After a decade of promises, the electric air taxi is finally about to carry paying passengers in the United States — and it could happen this summer.

The two front-runners have cleared the hardest gates yet. Joby Aviation has reached stage four of the FAA’s five-stage type-certification process and begun flying its first production-conforming aircraft. Archer Aviation says it is the first to close phase three of the FAA’s four-phase process. And the regulator’s new eVTOL Integration Pilot Program will let pre-certified aircraft begin operating across 26 states.

From Hype to Hardware

eVTOLs — electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing aircraft — have absorbed billions in investment and years of skepticism. The promise is a quiet, emissions-free aircraft that lifts like a helicopter and cruises like a plane, turning a 90-minute drive into a seven-minute hop. The obstacle has always been certification: convincing the FAA that a radically new aircraft is as safe as an airliner.

The Real Test Is Service, Not Flight

Flying the aircraft was never really the question — both companies have hundreds of test flights logged. The question is whether they can build them at scale, certify the production line, train pilots, and run a reliable, profitable service. Plenty of well-funded rivals have already burned through cash without reaching this point.

If Joby or Archer carries a paying passenger in 2026, it will mark the start of a genuinely new category of air travel — and the moment the air taxi stops being a render and becomes a ride.

Sources: FAA; FlyingMag; Airways; Joby and Archer investor updates.