48 Air Taxi Statistics

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These air taxi figures cover the measurement periods and populations identified in the available source material. Estimates, surveys and forecasts retain their reported scope.

Key Air Taxi Statistics

The main findings are:

  • The NASA-commissioned near-term combined air-taxi and airport-shuttle market was estimated at about 55,000 trips per day across the modeled U.S. urbanized areas (near-term scenario reported in 2024 paper; 484 U.S. urbanized areas extrapolated from 10 cities).
  • The modeled near-term air-taxi and airport-shuttle ticket price was at least $6.25 per passenger mile (near-term scenario reported in 2024 paper; U.S. modeled market).
  • Joby reports an expected payload of up to 1,000 pounds for its planned aircraft (2024 Form 10-K design disclosure; Joby planned aircraft).
  • NASA’s piloted-UAM-taxi perception survey had approximately 1,700 valid responses for each reported attribute, including N=1,707 for dependable and N=1,706 for safe (2018 exploratory survey; Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco Bay Area, New York City and Washington, D.C.).
  • Joby reported $136,000 of flight-services revenue in 2024 (year ended December 31, 2024; Joby Aviation).
  • Archer reported 1,148 people in its workforce at December 31, 2024, including 774 full-time employees and 374 contingent workers (Archer Aviation).
  • The same near-term study estimated about 80,000 daily passengers for the combined air-taxi and airport-shuttle market (near-term scenario reported in 2024 paper; 484 U.S. urbanized areas).
  • The same modeled ticket price was reported as $3.88 per passenger kilometer (near-term scenario reported in 2024 paper; U.S. modeled market).
  • Joby’s planned aircraft has a target speed of up to 200 miles per hour (2024 Form 10-K design disclosure; Joby planned aircraft).
  • For the piloted taxi scenario, 40% strongly agreed and 21% agreed that UAM was dependable (2018 exploratory survey; five U.S. metropolitan regions).
  • Joby reported $1.032 million of flight-services revenue in 2023 (year ended December 31, 2023; Joby Aviation).
  • Archer reported $834.5 million in cash and cash equivalents at December 31, 2024 (Archer Aviation).
  • The modeled combined market was approximately 0.1% of total daily work trips (near-term scenario reported in 2024 paper; U.S. urbanized areas).
  • The modeled 2050 global UAM fleet ranged from 0.68 million to 5.5 million vehicles depending on scenario (2050 scenarios; global UAM scenarios).
  • Joby’s planned aircraft has a target range of up to 100 miles on one charge (2024 Form 10-K design disclosure; Joby planned aircraft).

Contents

Air taxi statistics: market demand and trip volumes

  • The NASA-commissioned near-term combined air-taxi and airport-shuttle market was estimated at about 55,000 trips per day across the modeled U.S. urbanized areas (near-term scenario reported in 2024 paper; 484 U.S. urbanized areas extrapolated from 10 cities). (A city-centric approach to estimate…)
  • The same near-term study estimated about 80,000 daily passengers for the combined air-taxi and airport-shuttle market (near-term scenario reported in 2024 paper; 484 U.S. urbanized areas). (A city-centric approach to estimate…)
  • The modeled combined market was approximately 0.1% of total daily work trips (near-term scenario reported in 2024 paper; U.S. urbanized areas). (A city-centric approach to estimate…)
  • The NASA-commissioned study estimated that about 4,000 aircraft could serve the modeled combined near-term demand (near-term scenario reported in 2024 paper; U.S. urbanized areas). (A city-centric approach to estimate…)
  • The reference Munich UAM network scenario produced a modal share of about 0.5% of total transport volume (reference scenario through 2030; Munich metropolitan area). (A city-centric approach to estimate…)
  • The global city-centric study used 990 cities for preliminary intra-city air-taxi demand estimation (study scenario, published 2024; global city sample). (A city-centric approach to estimate…)
  • The modeled U.S. daily motorized-trip rate for journeys of 10–300 km was 1.54 trips per inhabitant per day (input used in 2024 city-centric model; United States mobility-data input). (A city-centric approach to estimate…)
  • In the 2050 intermodal UAM scenario, inner-city market penetration assumptions ranged from 0% to 2% (2050 scenario; global city clusters). (A city-centric approach to estimate…)
  • The same 2050 scenario used 15% penetration for airport-shuttle trips (global city clusters). (A city-centric approach to estimate…)
  • The same 2050 scenario used 7% penetration for regional UAM trips (global city clusters). (A city-centric approach to estimate…)

Modeled potential demand, not observed commercial trips; includes air taxi and airport shuttle together.

