Joby Aviation has reached a key milestone in preparing for commercial air taxi operations with the acceptance of the first of two next-generation flight simulators developed in partnership with CAE. The simulator is complete and is now being prepared for installation at Joby’s pilot training facility in Marina, California, marking an important step towards large-scale pilot training for electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) operations.

 

Developed with CAE, a global leader in pilot training and simulation, the simulators are designed to be qualified among the highest Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) classifications for flight simulation. They provide an ultra-realistic training environment tailored to commercial single-pilot eVTOL operations and incorporate the same simulation technologies used to train pilots for the world’s leading airlines.

 

The simulators leverage CAE’s Prodigy Image Generator to deliver a high-fidelity, hyper-realistic environment and are central to the FAA qualification and certification process. Once operational, the two simulators will have the capacity to train up to 250 pilots per year, supporting Joby’s transition from development to commercial readiness.

 

According to Joby, the simulators are being delivered on schedule to support pilot training ahead of the company’s first planned commercial flights. Developing FAA-qualified simulators requires years of work and access to detailed aircraft data and is a prerequisite for Part 135 operations of eVTOL aircraft in the United States. Joby began this multi-year development process with CAE in 2022 and continues to progress towards a qualified, scalable pilot training infrastructure.

 

The collaboration reflects CAE’s entry into the emerging eVTOL training market, bringing decades of experience in high-fidelity simulation to support safe and efficient urban air mobility operations. The partners position the new simulators as a benchmark for training infrastructure in the evolving air taxi sector, reinforcing Joby’s leadership in certifiable training systems as it nears commercial operations.