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Joby is building electric flying taxis that take off and land like a helicopter but fly quietly like a plane.
Joby Aviation is not selling you a ride yet. What it is doing today is building and testing electric aircraft that take off straight up and land straight down, like a helicopter, but fly more like a small plane and run on batteries instead of jet fuel. The company is not yet collecting meaningful money from passengers. Instead, it stays alive on cash from investors plus partnerships. Its biggest partner is Toyota, which has poured in money and manufacturing help, and Delta Air Lines, which plans to offer Joby flights to and from airports. Think of it as a car company before the Model T — the factory and the design exist, but the customers come later.
The whole business rests on one machine: a piloted, five-seat electric air taxi designed to carry a pilot plus four passengers for short trips, mostly over cities and to airports. The pitch is simple: skip traffic by going over it, quietly and with zero tailpipe emissions. Joby makes money later by flying people and charging for seats, and by working with partners like Uber and Delta who bring customers. Right now, revenue is tiny because the plane is not yet certified to carry paying passengers. Joby has been flying full-size prototypes for years, has delivered aircraft to the U.S. Air Force for testing, and is pushing through the long regulatory approval process with the Federal Aviation Administration.
Here is the part that matters most for a curious reader. This is a bet on certification, not on salesmanship. Until regulators say the aircraft is safe to fly commercially, there is almost no revenue, and the company burns cash to keep testing and building. The upside is enormous if it works: a new kind of short-hop air travel that could be cheaper and greener than helicopters. The risk is that approval takes longer or costs more than expected, which is why partners with deep pockets and patience matter so much. Joby does not pay dividends or buy back stock; every spare dollar goes back into certifying and building its aircraft. It is a company selling tomorrow, funded by believers in today.
Saved answer · last researched 15 Oct 2026