Joby Aviation, a company developing electric air taxis for commercial passenger service, today announced it has acquired an existing facility at Dayton International Airport and begun hiring to support initial manufacturing operations in Dayton, Ohio.
The facility will be fitted out to support initial manufacturing operations expected to begin later this year. The factory will be used to make aircraft parts in support of Joby’s Pilot Production Line in Marina, California.
Joby’s acquisition of the on-airport plant is the first step in the company’s plan to develop facilities capable of building up to 500 aircraft per year in Dayton, which is expected to include the design and construction of a larger greenfield factory.
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In a statement, Didier Papadopoulos, president of aircraft OEM at Joby, said the company was pleased to acquire the "underutilized facility" and plans repurpose it as a "modern, high-tech manufacturing center." The factory will be Joby's initial manufacturing footprint in the region and is scheduled to begin manufacturing titanium and aluminum aircraft parts later this year.
Joby announced in September 2023 that it had selected Dayton, Ohio, as the location for its scaled manufacturing facility, capable of producing up to 500 electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft per year, with plans to invest up to $500 million and create up to 2,000 high-quality, clean manufacturing jobs in the region.
Joby’s electric air taxi is designed to carry a pilot and four passengers at speeds of up to 200 mph, offering high-speed mobility with a fraction of the noise produced by helicopters and zero operating emissions.
