Air Taxis to Fly Between JFK Airport and Manhattan for 10 Days

Joby Aviation Inc. is flying electric air taxis between John F. Kennedy International Airport and Manhattan this week to show off its quieter, zero-emission aircraft in a city weary of noise pollution.

The demonstration flights are New York’s first point-to-point trips of an electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicle, or eVTOL, according to Joby, which staged a test flight from the downtown heliport in 2023. This week, the aircraft will fly along existing helicopter routes operated by Blade Urban Air Mobility, a division of Joby, and will have pilots but no passengers.

The trips are part of a new federal program that’s meant to accelerate the integration of air taxis into US airspace. Joby aims to start passenger flights in New York, Texas and Florida as soon as the second half of this year, said Chief Executive Officer JoeBen Bevirt. But the company, which still needs the US Federal Aviation Administration to certify its aircraft, has pushed back previous goals in the past.

Joby will be seeking to introduce New Yorkers to electric flights over 10 days of multiple trips. It will be flying from JFK to Blade lounges at West 30th Street at Hudson Yards and at East 34th Street, as well as the downtown heliport.

At a Monday event at the lounge near Hudson Yards, dozens of invitees watched a flight, getting a close-up view of the blue and white aircraft after it landed and hearing its muted motors as it took off again.

“Our target for the aircraft is essentially to be equivalent over time to what Uber costs today and get people to the destination five to 10 times faster and do that at greater safety than helicopters or even driving on the ground,” said Paul Sciarra, Joby’s executive chairman. “We’ve got an opportunity with this flight to begin to showcase that.”

Air taxis are “a hundred times quieter” than helicopters, Bevirt said in an interview. Instead of the low-frequency thumping of a helicopter that shakes buildings and annoys people, the Joby aircraft’s sound is designed “to be more of a whoosh, and that’s a broadband noise that blends into the background and also dissipates much more quickly over distance,” he said.

Earlier this year, the US Transportation Department selected companies including Santa Cruz, California-based Joby to participate in the pilot program, which is meant to allow cities to begin to develop infrastructure and to create familiarity among the public.

The proliferation of helicopters in tourist, charter and commuter service has caused a surge in noise complaints around New York City in recent years, reaching a peak of 59,000 calls to 311 in 2023 from 3,300 in 2019. Helicopter security has also come under increased scrutiny after a crash last year that killed a Siemens AG executive, his wife and three children.

Joby says its aircraft are built with greater levels of redundancy that will make them safer. They have six propellers, each driven by two electric motors that are wired to separate battery packs, and three flight computers.

“Most helicopters were designed for military, oil and gas, and utility applications — not passengers,” said Rob Wiesenthal, CEO of Blade. “Sometimes it’s like watching a passenger climb into a cement mixer. When you board a Joby, it feels like stepping into a thoughtfully designed car.”