It’s no longer ‘if’ Joby launches its air taxi service, but ‘when’ and ‘where.’

Erik Chalhoub here, wishing that I had Joby Aviation’s flight simulator at home. I had the opportunity to try out the simulator, complete with all of the controls of a Joby aircraft, during a tour of Joby’s Marina facilities for this week’s cover story.

I thought I did pretty well. Maybe I should give up this writing thing for a career in the skies. Or maybe Joby’s aircraft is so advanced that it can fly by itself with little human intervention.

You can find out the answer to that in the story. But more importantly, I set out to find the answer to the question I’ve been hearing for years: When will you be able to take a ride in a Joby air taxi?

The answer isn’t straightforward.

Joby is deep in the Federal Aviation Administration certification process, which it must complete before it launches commercial service. It expects to hit a milestone early next year, when FAA pilots will test its aircraft.

Speaking of milestones, Joby has been hitting many of them, especially this past year. See the timeline that is part of the cover story.

When Joby launched in 2009, the question was “if” it would launch service. After spending time touring the Marina manufacturing facility and combing over documents, I feel that question is now “when.” And there’s more that comes with it: Will it come to Monterey County, and who will it benefit?

Find out more in the story.