Joby Aviation has teamed up with Delta Air Lines to advance the future of air travel by delivering a transformational, sustainable home-to-airport transportation service to Delta customers using all-electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicles. Plans are for the service to be delivered to passengers in New York and Los Angeles initially, before expanding the service to other locations.
Delta is making an upfront equity investment of $60m in Joby with the two companies will collaborate to integrate a Joby-operated service into Delta’s customer-facing channels, providing customers who travel with Delta through New York and Los Angeles the opportunity to reserve a seat for seamless, zero-operating-emissions, short-range journeys to and from city airports when booking Delta travel. The agreement also gives Delta the opportunity to expand its total investment up to $200m as the partners achieve substantive milestones on the development and delivery of the service.
The partners will work together to create a premium experience for customers featuring seamless booking, simplified transit and greater time savings. This will run alongside Joby’s standard airport service in priority markets.
“Delta always looks forward and embraces opportunities to lead the future, and we’ve found in Joby a partner that shares our pioneering spirit and commitment to delivering innovative, seamless experiences that are better for our customers, their journeys and our world,” said Delta CEO, Ed Bastian.
“This is a groundbreaking opportunity for Delta to deliver a time-saving, uniquely premium home-to-airport solution for customers in key markets we’ve been investing in and innovating in for many years.”
Joby’s aircraft is designed to fly fast, quietly and sustainably in built up urban environments. It has flown more than 1000 test flights, demonstrating its range, speed, altitude and low noise profile. The company was the first eVTOL company to be granted a G-1 (Stage 4) certification basis for its aircraft by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and has also received its Part 135 Air Carrier Certification.
The collaboration underlines Delta’s mission to invest in the future of flight. This year alone, the carrier has unveiled multi-billion-dollar terminal transformations at both New York’s LaGuardia Airport and Los Angeles International, cementing its commitment to both hubs and creating a more efficient experience for passengers from the moment they arrive at the airport. The airline also continues to invest in digital identity technology in these and other airports, enabling customers to move through the airport using facial matching and eliminating the need for paper documents. It has also recently debuted its Parallel Reality experience at Detroit Metropolitan Airport bringing to life a technology that was first previewed in 2020.
