Joby and BETA electric aircraft flew Tampa Bay to recreate the first airline flight of 1914

Two electric aircraft, Joby Aviation’s S4 air taxi and BETA Technologies’ Alia CX300, flew over Tampa Bay on October 30, 2026, in demonstration flights that recreated the first airline flight, the 1914 hop between St. Petersburg and Tampa. The Florida Department of Transportation ran the flights, which opened the state’s part in a federal pilot program for electric aircraft. Florida became the seventh location to begin flying under that program.

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The date was chosen for its history. More than a century ago a flying boat carried a single passenger across the same water, and the 2026 flights traced that line with battery-powered machines instead. Joby says its S4 is still in the final stages of FAA type certification, and no passenger service has been announced.

The Alia CX300 and the S4: two different electric aircraft

The U.S. Department of Transportation, in its announcement of the milestone, described the two aircraft in different terms. BETA’s Alia CX300 is an electric conventional takeoff and landing aircraft, meaning it uses a runway like a small airplane, while Joby’s S4 is an electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft that lifts off like a helicopter. The flights ran between Albert Whitted Airport in St. Petersburg and Tampa. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy said the future of flight is right around the corner, and FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said each flight provides crucial data and lessons learned that will help set safety standards for everyday operations.

Joby’s own release on the Florida campaign pins down its leg: a point-to-point flight from Albert Whitted Airport in downtown St. Petersburg to Tampa International Airport, with a community event at Albert Whitted Park scheduled for 8:45 a.m. The drone-industry site DroneXL reported that the aircraft flown was N545JX, a preproduction S4 operating under an experimental airworthiness certificate, and that the airframe tied to type certification is a different one, N547JX. Joby says it remains in the final stages of FAA type certification.

Tony Jannus, the St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line and a $5 fare

The original service began on January 1, 1914, when pilot Tony Jannus flew former St. Petersburg Mayor Abe Pheil across the bay in a Benoist flying boat. Joby calls it the world’s first scheduled commercial airline flight. The St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line, according to DroneXL’s account, crossed in about 23 minutes for $5 one way, carried 1,205 passengers and made its last flight on May 5, 1914.

Local historians treat the episode as a turning point. In a BayNews 9 report, Rui Farias, executive director of the St. Petersburg Museum of History, called the event “gigantic,” and described the first seat as a huge sum by modern standards, worth more than $8,000 today. The report put the crossing at 24 miles in 23 minutes, with the departure near what is now Albert Whitted Airport and the landing on the Hillsborough River in Tampa.

Florida’s place in the eight-project federal pilot program

The vehicle for the flights is the electric vertical takeoff and landing Integration Pilot Program, which Duffy unveiled in March 2026. It has eight selected projects spanning 28 states, covering urban air taxis, regional passenger service, cargo, emergency medical response, autonomous flight and offshore energy transport. The FAA may use the data to write rules for operating these aircraft at scale.

Florida follows a string of earlier milestones listed by the department. Pennsylvania, BETA and United Therapeutics tested organ transport on July 10; Utah and Ampaire flew a hybrid-electric cargo route on August 6; Louisiana and Elroy Air ran the first remotely piloted test on August 27; Texas, BETA and Joby tested regional air taxi flights on September 10; and North Carolina followed on September 23. Albuquerque hosted remotely piloted Cessna Caravan cargo flights on October 14. BETA chief executive Kyle Clark said Florida has the routes, the operators and the infrastructure the industry needs to scale, and noted that BETA flew up to nine legs a day along the Interstate 4 corridor with Republic Airways earlier this year at energy costs under $17 a leg.

What comes after Tampa Bay

Joby’s schedule, subject to weather, includes a flight to a new vertiport at Orlando International Airport near Terminal C and one to the Shuttle Landing Facility at Kennedy Space Center during the UP.Summit. In November, the Florida transportation department and Electra plan flight tests at several central Florida locations. No fare or booking date has been announced for any Florida route, so the flights remain demonstrations rather than a ticketed service.

Local planners are already preparing. A WUSF report from April quoted Tampa International Airport chief executive Michael Stephens saying Florida will be at the tip of the spear for this technology, while Albert Whitted manager Richard Lesniak cautioned that widespread air taxi service is still a little further down the road because operators need FAA certification. St. Petersburg’s advanced air mobility task force, led by chair Ed Montanari, recommended in a roadmap presented to City Council that dedicated vertiports could be built on airport property within about four to ten years, depending on demand.

This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Morning Overview editors prior to publication.

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