It’s not a helicopter: can this electric aircraft transform New York air travel?

Workers and a test pilot prepare a Joby Aviation electric aircraft for takeoff from JFK airport on Monday. Photograph: Spencer Platt/Getty ImagesView image in fullscreenWorkers and a test pilot prepare a Joby Aviation electric aircraft for takeoff from JFK airport on Monday. Photograph: Spencer Platt/Getty ImagesNew YorkIt’s not a helicopter: can this electric aircraft transform New York air travel?Joby Aviation says its ‘quiet’ aircraft travels to Manhattan from JFK in 10 minutes at a ‘premium car service’ priceAdam Gabbatt in New YorkTue 28 Apr 2026 08.00 EDTLast modified on Tue 28 Apr 2026 08.02 EDTSharePrefer the Guardian on GoogleIt’s neither a bird nor a plane, and it is vehemently not a helicopter, but instead this week some New Yorkers witnessed an “electric vertical takeoff and landing” aircraft buzzing around the city, which developers say could revolutionize travel in New York.Joby Aviation’s fully electric aircraft conducted multiple flights from JFK airport in Queens to Manhattan in recent days, which would have turned heads to anyone looking up. It’s a futuristic looking design, somewhere between helicopter and drone, and is capable of speeds up to 200mph.That gets it from JFK to midtown Manhattan in about 10 minutes, compared with more than an hour in a car, and about the same on public transport. Crucially, Joby claims it is quieter than a helicopter, something which could satisfy New York’s anti-helicopter lobby and also preserve passengers’ ears.But one of the important things to know about the Joby electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft is that it is not a helicopter. The company is adamant about that.“It’s an aircraft, but that’s about the only similarities,” Eric Allison, chief product officer at Joby Aviation, told the Guardian on Monday. “It takes off and lands vertically, like a helicopter, but it has six propellers, which point up when it’s taking off and landing, and then they tilt forward to allow forward flight like an aircraft.”View image in fullscreenAn electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft by Joby Aviation at the John F Kennedy international airport. Photograph: Yuki Iwamura/APPeople can make up their own minds about whether it looks like a helicopter or not, but Allison’s point was that the Joby uses its wings to fly as much as it does its blades. He said the fact it has six propellers makes it safer than some other options, and stressed, as the company does repeatedly, its quietness.“When it’s taking off and landing 100 meters away from here, it’s basically blended into the background noise. And when it’s flying over a city environment, and flying over at 1,000 feet, which is about the minimum altitude, is basically silent,” Allison said.Helicopters are common in New York. People can take non-electric helicopters to JFK – and they take about the same amount of time to get there – and at any given time tourist helicopters are flying about the sky around Manhattan. But Joby hopes their lower decibel, and more environmentally friendly offering, will be enough to transform New York air travel.Whether those things are enough to quiet the New York groups who are fighting to reduce helicopter noise, and ban nonessential flights, remains to be seen. Stop the Chop, a grassroots non-profit group which operates in New Jersey and New York, has spent years lobbying against “incessant and loud non-essential helicopter flights over our homes, parks and open spaces detract from the urban oases…

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