologies into real-world use

The afternoon was designed to move beyond the idea of “future aviation” as something distant or theoretical. Technologies including small uncrewed aircraft systems, advanced air mobility, aerial intelligence, and new aircraft platforms are already being developed, tested, and demonstrated. The question now is how Massachusetts can create the infrastructure, workforce, partnerships, and operating environment needed to move those technologies into real-world use.

At Beverly Airport

At Beverly Airport, participants heard from innovators and leaders working at the forefront of that transition, including BETA Technologies, Joby, MIT Lincoln Laboratory, Transcend Air, and organizations across the Massachusetts mobility ecosystem. Demonstrations and exhibits highlighted emerging drone technologies and the growing role of data, LiDAR, AI, autonomy, and advanced aircraft systems.

A speaker at the podium introduces four panelists seated on stage beside a North Shore Technology Council banner.
Attendees gather around an orange and white fixed-wing uncrewed aircraft on a display stand in the hangar.
Two attendees talk across an exhibitor table holding a long-endurance fixed-wing drone.
Attendees seated on folding chairs in the hangar watch a presentation projected on a screen.
A MassDOT speaker presents drone use cases beside a slide titled Putting it All to Work at MassDOT.
A speaker at the podium presents a slide on advanced air mobility medical and public safety use cases.
Drone controllers, laptops and equipment cases on an exhibitor table, with the airfield visible through the hangar window.
Students and industry attendees talk near the open hangar door during the networking session.
Participants network at high-top tables in the hangar before the program begins.

The conversations went well beyond aircraft.

Participants explored what it takes to turn collaboration into deployable mobility solutions, how infrastructure and energy systems will support new forms of aviation, how aerial data can transform decision-making, and what it will take to scale advanced air mobility responsibly.

That broader perspective is critical.

The future of flight will not be created by aircraft manufacturers alone. It will require airports, government agencies, technology companies, infrastructure providers, researchers, educators, communities, and a workforce prepared for new kinds of aviation and technology careers.

From innovation to deployment

For AMTI, the event reflected a central part of its mission: connecting the technologies, people, institutions, and infrastructure needed to move autonomous mobility from innovation to deployment.

Beverly Airport provided a fitting setting for that conversation. Rather than imagining the future from a distance, participants were able to see emerging technologies, meet the people developing them, and consider what their adoption could mean for Massachusetts communities.

The Future of Flight demonstrated that the next era of aviation is not simply about new ways to fly.

It is about building the ecosystem that will make new ways of moving people, goods, and information possible.

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