US air taxi start-ups ramping certification and manufacturing efforts

A trio of leading US air taxi companies moved forward this week on plans to certificate, manufacture and commercialise a new class of electric aircraft. Leading the charge was Joby Aviation, which said on 20 December that it has entered the final phase of certificating its electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft with the Federal Aviation Administration. Santa Cruz-based Joby said that recent type inspection authorisation (TIA) testing involved FAA pilots “evaluating human factors and safety using Joby’s simulator”, the start- up says. The simulator incorporated an FAA-conforming flight deck, Joby says. The start-up is targeting TIA flight testing in 2025, with its first FAA-conforming aircraft currently being assembled at its facility in Marina, California. “As well as continuing the ‘for credit’ testing of components, aerostructures and systems that is already underway, we are targeting the start of TIA flight testing in 2025 with our first FAA-conforming aircraft, which is currently being built,” says CE JoeBen Bevirt. Earlier this week, Joby said that it had completed for-credit static load testing on its aircraft’s tail structure, the first major aerostructure on Joby’s aircraft to receive the FAA’s blessing.<br/>