JOBY
Joby’s trying to skip a few steps
Joby Aviation is doing the classic startup thing: building the plane and buying the distribution at the same time. The company says it’s preparing conforming aircraft for TIA flight testing as it inches closer to FAA certification, while also moving to acquire Blade Air Mobility’s passenger business.
Why Blade matters
Blade isn’t just a random side quest. Joby wants Blade’s passenger operations in the U.S. and Europe, plus the Blade brand, to lean on an existing customer base and infrastructure instead of starting from scratch. In plain English: fewer expensive airport-lounge-adjacent headaches, more chance to get paying riders into Joby’s aircraft faster.
The pitch is pretty simple:
- use Blade’s existing network instead of building one from zero
- convert helicopter customers over time
- cut down on infrastructure spending and customer acquisition costs
The fine print investors should watch
Blade’s medical division is not part of the deal and will stay separate. Joby also plans to become the preferred eVTOL partner for Blade’s organ transport business, which will be renamed Strata Critical Medical.
That means Joby is not just selling a plane fantasy anymore — it’s trying to bolt on a real commercial path. But the certification clock still matters, because no amount of branding magic gets aircraft into service before regulators say go.
Big picture: Joby is trying to turn itself from “future of flight” into “future of flight with a customer list.” That’s a better story for investors, but the FAA still gets the final word.