Joby Aviation has become the first eVTOL aircraft developer to complete the third of five stages of the FAA type certification process.

During the third stage of the process, Joby submitted certification plans that cover all of the aircraft's structural, mechanical and electrical systems, as well as the company's intended certification approach to cybersecurity, human factors and noise.

These certification plans, which detail the tests and analyses that Joby will use to certify every aspect of its aircraft for commercial use, have now all been reviewed and accepted by the FAA, laying the groundwork for Joby to submit test plans and begin for-credit testing across every area of the company's aircraft programme.

Founder and CEO JoeBen Bevirt comments: "Joby continues to lead the industry towards bringing electric air taxis to the commercial market. Our certification and engineering teams are best-in-class and, working closely with the FAA, continue to support US leadership in this new area of aviation."

Joby is now fully focused on the fourth stage of the certification process, where it will complete tests and analysis for FAA credit covering every component and system on the aircraft, as well as the entire aircraft itself.

"With all of our certification plans accepted by the FAA, we are now completely focused on the execution phase of the certification process. We have a clear path to certifying every aspect of our aircraft, and the team is full steam ahead on executing against that path as we continue to lead the industry to commercialisation," adds president of aircraft OEM Didier Papadopoulos.

In the fourth quarter 2023, Joby completed 30 for-credit tests covering a number of flight electronics units as well as structural materials. The testing methods and processes validated through these tests lay the foundation for the company's continued expansion of FAA for-credit testing.

Joby also recently received its Part 145 repair station certificate from the FAA, allowing it to perform select maintenance activities on aircraft.

Joby's electric air taxi is designed to carry a pilot and four passengers at speeds of up to 200 mph.