BETA Technologies flew the first missions of the FAA’s eVTOL Integration Pilot Program on 10 July 2026, carrying cargo along a 275-nautical-mile corridor between Virginia and Maryland. The aircraft was BETA’s ALIA CTOL, the conventional take-off version of its electric plane, not the vertical-lift one.
The Transportation Department picked eight projects across 26 states on 9 March, from more than 30 proposals. Each is led by a state or city. They are the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey; the transport departments of Texas, Utah, Pennsylvania, Florida and North Carolina; Louisiana; and the City of Albuquerque.
BETA is a partner in seven of the eight and Joby in five. Archer and Electra are in three each. Wisk flies in Texas, Ampaire in Utah, Elroy Air in Louisiana and Reliable Robotics in Albuquerque.
None of these aircraft has an FAA type certificate. The programme lets them fly real routes while certification goes on, and the FAA will use the data to write rules. The experience “will inform the standards needed”, said FAA Deputy Administrator Chris Rocheleau.
Joby’s turn came on 10 September. It flew a week-long campaign around Dallas-Fort Worth under the Texas project, including flights into Dallas Fort Worth International Airport. Joby has leased a 45,000-square-foot building at Perot Field Fort Worth Alliance Airport as its long-term base in North Texas.
BETA has kept going. It started North Carolina operations on 24 September and finished five days of medical cargo flights in Utah on 7 October, moving radiopharmaceuticals with Alpine Air. “Many decay within hours,” said Kyle Clark, BETA’s chief executive.
Archer, a partner in three projects, has not yet flown under the programme. Its second-quarter results said operations would start later this year. Archer is also buying Wisk from Boeing, which would bring the Texas project’s fourth partner under the same roof.