Model estimate; combines two service types and should not be read as current ridership.

Share is from a constrained demand model, not an observed mode share.

Fleet requirement is model-dependent and includes both air taxi and airport shuttle demand.

UAM includes the modeled network and is not identical to a pure air-taxi service.

Study-wide modeled coverage; not a count of operating air-taxi markets.

Ground-mobility input used to model UAM eligibility, not air-taxi usage.

Scenario assumption, not a realized adoption rate.

Scenario assumption and service category differs from inner-city air taxi.

Scenario assumption; regional UAM is broader than urban air taxi.

Air taxi statistics: fares, market penetration and fleet needs

  • The modeled near-term air-taxi and airport-shuttle ticket price was at least $6.25 per passenger mile (near-term scenario reported in 2024 paper; U.S. modeled market). (A city-centric approach to estimate…)
  • The same modeled ticket price was reported as $3.88 per passenger kilometer (near-term scenario reported in 2024 paper; U.S. modeled market). (A city-centric approach to estimate…)
  • The modeled 2050 global UAM fleet ranged from 0.68 million to 5.5 million vehicles depending on scenario (2050 scenarios; global UAM scenarios). (A city-centric approach to estimate…)
  • The 2050 global inner-city portion of the modeled fleet ranged from 0.5 million to 4.2 million vehicles (2050 scenarios; global inner-city UAM). (A city-centric approach to estimate…)
  • The NASA-commissioned U.S. demand analysis examined 10 cities in detail before extrapolating to 484 urbanized areas (study design reported in 2024 paper). (A city-centric approach to estimate…)

Estimated fare floor from a model; not a currently posted universal fare.

Reported source conversion; modeled fare, not observed price.

UAM fleet includes inner-city and other use cases, not only air taxis.

Scenario range; includes modeled inner-city UAM vehicles beyond one operator or aircraft type.

Geographic extrapolation; counts describe the model scope, not operating locations.

Air taxi aircraft statistics: capacity, speed and range

  • Joby reports an expected payload of up to 1,000 pounds for its planned aircraft (2024 Form 10-K design disclosure; Joby planned aircraft). (Joby Aviation, Inc. Form 10-K…)
  • Joby’s planned aircraft has a target speed of up to 200 miles per hour (2024 Form 10-K design disclosure; Joby planned aircraft). (Joby Aviation, Inc. Form 10-K…)
  • Joby’s planned aircraft has a target range of up to 100 miles on one charge (2024 Form 10-K design disclosure; Joby planned aircraft). (Joby Aviation, Inc. Form 10-K…)
  • Joby’s modeling says more than 99% of urban routes in cities such as New York City and Los Angeles are shorter than 100 miles (2024 Form 10-K modeling disclosure; New York City and Los Angeles examples). (Joby Aviation, Inc. Form 10-K…)
  • Joby states its planned air-taxi journeys could be up to 10 times faster than driving (2024 Form 10-K company target; planned urban service). (Joby Aviation, Inc. Form 10-K…)
  • Archer describes Midnight’s intended short-distance mission around 20 miles per trip (2024 Form 10-K design disclosure; Archer intended urban air-taxi mission). (Archer Aviation Inc. Form 10-K…)
  • Archer’s Midnight propulsion platform uses 12 tilt rotors and 6 electric propulsion units (2024 Form 10-K design disclosure; Archer Midnight aircraft). (Archer Aviation Inc. Form 10-K…)

Company target; actual certified payload may differ.

Target specification, not an observed service average.

Target range; real-world range depends on payload, weather, reserves and certification assumptions.

Company modeling; it is not a measurement of all urban routes worldwide.

Company claim and target comparison, not an observed average across routes.

Mission-design target, not an observed operating average.

Company technical description; it is an aircraft configuration count, not a safety outcome.

