Joby Kicks Off Nationwide Air Taxi Tour With Bay Area Flight

‘National showcase’ will include demonstrations in several cities across the U.S.

Jack Daleo

Friday, March 13, 2026 at 05:00 PM ET

Verified

Edited By:

Travis Tingle

A Joby prototype aircraft, N545JX, soars past the Golden Gate Bridge in the San Francisco Bay Area, the first stop on a nationwide tour. [Credit: Joby Aviation]

Key Takeaways:

Joby Aviation launched its "Electric Skies Tour" with a demonstration flight of its electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) air taxi over San Francisco Bay, beginning a national showcase of the aircraft.
The piloted eVTOL is designed for quiet, urban passenger trips, combining vertical takeoff and landing capabilities with fixed-wing cruising at 200 mph.
Joby is actively flying an FAA-conforming aircraft for type certification and aims to complete the process within the next year to launch commercial passenger services in cities like New York and Los Angeles, with potential operations in Dubai even sooner.

See a mistake? Contact us.

It wasn’t a bird. It wasn’t a plane—at least not in the traditional sense.

San Francisco Bay Area residents could be forgiven for any momentary confusion Thursday as they watched—many for the first time—an electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) air taxi soar over the bay and around the Golden Gate Bridge. The series of flights were the first in what Joby Aviation, the aircraft’s manufacturer, dubbed its “Electric Skies Tour.”