This week, Joby Aviation and Uber Technologies announced a new plan to bring Blade’s air mobility services to the Uber app “as soon as next year.” This announcement comes on the heels of the August announcement that Joby Aviation had acquired Blade’s passenger business. Given Uber’s place as the leading rideshare platform in the world, this marks a significant advancement toward widespread air taxi usage in markets across the United States and the rest of the world.

To that end, Blade has already been flying customers around a network of specific routes in select global cities, including in the New York metropolitan area, for destinations like Newark Liberty International Airport, John F. Kennedy International Airport, Manhattan, and the Hamptons. While these flights have largely taken place via crewed helicopter service, the goal for Joby is to ultimately utilize electric air taxis for commercial passenger service, and it believes this partnership with Uber will unlock those possibilities.

“We’re excited to introduce Uber customers to the magic of seamless urban air travel,” said JoeBen Bevirt, founder and CEO of Joby, in a statement. “Integrating Blade into the Uber app is the natural next step in our global partnership with Uber and will lay the foundation for the introduction of our quiet, zero-emissions aircraft in the years ahead. Together with Uber’s global platform and Blade’s proven network, we’re setting the stage for a new era of air travel worldwide.”

Andrew Macdonald, President and COO of Uber added in a statement of his own, "Since Uber’s earliest days, we’ve believed in the power of advanced air mobility to deliver safe, quiet, and sustainable transportation to cities around the world. By harnessing the scale of the Uber platform and partnering with Joby, the industry leader in advanced air mobility, we’re excited to bring our customers the next generation of travel."

This is just the latest step in a long-term partnership between Joby and Uber, with the former acquiring Uber’s Elevate division back in 2021. They say in their latest release that this acquisition “played a pivotal role in establishing the urban air mobility sector and developing the tools required for market selection, demand simulation, and multi-modal operations.”

When exactly this partnership will lead to electric air taxi services via the Uber app remains unclear. That said, Joby is looking to launch its electric air taxi service in global markets such as Dubai, New York, Los Angeles, the United Kingdom, and Japan. These air taxis are designed to carry four passengers and a pilot, with speeds reaching 200 mph and an acoustic impact 100 times lower than a traditional helicopter.

Although we are likely years away from autonomous passenger drones carrying passengers to specific destinations – to say nothing of being able to order these autonomous taxis via apps like Uber’s – these incremental steps are important to monitor for the future of advanced air mobility.

Source: Joby Aviation