Joby Aviation has flown the first sortie of the FAA's eVTOL Integration Pilot Program (eIPP), lifting its all-electric air taxi off Perot Field Fort Worth Alliance Airport (AFW) on 10 September 2026. The mission opens a scripted programme of representative flights across North Texas that Joby says will inform how the FAA integrates a new class of vertical-flight aircraft into real US airspace.
Fort Worth first, DFW controlled airspace next
A second scheduled leg on 12 September takes the aircraft on a roundtrip from AFW into Dallas-Fort Worth International (DFW) controlled airspace — the first known operation of its kind by a commercial eVTOL developer. Additional legs will include a low-noise demonstration over the Fort Worth Stockyards and a representative commercial route from AFW to Toyota's corporate campus, aligning with Joby's early operator base.
Bevirt: "an incredible opportunity" to bring eVTOLs to urban airspace
"With TxDOT's leadership and support, the eIPP gives us an incredible opportunity to bring our aircraft into urban areas and accelerate our path to commercial service," Joby founder and CEO JoeBen Bevirt said. The programme was announced by the US Department of Transportation in March 2026 as part of the White House's push to accelerate advanced air mobility, and it is one of a handful of federal pilot programmes designed to test eVTOL integration in real airspace.
The Texas race is on
Joby's Texas debut comes just days after rival Archer Aviation kicked off its own No Roads eIPP tour. The two US eVTOL leaders spent much of the spring in tit-for-tat litigation over trade secrets that recently narrowed after a judge dismissed Archer's fraud counterclaim; both companies are now racing to bank flight time in front of FAA and DoT observers ahead of a 2026-2027 commercial launch window.
Reporting based on coverage from AeroTime, AviationWeek, TheFlightBrief and Joby corporate disclosures.