Joby Aviation expands Monterey County site, adds sixth aircraft to its test fleet

MARINA – Joby Aviation announced the expansion of its site at the Marina Municipal Airport in Marina, which doubles its aircraft production capacity at that location and supports the scale-up of commercial operations while bringing Joby’s total presence at the airport to about 435,500 square feet.

With its newly expanded Marina facility, the company said it plans to add hundreds of full-time jobs to support increased aircraft production.

Joby Aviation made the announcement on Tuesday, with the company saying that it also expanded its flight test program with the addition of another aircraft from its pilot manufacturing line in Marina to its growing fleet of six aircraft. That fleet includes two aircraft stationed at Edwards Air Force Base, where they are completing testing in conjunction with the company’s defense partners.

In May, JoeBen Bevirt, founder and CEO of Joby, said that with six aircraft in the Joby test fleet, flying multiple aircraft at a time will play an important role in accelerating its certification testing and supporting plans to carry passengers for the first time next year.

Joby has been doing business in Marina for about seven years and is developing an all-electric, vertical take-off and landing air taxi designed to carry a pilot and up to four passengers at speeds up to 200 mph, offering high-speed mobility with a fraction of the noise produced by helicopters and zero operating emissions.

Once fully operational, the expanded Marina site is expected to be able to produce up to 24 aircraft per year, which is nearly one every other week, says Joby Aviation. It will also provide key capabilities including its initial FAA production certification, conforming ground and flight testing components, pilot training simulators and aircraft maintenance.

“Reimagining urban mobility takes speed, scale, and precision manufacturing,” said Joby Chief Product Officer Eric Allison in a press release. “Our expanded manufacturing footprint in both California and Ohio is preparing us to do just that. We celebrated the opening of the new facility with the flight of our sixth aircraft, which earned airworthiness certification within a week of completion.”

In September 2023, Joby Aviation chose Dayton, Ohio, as the site for its new manufacturing plant. Currently, Dayton has a newly renovated facility that will manufacture and test aircraft components for Joby’s Pilot Production Line in Marina. The Dayton site demonstrates the capabilities required for FAA production certification and supports the company’s plans to scale operations. Equipment installation is underway, with production ramping up to eventually build up to 500 aircraft a year at that location.

In April 2024, with the second production prototype aircraft to roll off its pilot production line as a backdrop, Joby broke ground on its new 220,000-square-foot manufacturing facility at the Marina Municipal Airport. In May, the company announced it was nearing completion and would be handed over to the Joby team shortly thereafter. The new building more than doubles Joby’s manufacturing footprint in Marina and also houses an expanded pilot training and flight simulation center as well as aircraft maintenance facilities designed to support the scaling of its commercial operations.

Strong support from the local workforce and community-based organizations, elected officials, city and county leaders, and nonprofit partners was instrumental in bringing the expanded facility to life, according to Joby Aviation. In 2023, Joby was awarded a $9.8 million grant from Gov. Newsom’s Office of Business and Economic Development to accelerate its growth. The company also benefited from a program through the California State Treasurer’s Office, which helped reduce equipment costs by $10 million, supporting Joby’s efforts to scale today.

The Marina facility is one of three in California with others at Santa Cruz — where the company is headquartered — and San Carlos, which supports powertrain and electronics. Joby Aviation also has a facility in Munich where it focuses on roles such as process engineering, manufacturing engineering, quality inspection and computer numerical control operations.

The opening of the new manufacturing space in Marina is a big step forward as Joby gets ready to scale production and enter the market, according to the company. It said achieving this comes down to, among other things, being committed to American innovation by drawing on top talent at its California and Ohio facilities.  Joby designs, builds, and tests its aircraft in the U.S..