Federal regulators opened the way for electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft to share U.S. airspace with planes and helicopters on Wednesday, a victory for the burgeoning industry and a well-timed one for startups like Joby Aviation and Archer Aviation, which are expected to launch commercial air taxi networks in 2025.

The Federal Aviation Administration Tuesday published its much-anticipated final ruling on the integration of "powered-lift" vehicles, a category the FAA revived two years ago to accommodate eVTOLs and one that describes aircraft that can take off and land like helicopters but then transition to forward flight like airplanes.

Powered-lift aircraft are the first new category of aircraft in nearly 80 years and this historic rule will pave the way for accommodating wide-scale Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) operations in the future, FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker said in a statement. Whitaker announced the rule during the NBAA-Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition in Las Vegas.

It also includes some provisions concerning operating rules and pilot training guidelines. An example of this is introducing a new type of powered-lift pilot certification and an expanded opportunity for operators to train and qualify pilots using flight simulation training devices.
Informed by the above, the different operating rules created in the final rule are specific to powered-lift vehicles and consequently grant eVTOLs the flexibility to switch between helicopter and airplane rules whenever necessary.

Joby, Archer, Beta Technologies, and Wisk Aero-the companies developing aircraft for urban air taxi networks, defense, cargo, and medical logistics-are working with the FAA since 2022 to craft this new rule set on training, operations, and maintenance.

It lines up with all the hopes that we have been designing for," says Greg Bowles, head of government affairs at Joby Aviation to TechCrunch. "So the way that we've designed the operating system, the cockpit we've designed, the way we've designed for energy reserves, all line up with the FAA rule.".

Bowles further states that the type certification when received by the FAA will enable Joby to start commercial operation. That is to say that the design of the aircraft manufactured by the startup as well as other large parts of an aircraft meet the bare minimum safety and airworthiness standards. Joby has reached the fourth of five stages toward type certification, and recently received a $500 million injection in capital from Toyota to help it finish crossing.