ACT Air Mobility Showcase:
Joby Aviation Open House
August 22, 2024 | Joby Aviation at Marina Municipal Airport | Marina, CA
On Thursday, August 22, we hosted a group of approximately 75 ACT and AAAE members for a site visit and tour at Joby Aviation, a startup company developing an electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft that it intends to operate as an air taxi service, manufacturing facility at Marina Municipal Airport in Northern California.
During the tour Joby Founder and CEO JoeBen Bevirt thanked attendees for visiting and said that “connectivity to airports is so vitally important to us as … we launch this service.” Joby is aiming to launch its air taxi service next year.
“Think of airport routes as a cornerstone of building an effective air taxi business in each market,” Bevirt said. “We see airports not only as vital (stops) but also as key locations for doing our” maintenance, repair and overhaul.
“The candace of our aircraft is much higher than large commercial aircraft,” he added, explaining that Joby’s eVTOL’s will be local to a market and worked on at the airports.
Bevirt said he is looking for vertiports, a place for eVTOLs to land and take-off, directly attached to airport terminals on an elevated platform. Joby, he said aims to build a “best in class process so people get off a commercial flight and onto an air taxi as seamlessly as possible. That is our North Star and why partnerships with each and everyone of you is critically important to our success and the success of the entire air taxi industry.”
During the exclusive tour of Joby’s facilities, where they currently produce 12 eVTOL annually, attendees visited the composite manufacturing facility, where they witnessed an automated fiber lab machine build pieces of the aircraft, as well as pieces being constructed by dozens of employees.
In the “big tent,” tour attendees saw the paint shop and aircraft being put together in final assembly while being briefed by leaders from each of Joby’s manufacturing steps as well as government affairs team members and others. Attendees were also able to hold and examine a demonstration piece of a Joby eVTOL wing and other pieces of the aircraft.
Back in the main hangar, Joby President of Operations Bonny Simi and Chief Test Pilot James Denham provided briefings and answered detailed questions.
When Joby begins operations, they intend to fly “missions” up to 100 miles with four passengers and one pilot.
A closeup of Joby's innovative eVTOL aircraft.
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