Joby Aviation Inc., an aviation startup developing air taxis, has acquired an existing facility at Dayton International Airport that will aid in its manufacturing operations for electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) in Dayton, Ohio.
The facility will help manufacture aircraft parts in support of Joby’s pilot production line in Marina, California. The acquisition of the on-site facility is the first step in the company’s plan to develop facilities that can build up to 500 aircraft per year in Dayton. This is expected to include the design and construction of a larger greenfield factory, Joby said.
Dayton was selected as the location for its manufacturing facility for eVTOLs with plans to invest up to $500 million to create up to 2,000 manufacturing jobs in the region.
Joby is one of numerous aircraft startups that have signed deals with major airlines to provide air taxis for inter-city and commute travel. Joby has an agreement with Delta Air Lines where New York City is expected to be one of the early launch markets for the aircraft. Other partnerships include United Airlines’ partnership with Archer Aviation and Eve Air Mobility.
Joby has also been testing its electric air taxis over the past few years and late last year flew over New York City in what it claimed was the first flight of such an aircraft in the city.
Joby’s air taxi is designed to carry up to four passengers plus a pilot across short city-to-city or intercity journey at up to 200 mph. This comes at a fraction of the noise produced by helicopters and zero operating emissions.
Joby said the air taxis will be able to offer back-to-back flights and can fly up to 100 miles on a single charge. For example, this would cover about 99% of all trips taken across NYC’s five boroughs. A trip by air taxi from Manhattan to John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) could take about 7 minutes. By car the same trip would take more than an hour.
