- Joe Breitfeller
Delta Air Lines Partners With Joby Aviation to Pioneer Home-to-Airport Transportation
Delta Air Lines has today announced a new partnership with Joby Aviation to provide all-electric eVTOL aircraft for quiet, sustainable home-to-airport service. As part of the new collaboration, Delta is making an upfront equity investment of $60 million in Joby.
On Tuesday (October 11, 2022), Delta Air Lines announced that they will make an upfront investment of $60 million in Joby Aviation, who is developing an all-electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, which may increase to up to $200 million as further milestones are met. Under the new partnership, Joby will operate the eVTOL aircraft, enabling fast, quiet and sustainable, home-to-airport service by air for Delta’s customers. Joby’s eVTOL is expected to be the first service to market, and will initially target New York and Los Angeles, building on Delta’s years of investment and substantial footprint in these cities. The partnership will deliver a premium differentiated service for Delta guests, compared to Joby’s standard airport service.
In Tuesday’s announcement, Delta Air Lines’ CEO, Ed Bastian, said,
“Delta always looks forward and embraces opportunities to lead the future, and we’ve found in Joby a partner that shares our pioneering spirit and commitment to delivering innovative, seamless experiences that are better for our customers, their journeys, and our world. This is a groundbreaking opportunity for Delta to deliver a time-saving, uniquely premium home-to-airport solution for customers in key markets we’ve been investing and innovating in for many years.”
Also commenting on the new eVTOL partnership with Joby, Delta’s EVP and Chief Customer Experience Officer, Allison Ausband, said,
“Delta is differentiating and amplifying the customer experience with premium products, choices and solutions across the journey. Addressing what matters most to our customers is foundational to our focus, and our work with Joby is the latest in a series of ways we’re making the experience of travel more seamless, enjoyable and wait-free.”
Joby Aviation’s Founder and CEO, JoeBen Bevirt, added,
“We share Delta’s unwavering commitment to delivering seamless and sustainable journeys to customers. Their history of innovation, along with their vast operational expertise and leadership on climate change, make them incredible partners for Joby, and it’s an honor to be working alongside them.”
As part of the groundbreaking agreement, the companies will work together to integrate a Joby-operated service into Delta’s customer facing channels, providing customers traveling with Delta through New York and Los Angeles the opportunity to seamlessly reserve seats for short-range zero-operating-emission journeys to and from city airports. Additionally, the partnership between Delta and Joby will be mutually exclusive across the U.S. and UK for five years following commercial launch, with the potential to expand that period.
California-based Joby Aviation, Inc. (NYSE: JOBY) is developing an all-electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, designed to operate as part of a fast, quiet and convenient air taxi service from 2024. The aircraft has flown over 1,000 test flights, demonstrating its range, speed, altitude and low noise profile capabilities. The company was the first eVTOL developer to be granted a G-1 (Stage 4) Certification Basis for its aircraft by the FAA and recently received Part 135 Air Carrier Certification. Joby was founded in 2009 and currently employs approximately 1,000 team members across offices and facilities in Santa Cruz, San Carlos and Marina (California), as well as Washington D.C. and Munich, Germany.
Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) is the global U.S. airline leader in safety, innovation, reliability and customer experience. The carrier operates over 4,000 daily flights across more than 275 destinations on six continents. Delta has over 80,000 team members and has served as many as 200 million customers annually. For the last decade, the carrier has led the industry in operational excellence, while maintaining their reputation for award-winning customer service.
Source(s): Delta Air Lines, Joby Aviation