The Los Angeles Post
California & Local U.S. World Business Lifestyle
Today: January 15, 2025
Today: January 15, 2025

Hundreds of flying taxis to be made in Ohio, home of the Wright brothers and astronaut legends

Ohio Flying TaxisIn this 2022 photo provided by Joby Aviation is Joby’s pre-production prototype aircraft at the company’s flight test facility in Marina, Calif. The same Ohio river valley where the Wright brothers pioneered human flight will soon manufacture cutting-edge electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft. An agreement announced Monday, Sept. 18, 2023, between the state and Joby Aviation Inc. will bring air taxi production to a 140-acre site at Dayton International Airport by 2025. (Eric Adams/Joby Aviation via AP)
September 18, 2023

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The same Ohio river valley where the Wright brothers pioneered human flight will soon be manufacturing cutting-edge electric planes that take off and land vertically, under an agreement announced Monday between the state and Joby Aviation Inc.

“When you’re talking about air taxis, that’s the future,” Republican Gov. Mike DeWine told The Associated Press. “We find this very, very exciting — not only for the direct jobs and indirect jobs it’s going to create, but like Intel, it’s a signal to people that Ohio is looking to the future. This is a big deal for us.”

Around the world, electric vertical takeoff and landing, or eVTOL aircraft are entering the mainstream, though questions remain about noise levels and charging demands. Still, developers say the planes are nearing the day when they will provide a wide-scale alternative to shuttle individual people or small groups from rooftops and parking garages to their destinations, while avoiding the congested thoroughfares below.

Joby's decision to locate its first scaled manufacturing facility at a 140-acre (57-hectare) site at Dayton International Airport delivers on two decades of groundwork laid by the state’s leaders, Republican Lt. Gov. Jon Husted said. Importantly, the site is near Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and the headquarters of the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratories.

Hundreds of flying taxis to be made in Ohio, home of the Wright brothers and astronaut legends
Ohio Flying Taxis

“For a hundred years, the Dayton area has been a leader in aviation innovation,” Husted said. “But capturing a large-scale manufacturer of aircraft has always eluded the local economy there. With this announcement, that aspiration has been realized.”

The Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur, lived and worked in Dayton. In 1910, they opened the first U.S. airplane factory there. To connect the historical dots, Joby's formal announcement Monday took place at Orville Wright's home, Hawthorn Hill, and concluded with a ceremonial flypast of a replica of the Wright Model B Flyer.

Joby’s production aircraft is designed to transport a pilot and four passengers at speeds of up to 200 miles (321.87 kilometers) per hour, with a maximum range of 100 miles (160.93 kilometers). Its quiet noise profile is barely audible against the backdrop of most cities, the company said. The plan is to place them in aerial ridesharing networks beginning in 2025.

Hundreds of flying taxis to be made in Ohio, home of the Wright brothers and astronaut legends
Ohio Flying Taxis

The efforts of the Santa Cruz, California-based company are supported by partnerships with Toyota, Delta Air Lines, Intel and Uber. Joby is a 14-year-old company that went public in 2021 and became the first eVTOL firm to receive U.S. Air Force airworthiness certification.

The $500 million project is supported by up to $325 million in incentives from the state of Ohio, its JobsOhio economic development office and local government. With the funds, Joby plans to build an Ohio facility capable of delivering up to 500 aircraft a year and creating 2,000 jobs. The U.S. Department of Energy has invited Joby to apply for a loan to support development of the facility as a clean energy project.

Joby CEO JoeBen Bevirt told the AP that the company chose Ohio after an extensive and competitive search. Its financial package wasn't the largest, but the chance to bring the operation to the birthplace of aviation — with a workforce experienced in the field — sealed the deal, he said.

Hundreds of flying taxis to be made in Ohio, home of the Wright brothers and astronaut legends
Ohio Flying Taxis

“Ohio is the No. 1 state when it comes to supplying parts for Boeing and Airbus," Bevirt said. "Ohio is No. 3 in the nation on manufacturing jobs — and that depth of manufacturing prowess, that workforce, is critical to us as we look to build this manufacturing facility.

