DAYTON, Ohio — In September we told you about Joby Aviation — a company creating an electric, vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft.
Now they’re one step closer to commercial operations, which is good news for Ohio and a world anxiously waiting for the future of transportation.
While a single idea can't solve climate change, create jobs and ease roadway congestion, Joby's air taxis could be a step in the right direction — especially if that direction is straight up.
"We describe an air taxi as a bit like an SUV, it's gonna take five passengers, a pilot at the front and four passengers behind them. It takes off vertically a bit like a helicopter," said Oliver Walker-Jones with Joby.
Walker-Jones said Joby’s fully electric aircraft also operates with zero emissions and has zero need for a runway.
"So we've actually been flying full-scale prototypes of our aircraft since 2017. We've flown thousands of missions with them. But just recently, we started flying with a pilot on board the aircraft. In fact, we completed flights with four different test pilots on board the aircraft. It shows confidence in the technology and allows us to really show consumers that this technology is much closer than most people think that it is," he said.
It's technology that could have pilots and passengers traveling at 200 mph to their destination of choice, up to a range of 100 miles.
Joby wants to bring their air taxi technology commercial by 2025. They’ve partnered with Uber and said the service will run on a similar app-based platform, with customers choosing their route and taking to the sky.
But bringing the company to consumers means building hundreds of aircraft — which is where Ohio is important. Joby announced their first full-scale manufacturing facility in Dayton, Ohio alongside Governor Mike Dewine.
"This win for Ohio is huge. And it's another example of the re-birth of prime aerospace manufacturing right here in the state of Ohio," said Dewine.
The facility will sit on a 140-acre site at Dayton International Airport and deliver 500 aircraft per year. Walker-Jones said they’ll need close to 2,000 people to meet that goal.
"So we'll be building aircraft at our facility in Ohio means we'll be requiring a lot of people who are involved in the manufacturing and assembly of aircraft, understand electrics, mechanics, all sorts of roles that are associated with building aircraft," said Walker-Jones. "But there are also going to be roles that help us support those roles."
So if you want to support Joby’s mission and live in a world where Ubers and air taxis work side by side, apply online and get ready for take-off.
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