Joby Hopes to Bring Flying Taxis to U.S. Faster Through Blade Acquisition

After facing regulatory delays for years, some flying taxi startups are looking for new ways to bring their products to consumers faster.

For Joby, one of the biggest flying taxi startups in the U.S., that involved acquiring New York-based helicopter operator Blade for $125 million.

In an interview with Skift, Joby chief product officer Eric Allison said the company was interested in acquiring Blade because it already had a business model that Joby wants to use once it commercializes.

“They really are at the leading edge of doing this well. They're using existing technology, existing aircraft. But they've done a really good job of taking that to the max,” Allison said, referring to Blade.

Flying taxis are also known as electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicles, or evTOLs. A crop of flying taxi startups in the U.S. have raised billions from investors, including major airlines like United and Delta. These flying taxis