GoKawiilis transportation editor with 10+ years of experience who covers EVs, public transportation, and aviation. His work has appeared in The New York Daily News and City & State.
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It was the perfect day for an electric air taxi demonstration — albeit one without passengers.
On Monday, an electric aircraft from Joby Aviation took off from JFK Airport for a flight demonstrating the company’s future air taxi route to Manhattan. The aircraft — egg-shaped cabin, six tilt-rotor propellers, electric motor — made its way west along the Brooklyn shore before turning north toward the city. Approximately 14 minutes after takeoff, it touched down at the heliport at West 30th Street, completing its historic journey.
You could tell it was a momentous occasion based on the number of references the assembled officials made to the 60-year-old animated television show The Jetsons. (I counted at least three.) But the demonstration was also an indication of the long road ahead before these electric air taxis start carrying passengers as part of a commercial ridehail service.
Joby’s aircraft can carry five people, including one pilot, but for today’s demonstration, it was pilot-only. Much like every air taxi provider in operation today, Joby is still waiting to receive official FAA certification for passenger services. And after years of winding its way through the regulatory process, the company is hesitant to predict when it may finally reach the finish line.
You could tell it was a momentous occasion based on the number of references the assembled officials made to the 60-year-old animated television show The Jetsons
“The path to type certification is long,” Bonny Simi, Joby’s president of operations, told me, referring to the Federal Aviation Administration’s final approval for a new type of aircraft. “We’re well on that journey, very well on that journey, and the FAA has been absolutely fabulous.”
But when asked when Joby will receive its final certification, Simi demurred. “I can’t speak on behalf of them,” she said. She referenced the recently launched eVTOL Integration Pilot Program (eIPP), which is a White House-backed program aimed at accelerating the safe deployment of electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing aircraft in the US, as one of the current unknowns surrounding the safe launch of Joby’s air taxi business.
“What’s interesting is what will this eIPP allow in terms of operations?” she said. “So, they have very expressly intended for it to have some type of commercial operation. We don’t yet know. We’re working together with the FAA to see what that might be. So, TBD.”
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