A pre-recorded video message from Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings will be played in Los Angeles Wednesday at the second annual Uber Elevate Summit.

Rawlings was scheduled to be one of the closing speakers for the event, which is a gathering of the minds behind a project that aims to bring air taxis first to Dallas, and then to other major cities in the world.

A spokesperson for the mayor said he's staying in Dallas to attend the funeral of Margaret McDermott, a prominent Dallas philianthropist who died last week at the age of 106.

Uber has partnered with Fort Worth-based Bell Helicopters to design an electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing vehicle (VTOL).

Dallas has been announced as the world’s first uberAIR city.

Rawlings' message is expected to focus on that distincton, and discuss the progress that has been made since that announcement was first made at last year’s Elevate Summit, which was held in North Texas.

A Dallas-based architecture firm - BOKA Powell - will unveil its design on Wednesday for what it calls a “skyport” concept, which will be a place for these flying vehicles to take off from and land on.