Joby Aviation is moving closer to making electric air taxis a reality. The company recently bought a huge manufacturing facility near Dayton, Ohio. The building is over 700,000 square feet, ready to use, and will help Joby double its production.
Who is Joby Aviation?
For those catching up, Joby Aviation is a California-based company working on electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. Think of it as a quiet, electric helicopter that flies like a plane. They intend to operate these as a fast city-to-city taxi service and sell the aircraft to partners. They have been engineering this tech for about a decade, and now they are shifting focus to building these machines at scale.
Scaling Up in the Heartland
The company states that the new Dayton facility will add to Joby’s current operations, not replace them. It will work alongside their existing factories in California and Ohio. Joby expects to start using the new building this year, aiming to produce four aircraft each month by 2027.
“This site will not only support our near-term plan to double production, it can also serve as a base for significant future growth, as we turn a decade of engineering into the manufacturing scale the market is now demanding,” JoeBen Bevirt, Joby Aviation’s founder and CEO, explained.
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The location was chosen because of the region’s history. Dayton has been an aerospace center since the days of the Wright Brothers.
“From the world’s first aircraft factory to the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton has long been the epicenter of aerospace innovation and we’re proud to be building the next generation of flight right here,” Bevirt added.
State officials support the move and see it as a benefit for local workers. Senator Bernie Moreno pointed out the economic change this brings.
“Joby’s investment in Dayton, bringing thousands of good-paying blue-collar jobs back to Ohio, is an incredible testament to Ohio’s long history as a leader in aviation and to the manufacturing renaissance happening all across the states,” said Senator Moreno.
This expansion is happening during a busy time for the industry. The FAA and Department of Transportation plan to start a pilot program in 2026 to test how air taxis will work in national airspace. With the new factory ready and policies coming together, Joby is preparing to act as soon as regulations allow.
