Joby Aviation, a developer of electric air taxis, has agreed to acquire Blade Air Mobility’s urban air mobility passenger business. The acquisition will provide Joby with immediate access to key urban markets, including New York City and Southern Europe. It will enable it to leverage Blade’s extensive experience in passenger transportation. Blade’s Medical division is not part of the deal and will remain a separate, publicly traded company.
Blade, which flew over 50,000 passengers in 2024, operates from 12 urban terminals, including dedicated lounges at JFK and Newark Liberty airports. Rob Wiesenthal, Blade’s founder and CEO, will continue to lead the passenger business as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Joby.
This acquisition is expected to accelerate Joby’s commercialization efforts by utilizing Blade’s existing infrastructure and customer base. The strategy is to gradually transition Blade’s passengers from traditional helicopters to Joby’s new electric aircraft, which will reduce Joby’s need for significant infrastructure investment and customer acquisition costs.
As part of the deal, Joby will also become the preferred VTOL partner to Blade’s organ transport business, which will remain a separate public company to be re-named Strata Critical Medical, wherever Joby has operations, strengthening its position in high-value, mission-critical air medical services and demonstrating future use cases for Joby’s aircraft beyond passenger services. The best-in-class ElevateOS software tools, developed by Joby to support high-tempo air taxi operations, will be integrated into Blade’s operations to help drive cost efficiency and enhance the passenger experience.
This acquisition includes all of Blade’s passenger business, including operations in the U.S. and Europe, as well as the Blade brand.
Under the terms of the agreement, Joby will pay Blade stock or cash, at Joby’s election, up to $125 million, subject to customary indemnity provisions and inclusive of $35 million of holdbacks, which will be released subject to the achievement of certain performance milestones and retention of certain key employees.
The deal is expected to close in the coming weeks, subject to satisfaction of or waiver of customary closing conditions.
KEY QUOTES:
“This is a strategically important acquisition that will support the successful launch of Joby’s commercial operations in Dubai, our subsequent global rollout and our continued leadership in the sector. Over the last decade, Rob and the team at Blade have built a world-class passenger experience that demonstrates the value of vertical lift. With access to the infrastructure they have secured and the loyal customer base they have developed, we will be in the best possible position to launch our quiet, electric aircraft as soon as certification is secured.”
JoeBen Bevirt, founder and CEO, Joby Aviation
“Blade was founded with the mission of democratising short-distance air travel by facilitating the transition from conventional rotorcraft to quiet, emissions-free electric aircraft, and I believe there is no better partner than Joby to make that mission a reality. It’s crystal clear from their progress on certification to the successful demonstration flights in New York and Dubai that this is the best possible home for our fliers, our team and our partners.”
Rob Wiesenthal, Blade’s founder and CEO
