Joby Aviation flew its S4 eVTOL from JFK to the West 30th Street heliport in 15 minutes, the first eVTOL departure from a major NYC airport.
Key Takeaways
Production prototype S4 seats a pilot plus four passengers, cruises at 200 mph, has six tilting propellers, and can continue flying with two motors out.
Joby acquired Blade Air Mobility’s passenger division in 2025, inheriting lounges at JFK, Newark, and three Manhattan heliports that served 90,000 passengers last year.
NYC, LA, and Miami are top candidates for first routine commercial service; FAA type inspection authorization (TIA) flights began earlier in 2025.
PANYNJ is running one of eight FAA eVTOL Integration Pilot Program (eIPP) projects; demos from JFK, LGA, and EWR planned through 2025 with Joby, Archer, Beta, Wisk, and Electra.
Joby’s test fleet has logged 50,000+ miles across ~2,600 flights; a 9-mile JFK-to-Manhattan route is pending FAA approval vs. the 20-mile demo route flown Monday.
Hacker News Comment Review
Skeptics flagged the capacity mismatch: a four-passenger vehicle serving JFK while the AirTrain and LIRR move thousands per trip raises unit-economics and congestion questions commenters see as unresolved.
Technical commenters split on noise claims – the article’s “leaves rustling” framing drew pushback, with observers noting the vehicle sounds substantially louder in close-up video than marketing copy implies.
Pilot supply was raised as a near-term scaling bottleneck; one commenter suggested autonomous operation (pointing to EHang as a model) may be necessary before meaningful fleet size is achievable.
Notable Comments
@jmward01: argues battery-vs-Jet-A density comparisons miss the point – electric drivetrains shed weight by eliminating bleed-air, fuel plumbing, and redundant safety systems, enabling novel airframes.
@hyencomper: flags trained pilot supply as the scaling bottleneck and points to EHang’s autonomous model as the likely path to real fleet growth.
