US air taxi developer Joby Aviation plans to start commercial electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) service in New York City, Florida and Texas, with operations also planned for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, a company executive said in an interview reported by FreightWaves.

Greg Bowles, Joby’s Chief Policy Officer, said the initial launches would take place under the federal eVTOL Integrated Pilot Program (EIPP), which allows limited commercial operations in selected states before an aircraft receives full type certification, according to FreightWaves.

Joby entered the US Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) certification process in 2018 and is now approaching type certification for its six-propeller electric aircraft, the report said. Florida is among the first EIPP states, and Joby recently marked the occasion by recreating the 1914 St. Petersburg-to-Tampa flight, regarded as the world’s first commercial flight, with its own aircraft.

The aircraft currently in testing is designed for routes of up to 100 miles. Joby said it is prioritising busy two-way corridors to keep fares competitive and avoid empty return legs. One example is the route between John F. Kennedy International Airport and Manhattan, now served by helicopters of Blade Air Mobility, which Joby has acquired. The trip takes about seven minutes and fares start at $249. Joby plans to begin replacing Blade’s helicopter flights with its aircraft in the coming year, the report said.

On safety and noise, Bowles said the six-propeller design is central to both. Each of the six motor stations has dual redundancy, so a complete propeller failure would need two independent failures at one station. If one station fails during hover, the aircraft can compensate and maintain controlled flight with the remaining four, he said. He described the low noise level as a deliberate result of using several smaller electric motors rather than one large rotor, and as vital to community acceptance and regulatory approval.

On airspace integration, Joby pointed to its acquisition of autonomous flight company X-Wing, whose camera, microphone and LiDAR systems detect other aircraft and drones. The company said it recently completed what it called the first coast-to-coast autonomous flight series with a large aircraft, and that it had announced new defence contracts with the US Air Force the day before the interview.

Bowles said he is confident that broad public access to the service will come well before 2035, though he gave no firm date. He cited a demonstration landing at Toyota’s North American headquarters in Plano, Texas, as evidence that the aircraft needs little ground infrastructure. Toyota is one of Joby’s partners.

Manufacturing scale is now the main factor in how fast service can grow beyond dense urban markets. “We gotta turn the knob on manufacturing,” Bowles said.

Source: Freightwaves