JobsOhio President and CEO J.P. Nauseef noted that its dedication to aviation has carried the Dayton area through serious economic challenges. That included the loss of tens of thousands of auto and auto parts manufacturing jobs in the early 2000s and the loss of ATM maker NCR Corp.'s headquarters to an Atlanta suburb in 2009.

“This marries that heritage and legacy of innovation in aviation with our nuts and bolts of manufacturing," Nauseef said. “It really marries those two together, and that’s never been married together before — not in this town. For a community the size of Dayton and Springfield, (whose people) take great pride, (and) have had rough, rough decades, it's a wonderful project.”

Hundreds of flying taxis to be made in Ohio, home of the Wright brothers and astronaut legends
Ohio Flying Taxis

Bevirt said operations and hiring will begin immediately from existing buildings near the development site, contingent upon clearing the standard legal and regulatory hurdles. The site is large enough to eventually accommodate 2 million square feet (18.58 hectares) of manufacturing space.

Construction on the manufacturing facility is expected to begin in 2024, with production to begin in 2025.

Toyota, a long-term investor, worked with Joby in 2019 to design and to successfully launch its pilot production line in Marina, California. The automaker will continue to advise Joby as it prepares for scaled production of its commercial passenger air taxi, the company said.

Hundreds of flying taxis to be made in Ohio, home of the Wright brothers and astronaut legends
Ohio Flying Taxis

The announcement comes as a bipartisan group of Ohio's congressional representatives has recently stepped up efforts to lure the U.S. Air Force’s new U.S. Space Command headquarters or Space Force units to Ohio. There, too, state leaders cite the aerospace legacy of the Wrights, as well as Ohio-born astronauts John Glenn and Neil Armstrong.

___

Earlier versions of this article were corrected to reflect that the description of incentives and company investment is additive, with up to $325 million in incentives as part of the $500 million total, and to indicate that the name of the airline is Delta Air Lines, not Delta Airlines.

Hundreds of flying taxis to be made in Ohio, home of the Wright brothers and astronaut legends
Ohio Flying Taxis

Related

Business|Economy|Europe|Finance

ECB betting on services prices to get inflation back to target, Lane says

Euro zone inflation is set to decline this year on more muted wage increases but the outlook is far too uncertain for the European Central Bank to provide an explicit guidance on

ECB betting on services prices to get inflation back to target, Lane says
Asia|Business|Economy|Finance|Political|Stock Markets

Foreigners sold South Korean equities last month by most since early 2020

South Korea's capital markets in December experienced the largest foreign outflows since March 2020 as heightened political uncertainty hit investor sentiment, central bank data

Foreigners sold South Korean equities last month by most since early 2020
Business|Political|Technology|US

TikTok seeks to reassure U.S. employees ahead of Jan. 19 ban deadline

TikTok plans to keep paying U.S. employees even if the Supreme Court does not overturn a law that would force the sale of the short-video app in the U.S

TikTok seeks to reassure U.S. employees ahead of Jan. 19 ban deadline
Asia|Business|Economy|Finance|Political

Japan likely to miss primary budget surplus target for FY2025, sources say

Japan is likely to miss achieving its goal of running a primary budget surplus by the next fiscal year, according to three sources with knowledge of fresh

Japan likely to miss primary budget surplus target for FY2025, sources say
Share This

Popular

Asia|Business|Science|Technology|World

Two private lunar landers head toward the moon in a roundabout journey

Two private lunar landers head toward the moon in a roundabout journey
Asia|Business|Economy|Technology

Japan's Makino Milling requests changes to unsolicited bid from Nidec

Japan's Makino Milling requests changes to unsolicited bid from Nidec
Asia|Business|Economy|Finance

BOJ will raise rates if economy, price conditions continue to improve, Ueda says

BOJ will raise rates if economy, price conditions continue to improve, Ueda says
Asia|Business|Economy|Finance|Stock Markets|US

Stock market today: Asian stocks mixed ahead of US inflation data

Stock market today: Asian stocks mixed ahead of US inflation data