AAM Certification
AAM Certification
FAA type certification, EASA, and airworthiness for AAM.
About AAM Certification
As of mid-October, no electric air taxi maker held an FAA type certificate, and neither Joby Aviation nor Archer Aviation had carried a paying passenger. Both had named 2026 for their first passengers.
Powered-lift certification runs in five stages. Joby's August quarterly filing put it about 75 percent through the fourth. The FAA has accepted all 797 of Archer's means of compliance, the agreed methods for proving each requirement; that fixes the test plan, not the result.
Other regulators have moved first. The UAE certified a vertiport beside Dubai International Airport on 7 July, and Archer entered the UAE's Restricted Type Certificate programme in May. EHang is the only company carrying paying passengers in an eVTOL, on sightseeing routes in China under a Chinese certificate.
In the US, the FAA's eVTOL Integration Pilot Program lets aircraft with no type certificate fly real routes while certification goes on. BETA Technologies flew its first missions on 10 July, carrying cargo 275 nautical miles between Virginia and Maryland.
Coverage
Vertical Aerospace Reviews Options as It Opens Valo Plant
Its cash lasts into August 2027. The first aircraft for certification is due in its new hall at the end of that year.
Volocopter's first product is now a two-seat ultralight
The company that was going to fly the Paris Olympics is certifying an aircraft for flying clubs. Supernal cut 80% of staff. Vertical trades at $0.60.
Dubai Certifies the First Purpose-Built Commercial Vertiport
The UAE's GCAA has certified VDX, the Skyports vertiport next to Dubai International, the first purpose-built commercial vertiport to be certified.
Wisk's Second Gen 6 eVTOL Prototype Completes First Flight
Wisk Aero's second Gen 6 autonomous eVTOL prototype has flown for the first time, joining the original in a California flight test campaign.
EHang EH216-S Makes First Crewed eVTOL Flights in Mexico
EHang's EH216-S pilotless eVTOL completed its first people-carrying flights in Mexico and Latin America at the FAMEX Tulum Air Show 2026.
Joby Aviation Flies eVTOL Over New York City
Joby Aviation flew its S4 eVTOL between JFK and Manhattan heliports in New York City's first electric air taxi flights.
Archer and Joby Still Have No FAA Type Certificate
Both named 2026 for their first Gulf passengers. With ten weeks left neither has launched, and FAA pilots have yet to fly Joby's aircraft for credit.
BETA and Joby Fly the First FAA eVTOL Pilot Program Missions
Eight projects in 26 states were picked in March. BETA's first flights used a fixed-wing plane; Joby flew air taxi routes around Dallas in September.
Eve Air Mobility Targets Helicopter Operators in 2026
Eve Air Mobility arrives at VERTICON 2026 with 2,700 eVTOL orders and near-daily test flights targeting helicopter fleets.
Japan's AAM Roadmap Is Built to Actually Work
Japan's advanced air mobility plan phases infrastructure, regulation, and public trust alongside aircraft development to 2030.
Companies
Joby Aviation
US eVTOL company developing a five-seat electric air taxi, the furthest along in FAA type certification among civilian eVTOL manufacturers.
United States
Archer Aviation
US eVTOL company developing the Midnight air taxi, now acquiring Boeing's Wisk Aero, Insitu and SkyGrid to add autonomy and defense manufacturing.
United States
Vertical Aerospace
UK eVTOL developer building the Valo, a four-passenger electric air taxi targeting UK type certification in 2029, now reviewing strategic alternatives.
United Kingdom
Wisk Aero
US developer of an autonomous four-seat air taxi, wholly owned by Boeing and being sold to Archer Aviation in a deal expected to close by end-2026.
United States
Boeing
Boeing is a US aerospace manufacturer with commercial-airplane, defense and space, and fleet-services businesses.
United States
EHang
Chinese autonomous aerial vehicle company with a type-certified EH216-S passenger eVTOL and related aerial-mobility products.
China
BETA Technologies
Vermont-based electric aircraft maker, listed on the NYSE, building the ALIA CX300 and A250 and the charging network they run on.
United States
Elroy Air
US developer of the Chaparral autonomous hybrid-electric VTOL cargo aircraft, contracted by the US Army and heading for a Nasdaq listing via SPAC merger.
United States
Contracts
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Not-to-exceed undefinitized modification for three MQ-25A Stingray low-rate initial production Lot 1…
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Engineering and integration of an updated radio-frequency blanker and encrypted mass storage for the…
U.S. Army
Elroy Air
SBIR Phase III contract to develop an autonomous Group 4 hybrid vertical take-off cargo drone for…
U.S. Navy
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Engineering and hardware for laboratory testing to certify the MQ-25A mission management computer's…