Air taxi maker Joby stages first ever eVTOL flight in New York

Electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) plane company Joby revealed it staged an exhibition flight in New York, establishing its air taxi as the first ever to take to the skies of Manhattan, and opening the way for future next generation aircraft activities.

Joby announced the demonstration flight this morning as company officials joined New York Mayor Eric Adams at a Manhattan press conference, where he promised to “electrify” the city’s iconic Downtown Heliport by introducing eVTOL aircraft. On Sunday, the startup staged its air taxi exhibition flight from the facility, which will serve as one of the terminals for aerial shuttles to La Guardia and JFK airports the startup will be operating with its Delta Airlines partner.

Joby said it conducted an additional flight of its eVTOL as part of the press presentation with Adams, with its future air taxi making another sweep of the skies around Lower Manhattan.

For a city that until very recently maintained a de facto ban of drone operation as too risky over such a dense population base, New York is sizing up to be a major test case for eVTOL services being used to leap-frog frequently congested streets in metropolises around the world. Joby, for example, says its planned seven-minute air taxi flights from downtown to city airports will spare ground commuters slogs that now often take an hour or more.

Approval of the demonstration flight(s), and Joby’s participation in the Downtown Heliport press conference was intended to mark Adams’ determination to embrace emerging aerial technologies as cutting-edge solutions to many of New York’s problems – including traffic congestion. 

Update

As evidence Adams’ bear hugging of eVTOL aircraft and future services isn’t being limited to Joby, German air taxi company Volocopter published a strikingly similar press release of its own this morning, saying it, too, had staged its maiden New York flight from the downtown heliport as part of the mayor’s press confab.

While it didn’t match Joby’s claim to the precedent of having conducted the first eVTOL flight ever in the city, Volocopter did celebrate its participation in “the world’s largest and first public event” featuring air taxis in a major city – noting it was among “multiple electric vertical takeoff and landing” makers to partake.

In doing so, the German firm reiterated the point it made during its exhibition flights at Tampa International Airport last week that it intends to be a future air taxi force to be reckoned with in the US. While doubtless true, on this particular occasion it was demonstrably slower on the draw from communiqué gunslinger Joby, which was out with the news in the blink of an eye.

The mayor’s pledge to open the city’s main helicopter hub to their non-polluting, battery-powered successor tech comes just months after Adams liberalized the permit process for drone operation, which he believes will create new aerial capabilities and services to improve the lives of city residents.

Joby CEO JoeBen Bevirt said the precedent-setting flight of the company’s air taxi, and its role in the wider welcoming of eVTOL technology by the Downtown Heliport, has positioned the startup and New York at the forefront of the world’s leadership in next generation aircraft adoption.

“By electrifying one of the most famous heliports in the world, New York is demonstrating global leadership in the adoption of electric air travel,” Bevirt said. “We’re grateful for the support of the city, and we’re honored to be working with visionary partners like Delta Air Lines to bring our air taxi service to this market. We plan to make quiet, emissions-free light an affordable, everyday reality for New Yorkers, while significantly reducing the impact of helicopter noise.”