In a widely reported message to shareholders on November 3 2022, the company’s founder and CEO JoeBen Bevirt said the company is delaying the commercial launch of eVTOL services until 2025, in part, because of regulatory hurdles. The company had originally planned for service launch in 2024.
Joby said it would need to wait for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to publish its special federal aviation regulations (SFARs), which is necessary for eVTOL companies to have a clear pathway to certification.
“We originally believed we would certify our aircraft with the FAA under Part 2117A,” Bevirt said. “That path would not have required any new or modified rulemaking on the operational side. The FAA has advised the sector that we will be certifying our aircraft under the 2117B path instead. This means that to operate our aircraft, we will need SFARs in place, and the FAA has advised that they don’t expect these to be finalized until late 2024. We, therefore, don’t expect commercial passenger service to start until 2025.”
The other challenge facing the company is that of vertically integrating its development and launch programmes, in other words scaling up to production.
“We have focused on vertical integration, and this is a huge asset, but it also means that we’re taking on a heavy lift,” Bevirt said. The company was developing capabilities to build powertrain components and digitizing its construction system.
(Image: Joby)
