Paris Air Mobility Panelists Say…

Joby Aviation CEO & Founder JoeBen Bevirt: “We’re going to be shortly rolling our first aircraft off the production line.” Toyota invested $400 million in Joby and it has been “working shoulder to shoulder with us to lay the foundation for not just our pilot manufacturing facility, but also our phase-one production line.”

Airbus Head of Urban Air Mobility Balkiz Sarihan: Customers consistently say “do not replicate what I can get out of my fixed wing or rotary wing aircraft. Give me something that fills the gap. So here’s where we have the potential to build something that fills that gap…and pushes the boundaries.” Yet simultaneously, “When we are testing electric flight on CityAirbus NextGen, we’re also helping to accelerate, for example, the hybridization of our helicopters.”

Volocopter CEO Dirk Hoke: “We believe the urban market is 60% and the regional market is 40%,” which is why it has two aircraft designs—one for each—but it is starting with VoloCity, the version it plans to fly next year for the Paris Olympics.

Wisk CEO Brian Yutko: “The Wisk use case is passenger carrying autonomous mobility. So we are direct to autonomous. We’re certifying an autonomous airplane today because we think that it’s a key in this industry to safety and scalability.”

Groupe ADP Deputy Director of International Development, AAM Global Program Lead Joyce Abou Moussa: ADP started investing in advanced air mobility infrastructure five years ago because “we understand that advanced air mobility might impact in unprecedented ways the way an airport operates, and the way airports impact the connection between its premises and the city.”

Archer CEO & Founder Adam Goldstein: “Our goal is entry into service of ‘airport-city center’ routes that have comparable pricing to [car] rideshare.” He adds that “I think the biggest unknown when it comes to pricing is going to be landing fees.”

magniX CTO Riona Armesmith: “We have a $100 million program with NASA” for an electrified, powertrain flight demonstration program that includes working with the NASA and FAA to identify and “address the key entry-into-service barriers of electric propulsion systems.”