Delta Air Lines has made an upfront equity investment of $60
million in Santa Cruz, Calif.-based
Joby Aviation
, which is developing electric
vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, the companies announced
Tuesday.
Delta plans to use the new aircraft for home-to-airport
transportation for its customers, beginning in New York and Los Angeles. The
investment could increase to up to $200 million based on the achievement of
milestones on the development and delivery of the service.
The companies did not state a beginning date for the
service, but Joby has said it plans to launch air taxi service in 2024.
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The Delta and Joby operations will run alongside Joby’s
standard airport service in priority markets, and the partnership will be
mutually exclusive across the United States and the United Kingdom for five
years following commercial launch, with the potential to extend that period,
according to the companies.
Joby’s aircraft have flown more than 1,000 test flights and
recently received Part 135 Air Carrier Certification from the U.S. Federal
Aviation Administration, according to the company.
Additional carriers with investments in Joby include
All
Nippon Airways
, and JetBlue has been an investor since 2017.
Joby
went public in 2021
via a special purpose acquisition company. In
addition,
Joby
has partnered with South Korean’s SK Telecom
to bring aerial
ridesharing services across South Korea, and Toyota Motor Corp. has invested in
the company.
Joby Aviation and Skyports Infrastructure are
developing a moveable passenger terminal
, called a “Living Lab,” where they will test technologies and procedures to shape how customers experience eVTOL flight.
Delta joins a number of carriers in investing in eVTOL aircraft. United Airlines
paid a $10 million cash deposit
in August to Santa Clara, Calif.-based Archer Aviation for 100 of the company’s electric vertical aircraft. Less than one month later, United
invested $15 million
in Eve Air Mobility with an agreement to purchase up to 400 of its electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft. Mint Air
ordered up to 40 Jaunt
eVTOL
aircraft last month. Late last year, regional carriers Republic Airways and SkyWest
signed nonbinding letters of intent
to purchase eVTOL aircraft from Embraer-controlled Eve Air Mobility.
*
This story originally appeared in Business Travel News
.