Air taxi adoption statistics: passenger perceptions and willingness

  • NASA’s piloted-UAM-taxi perception survey had approximately 1,700 valid responses for each reported attribute, including N=1,707 for dependable and N=1,706 for safe (2018 exploratory survey; Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco Bay Area, New York City and Washington, D.C.). (NASA UAM Market Study –…)
  • For the piloted taxi scenario, 40% strongly agreed and 21% agreed that UAM was dependable (2018 exploratory survey; five U.S. metropolitan regions). (NASA UAM Market Study –…)
  • For the piloted taxi scenario, 41% strongly agreed and 22% agreed that UAM was reliable (2018 exploratory survey; five U.S. metropolitan regions). (NASA UAM Market Study –…)
  • For the piloted taxi scenario, 38% strongly agreed and 17% agreed that UAM was safe (2018 exploratory survey; five U.S. metropolitan regions). (NASA UAM Market Study –…)
  • For the piloted taxi scenario, 38% strongly agreed and 17% agreed that UAM was secure against deliberate threats (2018 exploratory survey; five U.S. metropolitan regions). (NASA UAM Market Study –…)
  • For the remotely piloted taxi scenario, 39% strongly agreed and 17% agreed that UAM was dependable (2018 exploratory survey; five U.S. metropolitan regions). (NASA UAM Market Study –…)
  • For the remotely piloted taxi scenario, 34% strongly agreed and 15% agreed that UAM was safe (2018 exploratory survey; five U.S. metropolitan regions). (NASA UAM Market Study –…)
  • For the automated taxi with no flight attendants scenario, 40% strongly agreed and 28% agreed that UAM was reliable (2018 exploratory survey; five U.S. metropolitan regions). (NASA UAM Market Study –…)
  • For the automated taxi with no flight attendants scenario, 38% strongly agreed and 23% agreed that UAM was safe (2018 exploratory survey; five U.S. metropolitan regions). (NASA UAM Market Study –…)

Stated perceptions about a hypothetical service; valid N varies by item.

Hypothetical stated attitude; do not interpret as actual ride adoption.

Hypothetical stated attitude.

Perceived safety in a scenario, not an accident or incident rate.

Perception measure, not a measured security performance rate.

Hypothetical scenario; remote-pilot concept is not equivalent to deployed commercial air-taxi service.

Perceived safety, not an operational safety rate.

Hypothetical automated service with no flight attendants; stated attitude only.

Perceived safety, not an observed safety outcome.

Air taxi industry statistics: company revenue, losses and investment

The reported joby’s net loss figures cover Joby Aviation.

Measurement period Joby’s net loss (U.S. dollars)
year ended December 31, 2024 $608.034 million
year ended December 31, 2023 $513.050 million
year ended December 31, 2022 $258.043 million

Source: Joby Aviation, Inc. Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024.

Company revenue, not total air-taxi industry revenue.

Company revenue; filing’s flight-services line is not an industry-wide ridership measure.

Audited company expense, not an industry investment total.

Audited company expense.

Audited company net loss; not a measure of service profitability for the whole sector.

Audited company net loss.

Audited company expense, not an industry total.

Air taxi deployment statistics: certification, orders and operating readiness

  • Archer reported 1,148 people in its workforce at December 31, 2024, including 774 full-time employees and 374 contingent workers (Archer Aviation). (Archer Aviation Inc. Form 10-K…)
  • Archer reported $834.5 million in cash and cash equivalents at December 31, 2024 (Archer Aviation). (Archer Aviation Inc. Form 10-K…)
  • Archer reported cumulative losses of approximately $1.7 billion through December 31, 2024 (Archer Aviation). (Archer Aviation Inc. Form 10-K…)
  • Archer’s United purchase agreement covers up to $1.0 billion of aircraft, with an option for another $500 million (agreement disclosed in 2024 Form 10-K; Archer-United agreement). (Archer Aviation Inc. Form 10-K…)
  • Archer reported a $10.0 million pre-delivery payment received from United at December 31, 2024 (Archer-United agreement). (Archer Aviation Inc. Form 10-K…)
  • Archer reported $1.8 million in installment payments from a U.S. Air Force Midnight contract at December 31, 2024 (Archer-U.S. Air Force contract). (Archer Aviation Inc. Form 10-K…)
  • Joby had 787,816,925 common shares outstanding as of February 24, 2025 (Joby Aviation). (Joby Aviation, Inc. Form 10-K…)
  • Joby reported a $3.03 billion aggregate market value of voting and non-voting equity held by non-affiliates on June 30, 2024 (Joby Aviation). (Joby Aviation, Inc. Form 10-K…)

Company workforce count; it is not the number of licensed air-taxi pilots or operating staff.

Balance-sheet measure, not available capital after all commitments.

Company cumulative loss; not an industry-wide total.

Conditional agreement; obligations depend on certification and other terms and may not become revenue.

Accounting contract liability; it is not evidence of delivered aircraft or completed service flights.

Payment disclosure; contract funding is conditional on accepted deliverables.

Corporate share count, included as an industry-company scale indicator rather than an operating metric.

SEC filing market-value disclosure; it is not company funding or air-taxi market size.

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