AssetID: 55652420
Headline: 'Jetsons-like' air taxis arrive in New York with first demonstration flights
Caption: BY MARK WORGAN Air taxis have come to New York after the first electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) demonstration flights took off in the Big Apple this week (27April-3May2026). Flying against the backdrop of the city’s skyline, Joby Aviation flights aim to show how electric air taxis - which are quieter than helicopters and produce zero operating emissions - could provide trips across Manhattan and its surrounding areas. One of the company’s aircraft departed from John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) and landed at several existing heliports, including Downtown Skyport and the West 30th Street and East 34th Street heliports in Midtown. The sites reflect routes the firm hopes to operate commercially, potentially connecting Manhattan and JFK in under 10 minutes. Some enthusiastic officials have even compared the flights to the kinds of transport seen in the futuristic 1960s cartoon The Jetsons. “These historic Joby flights, linking our city-owned heliport to our airports, is proof that the future of advanced air mobility is no longer a Jetsons-esque fantasy – it’s already here,” said NYCEDC Interim President and Chief Executive Jeanny Pak. Joby founder and chief executive JoeBen Bevirt also hailed his company’s first New York demonstration flights, three years after a smaller prototype took off there. “New York has always been a city that defines the future by demanding better,” he said. “We first flew here in 2023, and now we’re showing what the next chapter looks like: a quiet, zero operating emissions air taxi service designed to better serve New Yorkers. This week, flying between JFK and Manhattan, we showed what the White House-backed eIPP initiative makes possible and offered New York a look at what’s coming." The aircraft has been designed with multiple redundant systems to enhance safety and reliability, and is intended to produce significantly less noise than helicopters, blending into typical urban background sound. Joby is also working with Delta Air Lines and Uber to integrate air taxis into wider transport networks. It aims to reduce journey times to JFK, turning trips that can take up to two hours by road into flights of around seven minutes. The company says it is in the final stages of certification with the Federal Aviation Administration, with recent test flights paving the way for formal pilot testing. The New York campaign forms part of Joby’s 2026 “Electric Skies Tour”, a national showcase marking the United States’ 250th anniversary, following earlier demonstration flights in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Keywords: feature,photo,video,air taxis,tech,technology,jetsons
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