Joby Aviation began a week-long campaign of piloted electric air-taxi flights in Florida on 30 October, working with the Florida Department of Transportation. The opening flight linked Albert Whitted Airport in downtown St Petersburg with Tampa International Airport, retracing the route of the St Petersburg–Tampa Airboat Line, which began operating in 1914. The demonstrations are part of a federal programme to test how electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft could be integrated into US airspace and airports.
Further flights are planned at Orlando International Airport, including at a new vertiport near Terminal C and the train station, and at the Shuttle Landing Facility at Kennedy Space Center. The schedule remains subject to weather and other factors. Orlando flight procedures were developed through two years of simulation involving the Federal Aviation Administration, NASA, the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority and local air traffic controllers.
The Florida flights are the first under the US Department of Transportation’s eVTOL Integration Pilot Program, announced in March 2026. The programme is intended to generate operational data on airport integration, aircraft acoustics and vertiport procedures. Florida’s project is one of eight selected nationally and covers passenger and cargo transport, automation and medical-response applications across three planned phases.
The demonstrations will contribute to planning the first phase of Florida’s proposed intercity Aerial Highway Network; they are not the start of passenger service. Joby remains in the FAA type-certification process. Florida has been developing a statewide advanced-air-mobility plan since 2021, and legislation signed in April 2026 allows state funding for vertiport infrastructure.