Joby and Archer Push eVTOL Passenger Flights to 2027 as Certification Drags On

Paying passengers on Joby aircraft would fly under the FAA eVTOL Integration Pilot Program, which the company said allows such flights only once the agency test pilots start flying its aircraft for type certification. Joby latest quarterly filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission still lists a target of carrying its first passengers in 2026, but the company now expects FAA pilots to begin training on its aircraft in the first half of 2027, when the company also plans to finish its own flight testing of the conforming aircraft built for type inspection authorization. FAA pilots would then begin the flight tests that count toward type certification, Joby chief policy officer Greg Bowles told investors in the company third quarter earnings call on November 4. Chief financial officer Rodrigo Brumana placed Joby initial launch of commercial operations under the pilot program in 2027, and founder and CEO JoeBen Bevirt said the company wants to add its eVTOL aircraft to its Blade helicopter service in New York that year. Joby plans piloted flight tests across its Dubai vertiport network before year-end.

Archer plans to fly passengers under a market survey certificate, an experimental airworthiness approval for demonstrating aircraft to prospective customers. The certificate the FAA issued for Archer Midnight aircraft this week covers only conventional takeoffs and landings on runways, and Archer must complete a piloted transition flight before seeking one for vertical takeoffs and landings. Archer has moved its Midnight eVTOL prototype to Hawthorne Municipal Airport near Los Angeles, where it plans to begin flying in the coming weeks. After the piloted transition, Midnight must also log 50 hours of flight testing before Archer can seek market survey approval for vertical flight, Archer president of aircraft OEM Benjamin Lyon said during the company November 9 earnings call. In May, Lyon said Archer was on track to complete a piloted transition during the second half of 2026, and the company now aims to complete its first piloted transition to wingborne flight by year-end.

Archer co-founder and CEO Adam Goldstein told investors he intends to be the company first Midnight passenger in 2027, with further passenger flights to follow under market survey rules as Archer prepares for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Beta Technologies, another rival electric aircraft developer, received a market survey certificate for the Alia 250 eVTOL in October. The wider picture remains sobering: no piloted eVTOL has yet secured a type certificate from any major aviation authority, and China pilotless EH216-S stands alone with a complete certification and operating framework.