Joby Aviation, a company developing electric air taxis for commercial passenger service, has signed a definitive agreement with Clay Lacy Aviation to install Southern California’s first electric air taxi charger at John Wayne Airport (SNA) in Orange County, California.
The installation of electrical infrastructure to support Joby’s Global Electric Aviation Charging System (GEACS) comes as part of Clay Lacy’s planned US$100 million redevelopment of its fixed-based operator (FBO) terminal at SNA, targeting completion in mid-2025.
The GEACS charging interface is already in use at Joby’s flight test center in Marina, California and at Edwards Air Force Base.
“Today’s announcement marks a key moment on the path to delivering our air taxi service in the Greater Los Angeles area,” said JoeBen Bevirt, founder and CEO of Joby. “We’re taking concrete steps to ensure the right infrastructure is in place to support our future service and we’re grateful to be working with an industry pioneer like Clay Lacy Aviation to lead the way on bringing sustainable aviation to Southern California.
“The charging technology we have developed is optimized to support our whole industry, from air taxis delivering short range city flights to more conventional electric aircraft flying longer distances. Joby made the specifications for the universal charging interface freely available to the wider industry in November 2023, to help accelerate the transition to clean flight. We’re therefore very pleased to see it being adopted in this key market,” he said.
Scott Cutshall, SVP Strategy and Sustainability at Clay Lacy Aviation said, “Since our founding more than 50 years ago, Clay Lacy has been committed to improving lives for our community, employees, and clients; leading the industry on safety and service while taking action to reduce emissions in both our ground and air operations. We’re excited to be working with Joby to install Southern California’s first air taxi charger and we look forward to the greater convenience it will bring to the Orange County community without additional noise or emissions.”
Clay Lacy’s all-new FBO development at John Wayne Airport is expected to be the first in the world to be Gold-certified by the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure (ISI), reinforcing the company’s longstanding commitment to leadership on sustainability in aviation.
Last year, Joby completed the first-ever flight of an electric air taxi in New York City – another of Joby’s target launch markets – coinciding with an announcement by the city’s leadership to electrify the iconic Downtown Manhattan Heliport.
