Joby and BETA Retrace the First Airline Route Over Tampa Bay as Florida’s eVTOL Pilot Program Takes Off

Florida’s turn in the FAA’s eVTOL Integration Pilot Program (eIPP) is underway, and it opened on a route with a lot of history. On Friday, October 30, Joby Aviation’s S4 air taxi and BETA Technologies’ ALIA CX300 electric airplane took off together from Albert Whitted Airport in downtown St. Petersburg. About 20 minutes later they landed side by side at Tampa International Airport, according to Aviation International News. That retraced the January 1, 1914 flight by Tony Jannus that started the world’s first scheduled airline service.

Joby’s Florida tour continues today in Orlando and wraps up at Kennedy Space Center this weekend.

What flew, and what it was for

The FAA says Florida is the seventh location to launch flights under eIPP. The Florida Department of Transportation runs the state’s project. The point is to gather data for the FAA on noise, airspace integration, airport operations and vertiport procedures. Those are the rules and standards the agency still has to write before air taxis can carry paying passengers on a regular basis.

These were not commercial flights. FOX 13 Tampa Bay noted that Joby is still finishing FAA type certification. AIN reported that the S4 that flew is a conforming prototype. BETA brought its first production-conforming CX300, a conventional takeoff and landing electric airplane, and says its CX300s have already flown 14 Florida eIPP flights covering nearly 700 nautical miles around Tampa and Orlando.

Where the tour goes next

In its announcement, Joby laid out a week of piloted flights at the first planned hubs of Florida’s proposed “Aerial Highway Network,” an intercity air taxi system:

• Orlando International Airport (today, November 2, per AIN): A landing at a new vertiport near Terminal C and the train station. Joby says the routes and procedures came out of two years of simulation work with the FAA, NASA, the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority and Orlando air traffic controllers.
• Kennedy Space Center (November 7-8): Flights at the Shuttle Landing Facility during the UP.Summit and NASA’s first “Max Power” event.

Joby says the schedule could change because of weather or other factors. The FAA adds that FDOT and Electra will run more flight tests around central Florida in November.

Why it matters beyond the headlines

Air taxis have to fit into the same busy airspace as airliners, helicopters, flight schools and, close to the ground, drones. Flights into Class B airports like Tampa and Orlando test whether controllers can mix eVTOL traffic with jets using procedures that hold up day after day. That kind of data shapes future vertiport design standards and air traffic procedures, along with the low-altitude traffic picture every drone pilot near an airport will eventually have to plan around.

What this means for drone pilots

• The KSC weekend has a TFR. The FAA has posted an air show TFR (NOTAM 6/4077) for the Max Air Power demonstrations at the Space Florida Launch and Landing Facility in Titusville. It is a 5 NM circle from the surface to 16,000 feet MSL. It runs 10 AM to 5 PM EST Friday, November 6, and 11 AM to 5 PM EST Saturday and Sunday. If you want aerial shots of the air taxi, the answer is no.
• Don’t chase demo flights. Crowds come out for these events, and anything near Tampa or Orlando International sits in Class B airspace. You need LAANC or other FAA authorization first, and there may be event restrictions on top of that.
• Know your new neighbors. As air taxis start using low-altitude corridors and vertiports, see-and-avoid and right-of-way rules get more important. You’ll need to understand airspace classes, read charts and coordinate with ATC. The Part 107 knowledge test covers all of it, and Drone U’s Part 107 course teaches it. Students have been known to finish the online course in three days and pass the test.

Sources: FAA; Joby Aviation; Aviation International News; FOX 13 Tampa Bay; FAA NOTAM 6/4077

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