Joby Says U.S. Air Taxi Operations Could Begin in 2026 Under White House Program

Mar 10

Joby Aviation just moved another step closer to turning years of testing, certification work, and manufacturing buildout into real-world service.

The Santa Cruz-founded company announced on March 9 that it has been selected as a partner in multiple winning applications under the White House-backed eVTOL Integration Pilot Program, giving it a path to begin early U.S. operations in 2026 across 10 states: Arizona, Florida, Idaho, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, and Utah. According to Joby, the program is designed to let mature electric air taxi companies begin limited operations ahead of full FAA type certification while federal, state, and local agencies coordinate on integration and infrastructure.

For Joby, this is more than another policy headline. It is one of the clearest signs yet that the company is moving from prototype-era credibility into real commercial deployment. The company said the selected applications cover use cases including passenger transportation, cargo delivery, automation, and medical response, with operating concepts ranging from Florida to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to regional networks in Texas and North Carolina.

The release also suggests the company is trying to widen the conversation beyond air taxis alone. Joby said some of the selected applications include its Superpilot autonomous flight technology platform, which it sees as a longer-term way to expand operational use cases over time.

For Santa Cruz Works readers, the local angle is hard to miss. Joby may be preparing to launch in markets around the country, but the company’s roots and much of its momentum remain tied to the Central Coast. Santa Cruz Works previously reported that Joby has flown more than 40,000 miles across its fleet and remains in the late stages of the FAA type certification process. More recently, SCW noted that Joby still expects 2026 to be the year passengers first get on board, while also scaling manufacturing and building out the infrastructure needed to support service.

That bigger picture matters. Joby’s Q4 2025 update, as covered by SCW, pointed to a company trying to line up every piece at once: certification, pilot training, production capacity, infrastructure partnerships, and booking integrations. SCW also reported that Joby plans to scale production to four aircraft per month in 2027, backed by expanded facilities in Marina, California, and Dayton, Ohio.

That makes this latest announcement feel less like a standalone press release and more like another checkpoint in a very deliberate climb.

There is still plenty that has to go right. Joby’s announcement says the selected applications now move into an Other Transaction Authority stage, where agreements and operating details still need to be finalized. The company said flights are expected to begin within 90 days of OTA contracts being finalized, which means timing will still depend on execution, approvals, and program coordination.

Still, the direction is clear. A company that began in Santa Cruz is no longer just talking about the future of air mobility. It is talking about where, how, and how soon people may actually start using it.

And for Santa Cruz County, that is part of the larger story: one of the region’s most ambitious transportation companies is getting closer to moving from breakthrough technology to public-facing operations.

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