Joby and BETA fly Florida's first eIPP demonstrations from St. Petersburg to Tampa

The Federal Aviation Administration said on October 30, 2026 that Florida had completed its first demonstration flights under the eVTOL Integration Pilot Program. The FAA's release says the Florida Department of Transportation conducted the flights with Joby and BETA Technologies, and that Florida is the seventh location to launch under the program. It says BETA's ALIA CX300, which it describes as an electric conventional-takeoff-and-landing aircraft, and Joby's S4 electric eVTOL flew from Albert Whitted Airport to Tampa, retracing the 1914 passenger route. Joby's release, datelined Tampa and timed 1:02 p.m. EDT the same day, says the company was launching a week of piloted flights with FDOT and that the October 30 leg was a point-to-point flight from Albert Whitted Airport (SPG) in downtown St. Petersburg to Tampa International Airport (TPA).

Aviation International News, in a report dated October 31 by Hanneke Weitering, says the two aircraft took off from Albert Whitted at about 10 a.m. and landed together at Tampa International about 20 minutes later. AIN describes BETA's aircraft as the first production-conforming ALIA CX300, registered N916LF, and Joby's as a conforming prototype S4, registered N545JX. Flying Magazine, dated October 30, says FlightAware showed N545JX leaving Albert Whitted at 10:01 a.m. EDT and landing at Tampa International 20 minutes later, and that recorded tower audio had the aircraft enter Class B airspace, fly a low approach and a right downwind, and land on Runway 1R. Those times and the runway are Flying Magazine's account of FlightAware and the audio. This page did not open FlightAware.

The governor's office described the same morning as Florida's first advanced air mobility electric-aircraft demonstration. The page, which shows October 2026 without a day number, says two aircraft took off from Albert Whitted, flew in formation over Tampa Bay, and landed at Signature Aviation at Tampa International, with thousands of spectators. The FAA release dated October 30 quotes the same remarks from Governor Ron DeSantis. The governor's office calls the aircraft "flying cars." The FAA page distinguishes Joby's eVTOL from BETA's conventional-takeoff ALIA.

The photograph is the side-by-side flight. Aviation International News published it with the October 31 report. Flying Magazine published the same scene and credits BETA Technologies. AIN's article text identifies the aircraft as N545JX and N916LF. The picture is not a passenger service.

What flew, and what did not

The aircraft BETA flew in this demonstration is the CX300, the conventional-takeoff ALIA, not the vertical-takeoff A250. AIN quotes BETA founder and chief executive Kyle Clark, from an October 21 conversation, saying "We're not flying the VTOL in Florida right now," and that he expects the A250 to join eIPP "realistically, just under a year from now." The special airworthiness market survey certificate announced on October 21 applies to the A250. It is a special airworthiness certificate, not a type certificate, and it is not the authorization AIN describes for this Tampa Bay flight.

AIN's "conforming prototype" and "production-conforming" wording is AIN's description of the two airframes. Neither phrase is a type certificate. Joby's October 30 release says the company is still moving through the final stages of FAA type certification. That is Joby's description of its program. The release does not say a type certificate has been issued. AIN, writing about other aircraft pitched for South Florida, says none of those aircraft has earned FAA type certification yet. This page does not treat the October 30 flights as certification credit.

AIN also says a second CX300, registered N214BT, flew to Tampa International from St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport earlier that Friday. That is a different aircraft from N916LF. AIN says BETA said its CX300s had completed 14 flights covering nearly 700 nautical miles in the Tampa and Orlando regions under the Florida eIPP project. That figure is BETA's, as reported by AIN, and it covers more than the October 30 crossing.

On the FAA page, Clark describes earlier flying with Republic Airways along the I-4 corridor, up to nine legs a day, with energy costs under $17 per leg. That quotation is about those earlier legs. It is not a measurement of the October 30 demonstration. The FAA release says the Tampa Bay flights were to test cargo deliveries and routes. It does not say cargo or passengers were carried on this crossing. The governor's office calls the series a fact-finding mission for regulations, infrastructure and operating procedures.

Orlando, the Space Coast, and what is still a plan

Joby's release lists two further stops, and it says the schedule is subject to change for weather and other factors. At Orlando International Airport (MCO), it describes a flight landing near Terminal C and the train station "at a new vertiport," on routes and procedures it says were developed over two years of simulation with the FAA, NASA, the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority and Orlando controllers. At Kennedy Space Center, it describes a flight at the Shuttle Landing Facility during the UP.Summit. AIN says the S4 will land on November 2 at that Orlando vertiport, which AIN says Joby claims is the country's first eVTOL vertiport at an international airport. AIN says the Electric Skies Tour is to wrap up at Kennedy Space Center on November 7 and 8. Those dates are AIN's account of the plan. The "first vertiport" sentence is Joby's claim, as AIN reports it. It is not an independent count.

On November 4, 2026, FDOT and the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority reported a Joby demonstration that day at MCO's Vertipad Atlantis, which both releases call the pad's first use. Those pages do not mention November 2. The November 2 date remains AIN's account of a plan. A separate post covers the November 4 flight. Kennedy Space Center is not mentioned in the November 4 releases.

A separate report covers an October 21 board agenda item for a temporary vertipad near Terminal C. The sources opened for this story do not say the board approved that item, and they do not say the planned November 2 landing uses that pad.

The FAA release says that in November, FDOT and Electra will conduct flight tests in several locations in central Florida. That is a plan in the release. It is not a report that those tests have happened. Joby's release also says its Blade subsidiary will relaunch a jet service to Miami and Palm Beach in November with Aero. That sentence describes a jet service. It is not this eVTOL flight and not an eIPP operation.

What is not established

No type certificate is reported for the S4 or the CX300. A conforming or production-conforming label is not one. The market survey certificate is a different document, for the A250, and Clark told AIN the VTOL is not the aircraft flying in Florida now. The October 30 flights are demonstrations. The pages opened here do not describe paying passengers, a fare, or a scheduled airline service. Clark told AIN on October 21 that Florida flights would start as noncommercial operations and that Part 135 revenue flights would follow "probably late this year, early next year," with terms and insurance still being reviewed. That timing is his expectation. The November 2 date remains AIN's account of a plan. FDOT and GOAA later reported a demonstration on November 4 at Vertipad Atlantis. The Kennedy Space Center flights are not reported as completed on the pages opened for this story. Any claim that the Orlando site is the first eVTOL site at a commercial airport is the speaker's claim.

Sources

Facts as reported by the linked sources as of Nov 11, 2026. Company targets are plans, not guarantees. Corrections: see About.