Joby Partners with Air Space Intelligence for US Air Taxi Management

With the first commercial electric air taxi flights in the United States expected later this year, a critical challenge is coming into focus. While aircraft like Joby Aviation’s eVTOL are nearing certification, the nation’s air traffic system must adapt to manage hundreds of these new vehicles safely. A new partnership between Joby and Air Space Intelligence aims to solve this problem proactively by integrating advanced AI into airspace management before operations scale.

The collaboration will leverage ASI’s Flyways AI platform to model and coordinate high-density eVTOL traffic, accelerating integration into the U. S. National Airspace System. Live operational demonstrations are planned before the end of 2026, directly aligning with Joby’s commercial launch timeline. This move shifts the industry’s focus from vehicle development to the essential digital infrastructure required for safe, scaled operations.

ASI brings a proven track record from conventional aviation. Its core PRESCIENCE platform creates a four-dimensional digital twin of airspace, synthesizing live traffic, weather, and forecasts to simulate conditions hours ahead. The commercial Flyways AI layer translates these simulations into actionable recommendations for air traffic controllers, enabling proactive management. This existing work with entities like Alaska Airlines and the U. S. Department of Defense provides a dataset and regulatory credibility that is invaluable for the nascent advanced air mobility sector.

Applying this technology to eVTOLs is a strategic extension. Bernard Asare, President of Civil Aviation at ASI, emphasized that scaling this new form of mobility demands a new operating system for the sky. The Flyways platform is designed to give operators and controllers the predictive awareness needed to coordinate dense operations from the outset, moving beyond reactive responses.

Joby contributes deep operational experience and key regulatory progress. The company has completed over a thousand test flights, is in the final stages of FAA type certification, and holds designations under the White House’s eVTOL Integration Pilot Programme. This provides a pathway to begin early passenger operations in states including New York, Florida, and Texas. Joby’s established ecosystem, featuring partnerships with Delta Air Lines, Toyota, and vertiport developer Metropolis, offers a real-world foundation for testing integration.

The partnership’s timing is strategic, coinciding with the FAA’s development of the Brand New Air Traffic Control System. This multi-billion dollar overhaul of national infrastructure will include tools for new traffic categories like eVTOLs. By conducting exercises with Flyways AI ahead of the BNATCS rollout, Joby and ASI can generate crucial data to inform the standards that will govern the entire industry. They are positioned not just to prepare their own services but to help author the future rulebook.

A central challenge lies at the intersection of aviation safety and AI governance. Systems operating in this safety-critical domain must be explainable and auditable. ASI’s simulation-based approach, which produces human-interpretable scenarios instead of black-box outputs, is designed to meet this regulatory necessity. The platform integrates directly into existing air traffic control workflows, augmenting human judgment rather than operating as a separate, parallel system. This philosophy of augmentation may prove vital as regulators define the permissible role of AI in airspace management.

The next phase involves live operational exercises in 2026, likely in markets like New York or Florida where Joby has regulatory approvals. The data generated will be submitted to the FAA to aid the broader integration process. The partnership is currently a technical collaboration without disclosed financial terms, focused on co-developing protocols and sharing data. Its ultimate structure may evolve as commercial operations scale and the role of AI coordination solidifies.

The technical achievement of building a certified eVTOL is monumental, but it is only one part of the equation. Successfully introducing a new transportation layer requires an equally sophisticated airspace management system. This collaboration represents a decisive step toward building the intelligent infrastructure that will determine whether the sky itself is ready for the coming revolution.