JOBY LAUNCHES FIRST EIPP FLIGHTS WITH DALLAS-FORT WORTH CAMPAIGN

Joby Aviation began a week-long flight campaign across the Dallas-Fort Worth region on 10 September, marking the start of Texas’s first White House-backed eVTOL Integration Pilot Program (eIPP) flights. Conducted under TxDOT’s winning Project Nexus proposal, part of the US Department of Transportation’s eIPP initiative announced in March 2026, the campaign flies real-world routes between Perot Field Fort Worth Alliance Airport, key urban locations and Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, one of the world’s busiest and most connected airports. The flights build on electric air taxi demonstrations Joby conducted earlier this year in the San Francisco Bay Area and New York City, and on airspace research with the FAA and NASA dating back to 2018, including a 2023 high-fidelity simulation at NASA Ames’ Future Flight Central facility that examined operating up to 50 electric air taxi movements an hour in the DFW terminal area. Joby has leased a 45,000 square foot facility at Perot Field to support the campaign and its longer-term presence in North Texas.

TWO GOVERNMENTS, ONE FLIGHT PROGRAMME

“I’m incredibly excited by the potential for vertical lift in Texas, a state with the infrastructure, expertise, and partnerships to help lead the next era of American aviation,” said JoeBen Bevirt, Founder and CEO of Joby. “With TxDOT’s leadership and support, the eIPP gives us an incredible opportunity to bring our aircraft into urban areas and accelerate our path to commercial service.” FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said: “Advanced Air Mobility vehicles are the future of aviation and these demonstrations in Texas are critical to getting us there. The FAA is leveraging data from test flights in Texas and across the country to ensure these new aircraft integrate safely into the airspace.” US Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy said: “Under President Trump, we are unlocking the future of flight and empowering innovators to build and test these exciting aircraft right here in the U.S. Today marks another critical step in our work to reshape how people and products move for the better.” Joby cites independent transportation research putting the typical Dallas-Fort Worth driver’s annual congestion loss at around 44 hours, framing the flights as evidence for a future commercial service offering an alternative to that drive. Joby is also using the week to showcase J208, a Cessna 208B Caravan fitted with its autonomous flight technology and currently completing a coast-to-coast demonstration tour that began in Concord, California, on 8 September, as Joby advances through the fifth and final stage of FAA type certification.

Note: Archer, BETA and Macquarie’s ACES consortium announced plans the same week to build shared charging infrastructure for this same TxDOT eIPP programme; see today’s separate report on that announcement.