{"id":211804,"date":"2026-04-27T22:06:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T22:06:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/211804\/"},"modified":"2026-04-27T22:06:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T22:06:08","slug":"air-taxi-company-completes-first-nyc-test-flight-of-jetsons-like-craft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/211804\/","title":{"rendered":"Air-taxi company completes first NYC test flight of &#8216;Jetsons&#8217;-like craft"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Up, up and away!<\/p>\n<p>An \u201cair taxi\u201d company operating completely electric helicopters completed its first test flight Monday between JFK Airport and Midtown \u2014 hoping to pave the way for a \u201cJetsons\u201d-like future for New Yorkers.<\/p>\n<p>The drone-like Joby Aviation aircraft made the voyage from the Queens airport to Manhattan in roughly 15 minutes, landing quietly at a Hudson Yards heliport run by subsidiary Blade, a company that currently offers gas-powered helicopter commuter flights.<\/p>\n<p>A Joby Aviation electric aircraft makes its first test flight between JFK Airport and a Hudson Yards heliport Monday. Matthew McDermott for NY Post<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019re watching the dawn of a new era of air mobility, urban air mobility,\u201d said Rob Wiesenthal, CEO of Blade.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cToday what you witness is the very first flight, A-to-B flight, between one of our routes, JFK Airport to Blade Lounge West, in an electric, emission-free and quiet aircraft: the Joby S4,\u201d Wiesenthal said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s the first of its kind.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Joby Aviation is one of several aerospace companies working with the Port Authority and Federal Aviation Administration a part of a three-year pilot program to <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/03\/12\/us-news\/feds-tap-aerospace-companies-for-ny-nj-air-taxi-test\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">test next-generation aircraft <\/a>that could be used as air taxis.<\/p>\n<p>The companies have pitched ferrying passengers from Manhattan to places such as JFK, LaGuardia and Newark airports in as little as 5 minutes, rather than the 40 to 120 minutes it can take driving.<\/p>\n<p>Blade, which was recently purchased by Joby, currently offers helicopter flights to New York City-area airports starting at $195 per seat.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Several companies, including Joby, are vying to start electric air taxis in the city. James Messerschmidt for the NY Post<\/p>\n<p>A flight on a Blade-operated Joby from Manhattan to a city airport would cost roughly the same as a Uber Black ride, the aircraft company said. James Messerschmidt for the NY Post<\/p>\n<p>Those flights also take roughly 5 minutes, according to the company.<\/p>\n<p>But the new Joby aircraft differs from a traditional helicopter in that it is all electric.<\/p>\n<p>The aircraft promise zero-emission flights that are far more quiet than traditional helicopters, which have been a source of irritation for New Yorkers who\u2019ve flooded 311 with tens of thousands of <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2024\/04\/16\/us-news\/nyc-residents-hellish-helicopter-highway-lawmakers-seek-ban-on-non-essential-choppers\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">noise complaints about cacophonous choppers<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The Joby craft produces about 45 decibels when airborne, according to the company \u2014 about half that of a traditional helicopter.<\/p>\n<p>Four passengers plus a pilot can ride in the electric craft, which can fly at speeds up to 200 mph, the company said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s the first company ever to transition the aircraft so it can take off like a helicopter and then fly on wing like a plane. [It\u2019s] silent in overflight, quiet in take off and landing, and then again like a helicopter,\u201d Wiesenthal said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is the future of how people are going to be moving around cities both in and around all over the centers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Wiesenthal said rides on the Joby aircraft would cost roughly equivalent to an Uber Black, the rideshare\u2019s luxury tier. <\/p>\n<p>The Joby craft is much more quiet than a traditional helicopter. James Messerschmidt for the NY Post<\/p>\n<p>The craft can hit speeds up to 200 mph. Joby Aviation<\/p>\n<p>A stand UberX ride from Midtown Manhattan to JFK cost roughly $142 on Monday afternoon, with an Uber Black ride tallying $193. A similar trip to LaGuardia cost $89 for UberX and $125 on Uber Black.<\/p>\n<p>An Uber X rideshare to Newark Airport cost roughly $127, or $190 on Uber Black on Monday afternoon, according to the app.<\/p>\n<p>The company has partnered with Delta Air Lines and Uber for what reps call a \u201cseamless, end-to-end experience that connects ground transportation and air travel in a single journey.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis year, we will be flying both cargo and passengers, probably not for a fee,\u201d Wiesenthal said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut the acceleration is really about government certification by the FAA, so they\u2019re comfortable to have the public in there.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The city\u2019s heliports are currently being electrified in a project led by the city\u2019s Economic Development Corporation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese historic Joby flights, linking our city-owned heliport to our airports, is proof that the future of advanced air mobility is no longer a Jetsons-esque fantasy \u2013 it\u2019s already here,\u201d said Jeanny Pak, interim president and CEO for the city\u2019s Economic Development Corporation, in a statement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Up, up and away! An \u201cair taxi\u201d company operating completely electric helicopters completed its first test flight Monday&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":211805,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[3346,15617,1186,1087,57,9,1086,56,63,65,64,12621,58],"class_list":{"0":"post-211804","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-city","8":"tag-air-travel","9":"tag-flights","10":"tag-jfk-airport","11":"tag-laguardia-airport","12":"tag-metro","13":"tag-new-york","14":"tag-newark-airport","15":"tag-ny","16":"tag-nyc","17":"tag-nyc-headlines","18":"tag-nyc-news","19":"tag-port-authority","20":"tag-us-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211804","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=211804"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211804\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/211805"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=211804"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=211804"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=211804"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}