California-based eVTOL developer Joby Aviation has partnered with New York City’s Aviation High School to help prepare the next generation of aircraft engineers for “the electric age of flight,” the company announced this week.
With Joby and several competing firms planning to operate thousands of eVTOL air taxis before the end of this decade, there will be an increasing need for engineers, maintenance technicians, and other types of aviation professionals. Through this new partnership with Joby, students at Aviation High School will have the chance to get a head start in the burgeoning eVTOL industry.
Founded in 1936 in Long Island City, a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens, Aviation High School is a public school certified by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to train aircraft maintenance technicians. More than 2,000 students from across New York City’s five boroughs attend the school.
“With electrification and air taxis set to revolutionize the aviation industry, we are excited to partner with Joby to inspire and train our students to work with these cutting-edge technologies and prepare the talented young men and women of New York City for successful careers in the aviation world of tomorrow,” said Steven Jackson, the principal of Aviation High School.
“Industry partnerships such as the one between Aviation High School and Joby Aviation are key in ensuring our career-pathways programs are exciting, relevant to students’ interests, and valuable in preparing our young people for life after graduation,” said New York City Schools chancellor David Banks.
Joby, which recently relocated its headquarters to a new facility in Santa Cruz, says it has recently delivered four virtual-reality simulators to the high school, giving students the opportunity to virtually fly the company’s eVTOL aircraft. A company spokeswoman told FutureFlight that the students will also have opportunities to fly the actual aircraft.
"In addition, what we think is really special about this partnership is the opportunity to work with AVHS faculty on incorporating electric propulsion and other novel technologies into the school’s curriculum so they’ll be among the first maintainers trained up on the electric age of flight," the spokeswoman told FutureFlight.
Joby’s eVTOL is a fully electric, piloted aircraft designed to carry four passengers up to 150 miles (240 kilometers). Joby says it has completed more than 1,000 test flights with its prototypes so far, and it aims to achieve type certification in 2024, with passenger operations starting in late 2024 or 2025.
According to Joby, 100 students at the school have already enrolled in Joby’s online Private Pilot Ground School course, which teaches basic aerodynamics and piloting skills. In January, Joby launched the Joby Aviation Academy, exclusively for its employees and their family members, as a “beta test” for its educational programs. At the time, the company tweeted that more than 400 people had signed up for the Private Pilot Ground School course. The course remains exclusively available to Joby employees, their immediate families, and Aviation High School students.
