Joby flies a demonstration at Orlando International's Vertipad Atlantis

The Florida Department of Transportation and the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority said on November 4, 2026 that Joby Aviation flew a demonstration that day at a vertipad on the campus of Orlando International Airport. FDOT's release, datelined Orlando and marked for immediate release on November 4, says FDOT, the airport and Joby completed what FDOT calls the state's second "flying car" test flight in Florida's Future of Flight Series. GOAA's release the same day says the airport hosted a Joby demonstration at its newly constructed vertipad, and that FDOT hosted the flight. FDOT says Joby piloted the demonstration with its aircraft. Neither release prints a departure time, a route length or a registration in the text.

FDOT says this flight followed the series' first flight, which recreated the 1914 commercial airline route with advanced air mobility aircraft. That earlier crossing is the October 30 St. Petersburg to Tampa demonstration. FDOT says today's flight was the first use of MCO's dedicated vertipad. GOAA names the site Vertipad Atlantis and describes it as a small takeoff and landing area that is laying the groundwork for a future vertiport to handle eVTOL commercial operations on the airport. GOAA says Vertipad Atlantis "is the first in the nation onsite at a commercial airport." FDOT says the vertipad is "the first in the nation which is on-site at a commercial airport." On the FDOT page, Joby chief policy officer Greg Bowles says Orlando International "now has the nation's first eVTOL landing site at a major U.S. airport." Those "first" sentences are the speakers' claims. These pages do not include an independent count of other airport sites.

What the two releases say the flight was for

GOAA says the demonstration used routes and procedures developed through collaboration among the FAA and NASA, and that Orlando air traffic controllers took part so the demonstration reflected operations at a complex airport. On the FDOT page, Bowles says FDOT, GOAA, the FAA and Orlando's controllers spent two years proving in a simulator that an air taxi could fly into Class B airspace while the airport kept running. The October 30 Joby release had described a planned Orlando landing "at a new vertiport" on routes developed over two years of simulation with the FAA, NASA, GOAA and Orlando controllers. The November 4 pages say the demonstration happened. They call the place a vertipad, and GOAA still describes a future vertiport for commercial operations.

FDOT says the demonstration is one of many flights in the Future of Flight Series, which it says have been launching across the state through late October and early November. It says the series is part of Florida's participation in the FAA's eVTOL and Advanced Air Mobility Integration Pilot Program, and that the series will offer insight as the FAA develops regulations, infrastructure and operating procedures. FDOT calls the Orlando metro one of the state's primary corridors for initial deployment, and says the vertipad is meant to support the earliest commercial advanced air mobility flights along the I-4 corridor. That commercial use is described as a purpose of the infrastructure. It is not a report that paying passengers flew on November 4. FDOT also says active testing is underway at its SunTrax facility, and that the program will collect data on noise, airspace integration and other focus areas. This page did not open suntraxfl.com.

GOAA says Joby and FDOT plan flights across the state, and that those efforts are expected to help inform Florida's advanced air mobility network. That sentence is a plan. GOAA's about section says MCO serves nearly 58 million annual passengers. That figure is about the airport. It is not a count of people on this flight.

An October 21 board agenda item proposed a temporary vertipad in the Atlantis Surface Parking Lot, near Terminal C. The November 4 releases use the name Vertipad Atlantis and say the pad was used. They do not report the October 21 vote, and they do not say passenger or cargo carriage for hire is now permitted.

The photograph and the video

The photograph is the one GOAA published with the November 4 release. The page does not give the frame a caption. Registration N545JX is visible on the fuselage. Aviation International News identified N545JX as Joby's conforming prototype S4 on the Tampa Bay demonstration. The November 4 releases do not use the registration or the S4 name in the text. A conforming prototype is not a type certificate. The frame shows the aircraft in flight above trees. It does not show the pad surface, and it does not show passengers boarding.

GOAA links a video, "to see video of the initial eVTOL flight at Orlando International Airport, hosted by the Florida Department of Transportation." The link is a YouTube video titled "GOAA VNR - Joby Demo Flight," from the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority channel, with a YouTube publish date of November 4, 2026. The video is embedded on this page.

What is not established

No type certificate is reported. FDOT's "flying car" wording is the department's phrase for the test flight. GOAA's and FDOT's "first in the nation" sentences are their claims. The releases do not mention November 2. An earlier AIN report had given November 2 as the planned Orlando landing date. That date is not the date these releases use. Kennedy Space Center flights listed in Joby's October 30 plan are not mentioned here, and they are not reported as completed. No fare, no paying passenger and no scheduled airline service are described. A future vertiport for commercial operations is GOAA's description of what the pad is laying groundwork for. It is not a statement that commercial service has started. The October 21 board vote remains unreported on these pages.

Sources

• FDOT: Air taxi landing at Orlando International Airport's vertipad (Nov 4 2026)
• Greater Orlando Aviation Authority: MCO hosts Joby demonstration flight at new vertipad (Nov 4 2026)
• GOAA video on YouTube: GOAA VNR - Joby Demo Flight (Nov 4 2026)
• Aviation International News: Joby and BETA kick off Florida eIPP flights (Oct 31 2026)