Government backing, factory expansion, and global deals are turning eVTOL hype into real-world momentum.
- Last week, Joby said it is investing to double its manufacturing capacity in the United States, supporting the production of four aircraft per month in 2027.
- Joby Aviation announced its intention to participate in the White House eVTOL Integration Pilot Program.
- Early this year, Joby Aviation also completed its acquisition of Blade Air Mobility’s passenger business.
The air taxi industry has long faced skepticism, but 2025 brought it a much-needed sigh of relief, helping the likes of Joby Aviation move beyond prototypes and test flights into striking deals with companies and signing contracts with the U.S. government as well.
Joby Aviation is one of the biggest winners of White House Electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing (eVTOL) Integration Pilot Program (eIPP) that was announced this year, with gains from it adding to the stock’s yearlong rally and pushing it to over 75% so far this year.
The stock has seen a massive bump due to several factors, including the most recent news of a U.S. manufacturing expansion, an announcement of an air taxi service network in Ras Al-Khaimah by 2027, and a public demonstration of Joby’s air taxi in Japan.
U.S. Manufacturing Expansion
Last week, Joby said it is pouring money into doubling its manufacturing capacity in the United States, supporting the production of four aircraft per month in 2027.
In July, Joby completed the expansion of a manufacturing facility in Marina, and, in October, confirmed the start of propeller blade production in Ohio, ahead of planned manufacturing expansion in the state.
The e-VTOL Program
In September, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy announced a new pilot program within the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to accelerate the deployment of advanced air mobility (AAM) vehicles in the country.
This pilot program follows President Donald Trump’s executive order to strengthen U.S. defenses against hostile drones and advance technologies such as electric air taxis and supersonic passenger aircraft.
The program, known as the eVTOL Integration Pilot Program, will form public-private partnerships with State and local government entities and private-sector companies to develop new frameworks and regulations to enable safe operations.
Subsequently, Joby Aviation announced its intention to participate in the White House eVTOL Integration Pilot Program. Joby said that the eIPP is designed to enable mature aircraft designs to demonstrate eVTOL use cases, such as passenger transportation, cargo delivery, and emergency response, before achieving type certification.
FAA Progress
Last month, Joby Aviation said that it reached a critical milestone on the path to certifying its aircraft for commercial use, with the start of power-on testing of the first of several FAA-conforming aircraft to be built for Type Inspection Authorization (TIA).
TIA testing is the final stage of the FAA Type Certification process, during which FAA test pilots will fly Joby’s aircraft. All four of the remaining FAA-conforming aircraft required for TIA testing are now in production, the company said.
Global Expansion
In June, Abdul Latif Jameel and Joby Aviation signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to explore opportunities to establish a distribution agreement in Saudi Arabia for Joby’s electric aircraft. Joby Aviation then said that the potential delivery of up to 200 Joby aircraft and related services valued at about $1 billion is expected over the coming years.
Joby Aviation then, in November, signed an MoU with Red Sea Global and The Helicopter Company that includes plans for Joby to complete pre-commercial evaluation flights of its electric air taxi in the Kingdom in the first half of 2026.
The company has also said that a launch in the U.A.E. will bring together the direct support of RAKTA, Skyports’ leadership in developing vertiport infrastructure, and Joby’s eVTOL aircraft to design, develop, and operate the first air taxi service in Ras Al Khaimah.
Joby also conducted a public flight demonstration of its air taxi at Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan, this year, and said it was part of the company's and ANA HD’s plan to build a national air taxi ecosystem in Japan, kicking off the next phase of development.
Early this year, Joby also completed its acquisition of Blade Air Mobility’s passenger business, which provides Blade’s established network of terminals and flyers in key markets like New York and Southern Europe.
Wall Street analysts expect these partnerships to boost the company’s margins and turn Joby Aviation profitable.
What Is Retail Thinking?
Retail sentiment on Joby Aviation improved to ‘neutral’ from ‘extremely bearish’ a week ago, with message volumes at ‘high’ levels, according to data from Stocktwits.
Peer Archer Aviation, which also announced it was aiming to participate in the White House program, saw sentiment remain unchanged in the ‘bearish’ territory from a week ago, with message volumes at ‘normal’ levels.
Shares of Joby Aviation have gained nearly 73% in the last 12 months, while Archer Aviation has declined about 25% in the same period.
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