Joby Announces First Simultaneous eVTOL Flight, Reiterates 2026 Target for Commercial Operations
The simultaneous flight of two of its eVTOL aircraft marks the latest of a series of recent milestones in Joby’s flight test program.
(Santa Cruz, California) Electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft developer Joby Aviation (NYSE: JOBY) announced today the completion of a simultaneous flight of two of the company’s test eVTOL aircraft for the first time in Marina, California on May 9th.
Photo of Joby’s first simultaneous electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) flight in Marina, California on May 9th courtesy of Joby Aviation.
The two-aircraft flight comes two weeks after the Company announced the completion of another testing landmark – successfully completing flights with a full transition from vertical to cruise flight, and back again, with a pilot onboard – and one week after announcing that it had powered on the sixth eVTOL in its fleet, which would soon begin flying.
Commenting on the milestone, Joby Founder and CEO JoeBen Bevirt said: “This achievement not only demonstrates Joby’s leadership in the sector, it’s another indication of the power of American innovation. Our air taxi is designed, manufactured and assembled here in the US, and we are a proudly American company, employing engineers and other experts across 40 different US states. 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.”
Photo of the May 9th flight path of N541JX and N544JX, the two test eVTOLs involved in Joby’s simultaneous flight, courtesy of Joby Aviation on LinkedIn.
Joby has partnered with Delta Air Lines and Uber to bring its service to the US and expects Los Angeles and New York City to be launch markets next year (in 2026), according to today’s press release from the company and posts on social media.
Joby’s Q1 2025 Shareholder Letter, published last week, noted a second consecutive quarter of progress toward certifying the company’s aircraft with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and reiterated plans to start passenger operations in Dubai in early 2026, per today’s press release from Joby.
Outside the U.S., Joby recently announced a partnership with Virgin Atlantic to bring its service to the UK and has partnered with ANA Holdings Inc., Japan’s largest airline, to bring its service to Japan. To date, the company has completed more than 40,000 miles of test flights across multiple aircraft.
