Delta Air Lines has invested into electric flying taxi maker Joby Aviation in a partnership that it hopes will enable a new way of bringing passengers from their homes to airports.
The US airline has made an equity investment of $60 million in Joby, with the option to expand the total amount invested to up to $200 million, the two companies said in a statement on October 11, 2022.
Joby and Delta will work on integrating a Joby service into the Delta booking process, starting with New York and Los Angeles. That will give customers who travel with Delta the chance to book a seat on journeys to and from the airports when they book their Delta flight ticket.
“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 and innovating in for many years,” said Delta CEO Ed Bastian.
California-based Joby’s electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft is powered by six electric motors and is designed to carry one pilot and four passengers with a maximum range of 150 miles and a top speed of 200 miles per hour.
There are many companies working on the concept of flying taxis with plans to transform the way we fly in cities, including Volocopter, Wisk, Vertical Aerospace, Eve. However, not everyone is convinced that the market will take off, with the head of major leasing firm AerCap saying they could be more useful to transport freight.