Air taxi manufacturers and others in the industry are bullish on 2026.

Erik Chalhoub here. I’ve been closely following the progress of Joby Aviation and its competitor, Archer Aviation, for years wondering the answer to the question we all have: When will we see their electric air taxi service go live?

All signs point to 2026 being the year. Joby, which is based in Santa Cruz and has a massive manufacturing facility at the Marina Municipal Airport, is close—very close—to getting its federal certification. The company reports that all of the aircraft set to be tested by Federal Aviation Administration pilots are now in production. It’s a major milestone, since it’s the first time the FAA will test the aircraft after years of reviewing documents and other things during the long certification process. Archer, which is based in San Jose but tests its aircraft at the Salinas Municipal Airport, also reports that it expects such testing by the FAA this year.

In a financial report released Feb. 25, Joby notes that it expects to fly its first passengers in Dubai this year. (Whether the growing war in the Middle East affects this plan is too early to tell.) Archer, meanwhile, targets 2026 as the year it flies its first passengers.

But we may see it happen even sooner, and in Monterey County.

President Donald Trump’s June executive order calling for the acceleration of drone and other advanced air mobility development led to the FAA establishing the Electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing and Advanced Air Mobility Integration Pilot Program. Groups across the country have applied to be one of the five projects chosen to participate. 

That decision is expected in the coming months, and whoever gets chosen will have the opportunity to begin limited air taxi service before full certification by the FAA.

Joby and Archer, along with 45 other businesses, governments, airports and others, have applied under the banner of American Air Advantage.

Caltrans has taken the lead on the application, and all involved are bullish on its prospects of getting chosen. In a Feb. 27 webinar hosted by Monterey Bay Economic Partnership, Tarek Tabshouri, chief of Caltrans’ Division of Aeronautics, said California, and the Central Coast in particular, is a hub for these new technologies.

“We’ve established ourselves as at the center of a new mode of transportation in the state,” he said. “There’s nowhere else anywhere close to what we have.”

If it gets chosen, American Air Advantage proposes air taxi demonstrations locally beginning in 2026 at “large public events.” 

The next two-plus years will be pivotal for the industry. Perhaps we could see air taxis during Car Week this year. Also, Archer has been selected as the official air taxi provider for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.

In both cases, the whole world will be watching to see this new technology take flight.