FAA’s BEYOND Phase 2 proposals are due Friday, October 30, 2026, at 3:00 PM ET (SAM.gov notice, Amendment 0004). If your city, county, state or airport authority is thinking about applying, read the fine print first.

  • Only state, local, tribal and territorial (SLTT) governments can apply.
  • There is no FAA funding. The solicitation says it plainly: “There is no FAA funding for the BEYOND Phase 2 OTA. Each Party will be responsible for its own costs.”
  • There is no cost-share requirement, and no proof of funding is required.
  • FAA plans up to eight Other Transaction Agreements (OTAs). These are partnership agreements, not procurement contracts.
  • The term runs from award to September 30, 2029.

So BEYOND gives you a seat at the table and a federal partner on operations. It does not give you a check. That raises the question I hear most from airport sponsors: if Washington isn’t paying, who is?

Start at the top: national policy already answered it

The AAM National Strategy 2026–2036 (DOT’s AAM Interagency Working Group, December 2025) says new vertiports “will be funded mostly by private sources.” It also notes that state and local governments want reliable federal financing and calls for convening experts on private funding, public-private partnerships and existing federal programs.

In other words, the federal role is policy, standards and pilots. The build-out falls to private capital, states and local airports. As a former NASA contractor, I wrote a NASA Contractor Report on how aviation electrification affects the Airport and Airway Trust Fund, and the funding picture is the same one I see from that side: the federal money is thin, and the money that is moving comes from elsewhere. Here are four questions every sponsor should ask, each with a couple of answers.

1. Is private money waiting on the sidelines?

It isn’t waiting. It’s already moving, mostly through companies that own aviation real estate and through manufacturer site deals. The catch is that almost no deal discloses a vertiport-only dollar figure.

2. How do airports position themselves to compete for it?

Private capital goes where the risk is lowest and the path is clearest. Airports that win tend to have the following:

  • A plan on paper. Ohio’s AAM Action Plan 2026 comes with $1.2 million in state money for program management and targeted infrastructure pilots. A state plan tells investors the public side is organized.
  • Power answered early. Chargers and grid upgrades are the long pole. FAA has no rule or advisory circular on eVTOL charging, so this lands in local permitting and utility tariffs. Airports that study electrical capacity before a developer asks have a real head start.
  • An FBO ready to electrify. Atlantic’s CEO says existing FBO leaseholds let operators electrify “fairly quickly and relatively economically.”
  • Lease terms that respect the grant assurances. At an obligated airport, all airport revenue, including vertiport rent, has to stay with the airport (49 USC 47107(b), 47133). The private partner earns its return through the lease. Set that up cleanly and you remove a risk investors would otherwise price in.
  • State enabling law. Florida’s HB 1093, in effect since July 1, 2026, lets FDOT fund up to 100% of a public vertiport when no federal funds are involved. It grants authority, not new appropriations, but it makes Florida sites easier to finance.

3. Are municipal, airport revenue or private activity bonds an option?

Yes in principle, with a caution: I found no bond issued for a vertiport or AAM project yet. The structures exist, though.

  • Airport revenue bonds are secured by airport revenues, not taxes. Atlanta’s 2026 airport bonds included series labeled Green Bonds, a ready template for electrification projects. Expect lenders to discount vertiport revenue until there’s operating history.
  • Private activity bonds. The exempt-facility category in 26 USC 142 now reads “airports and spaceports.” It doesn’t define “airport” or mention vertiports. A vertiport at a government-owned airport is a plausible fit; a standalone urban vertiport or a charger is a closer call. The facility has to be government-owned, with a lease safe harbor. The closest working model is Sky Harbour’s $150 million tax-exempt hangar bonds, issued through a conduit at a 6.0% coupon in 2026.
  • Passenger facility charges under 14 CFR 158.15 can fund only eligible airport development. There is a plausible path for power supply work, but FAA has issued no PFC guidance on eVTOL charging.

All three need bond counsel early. That’s the gate, not a formality.

4. How do small rural GA airports get in?

You’re right to worry that bonds favor airports with traffic. Small GA fields have different, proven doors:

  • State and regional grants. In September 2026 the North Central Texas Council of Governments approved $477,500 in fully funded charger grants: $200,000 for Greenville Municipal and $92,500 each for Denton Enterprise, Fort Worth Meacham and Granbury Regional. Greenville and Granbury are small GA airports. A regional council pooling money across counties is a model any state can copy.
  • AIP planning money for power. Under 49 USC 47102(5)(D), assessing current and future electrical power demand counts as airport planning. NPIAS airports also receive a nonprimary entitlement of up to $150,000 a year (47114). That won’t build a vertiport, but it can pay for the power study that attracts the developer.
  • Get on a network map. Operators build multi-airport charger networks. Being a node on one, or a regional cargo or medical route, can matter more than size. It’s also the core of the Regional Air Mobility NASA Contractor Report I wrote.

The bottom line

BEYOND offers a federal partnership with no federal money. The applicants who get the most from it will arrive with the funding answer already sketched: which private partner, which lease structure, which state or regional grant, which bond path. That’s the work to do this week, before October 30, not after.

At a3i global aeronautics advisors, we help states, localities and airports plan and fund AAM infrastructure, from power studies to P3 structure. If you’re weighing BEYOND or a vertiport project, let’s talk: a3iglobal.com.

This article is general information, not legal or tax advice.