MARINA – Joby Aviation says it has marked two important testing achievements recently on its way to developing electric air taxi service for commercial passengers, while its new manufacturing facility at the Marina Municipal Airport is nearing completion.

Joby announced it has successfully flown two of its aircraft simultaneously for the first time which marked another milestone just two weeks after the company reached another testing landmark when it completed flights with a full transition from vertical to cruise flight, and back again, with a pilot onboard.

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Moving to routinely-inhabited transition flight is a key step on the path toward FAA flight testing and was supported by thousands of hours of testing in the Company’s Integrated Test Lab, a ground-based facility in Marina, which replicates all of the major systems of the aircraft.

The two-aircraft flight took place over Marina in a demonstration of the maturity of its test program.

“This achievement not only demonstrates Joby’s leadership in the sector, it’s another indication of the power of American innovation,” said Joby Aviation Founder and CEO JoeBen Bevirt in a press release.

Joby Aviation has been doing business in Marina for about seven years and is developing an all-electric, vertical take-off and landing air taxi designed to carry a pilot and up to four passengers at speeds up to 200 mph, offering high-speed mobility with a fraction of the noise produced by helicopters and zero operating emissions.

Joby exceeded last quarter’s record progress on the FAA side of the fourth stage of the certification process, moving forward by 12 points to 43% complete. The Joby side of the fourth stage is now 62% complete. (Joby Aviation) 

Transitioning from vertical to horizontal flight is a key design attribute of the Joby aircraft, allowing it to take-off and land vertically like a helicopter, while maintaining the efficiency and speed of a conventional, fixed-wing aircraft in forward flight. This enables Joby to deliver rapid passenger service directly to popular destinations.

Joby’s air taxi is designed, manufactured and assembled in the United States, said Bevirt, who added that his company is a proudly American company, employing engineers and other experts across 40 different states.

The fifth aircraft to be produced on Joby’s pilot manufacturing line in Marina has been powered on and is undergoing final functional checks, ahead of beginning flight testing. It will become the sixth aircraft in its active flight test program, which includes two aircraft stationed at Edwards Air Force Base and are completing testing in conjunction with the company’s defense partners.

“With six aircraft in our test fleet, flying multiple aircraft at a time will play an important role in accelerating our certification testing and supporting our plans to carry our first passengers next year.”

In April 2024, with the second production prototype aircraft to roll off its pilot production line as a backdrop, Joby broke ground on its new 220,000-square-foot manufacturing facility at the Marina Municipal Airport. It is nearing completion and is set to be handed over to the Joby team next month. The new building more than doubles Joby’s manufacturing footprint in Marina and will also house an expanded pilot training and flight simulation center as well as aircraft maintenance facilities designed to support the scaling of its commercial operations.

The newly-constructed Joby Aviation manufacturing facility at the Marina Municipal Airport more than doubles the company’s existing manufacturing footprint in Marina. (Joby Aviation) 

Joby has partnered with Delta Air Lines and Uber to bring its service to the U.S. and expects Los Angeles and New York City to be launch markets. Service is planned to start shortly after Joby receives type certification from the Federal Aviation Administration.

The Joby and Delta partnership to deliver home-to-airport transportation service to Delta customers was announced in October 2022 at an event in Marina

Outside the United States, Joby recently announced a partnership with Virgin Atlantic to bring its service to the United Kingdom and has partnered with ANA Holdings Inc., Japan’s largest airline, to bring its service to Japan.

Joby has completed more than 40,000 miles of test flights across multiple aircraft, including demonstration flights in New York City, Japan and Korea.

Joby’s Q1 2025 Shareholder Letter, published last week, celebrated a second consecutive quarter of record progress toward certifying its aircraft with the FAA and reiterated plans to start passenger operations in Dubai in early 2026.