#Air taxi part time pilot how to

Joby and its competitors face the challenge of attracting pilots and efficiently educating them at a time when pilot shortages have crimped regional air service in the United States.Ī pipeline of potential recruits will be essential, so to begin building interest, Joby has been teaching a single course of its eventual curriculum - a pilot ground school that is taught virtually and in person at times - to 400 employees and their family members, as it also develops its Aviation Academy, says Bonny Simi, head of air operations and people. The pilot from the October demonstration and several others are now writing and developing a curriculum for training those pilots so that Joby can become a Part 135 airline. Joby’s operational plan, however, calls for having one pilot aboard each of its aircraft. When the California-based company showed off its electric, six-rotor S4 aircraft to a small audience of investors and journalists in October, the unoccupied aircraft flew under the command of a pilot in a “remote cockpit” on a nearby platform. Germany-based Volocopter, on the other hand, plans to seek out only licensed pilots who will then receive training specific to the company’s aircraft.

#Air taxi part time pilot how to

Joby Aviation and Volocopter, two of the leading advanced air mobility developers, have radically divergent strategies for how to train and recruit the hundreds or thousands of pilots they’ll need to begin their air taxi services in just a few years.Ĭalifornia-based Joby is developing a training academy through which it plans to certify commercial pilots under FAA requirements. Credit: Volocopter Joby, Volocopter illustrate divergent pilot training strategies By Paul Brinkmann | January 6, 2023ĭemand for pilots comes at a challenging moment in the air transport industry Volocopter test pilot Damian Hischier pilots one of the company's electric aircraft during a test flight.