Dive Brief:
- Joby Aviation broke ground last week on the expansion of its pilot production line in Marina, California, as the electric taxi maker looks to grow its production capacity.
- The $41.3 million expansion will create 690 jobs in the state by 2027, with operations expected to begin next year.
- The expanded pilot facility will more than double Joby’s yearly production capacity, helping the air taxi maker to scale up to 25 planes annually as it works to get its first large-scale facility in Ohio online next year, CFO Matt Field said in a February earnings call.
Dive Insight:
The Marina site is already in production mode, having recently completed its second prototype aircraft, which will be delivered to the U.S. Air Force’s Edwards Base later this year. The air taxi maker has two more currently in the final stages of assembly and parts for multiple other units under production.
Without the expansion, Joby’s pilot production line is on track to reach 12 aircraft by year’s end, a spokesperson told Manufacturing Dive in an email.
Joby has been working on its Federal Aviation Administration certification process at the Marina site. In February, the company completed the third in a five-step certification process, which covers the aircraft’s structural, mechanical and electrical systems, as well as Joby’s intended certification approach to cybersecurity, human factors and noise. The FAA certification process manages an aircraft’s risks and ensures the unit is safe for the public.
As the company works on completing the fourth stage of the certification process, the Marina facility has been cranking out parts for numerous aircraft that will support testing needed for both certification and future commercial use, Didier Papadopoulos, Joby’s president of aircraft OEM, told analysts in the earnings call.
In addition to Marina, Joby is establishing a large-scale facility located at Dayton International Airport in Ohio, which it also expanded in March. The company plans to build a $500 million air taxi manufacturing plant to construct, test and fly eVTOL air taxis for commercial passenger flights.
In March, Joby expanded the Dayton site by purchasing a USPS facility at the Dayton International Airport. Joby will use the facility to produce titanium and aluminum aircraft parts to support its low-volume manufacturing facility in Marina.
“This strategy of supporting initial production and certification from our San Carlos and Marina facilities and a stepwise systematic scaling in Dayton, reflects our rational measured approach to manufacturing and spending,” Field said. “It gives us optimal flexibility to incorporate learnings from the production floor while we proceed through the certification process.”
The air taxi maker has also been making deals to bring its aircraft overseas. Last month, Joby signed a memorandum of understanding in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, to establish and scale air taxi services there. Services are expected to begin in the Emirates in early 2026, with Joby’s goal to begin operations as early as next year.
