Sky Uber? Air taxis could be here soon

Short Wave

NPR

Nature, Daily News, Science, Life Sciences, News, Astronomy

4.7 • 6.6K Ratings

🗓️ 6 July 2026

⏱️ 14 minutes

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Summary

Taking an air taxi to the airport may become as simple as ordering a ride share today. In our first episode in our summer series Tech Camp, we explore how a futuristic vehicle that transforms from helicopter to propeller plane is already taking flight in New York and San Francisco. This new kind of commuting might be here sooner than you think: A law just went into effect to build infrastructure for them in places like airports. Short Wave host Regina Barber speaks with the startup Joby and Georgia Tech aerospace experts about the safety, the science and what an actual ride would look like from app to air. Plus, we get into the history of the air taxis of the past and why those airlines no longer exist.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	You're listening to Shortwave from NPR.
0:05.6	Welcome back, Shortwavers. It's your science besties, Emily Kwong.
0:08.8	And Regina Barber.
0:09.6	And this summer, we have a brand new series for you.
0:12.4	Tech Camp.
0:13.8	That's right. Every Monday, check this feed for a new episode about the technological frontier.
0:19.9	Tracking down the breakthroughs, experiments, and innovations that could change everything.
0:25.0	And we're starting with a vehicle that's been promised to us for decades.
0:28.6	This is where I thought technology was headed since the days of the Jetsons.
0:33.5	Flying cars.
0:49.6	But this was a fantasy of the 60s. Like, flying cars are not real. I'm going to blow your mind. As long ago as 1953, you could order a flying taxi in New York City. New York Airways introduces a new dimension of passenger comfort and convenience in helicopter travel.
0:56.1	Okay, so these weren't technically flying cars. They were helicopters.
1:00.1	But these air taxis in New York would take passengers to the airport from maybe the roof of an office building in Manhattan.
1:08.2	And this would cost about seven bucks in the mid-60s, which is a little
1:11.9	over $70 today.
1:14.1	Taxis are comfortable, too, but not as dependable as a scheduled airline that flies over
1:21.2	obstacles and delivers passengers by helicopter from Newark Airport to Idlewild in 12 minutes flying time.
1:31.1	And M. We might be on the cusp of air taxis making a comeback.
1:36.7	In Florida, a law just went into effect to build infrastructures for them in places like airports.
1:42.1	Get out of here. Are you serious? What do you mean?
1:45.5	Like, you're saying that I could order an air taxi to my house to take me to a major airport?
1:51.6	So that's the idea. I met Lee Witcher, an engineer at Georgia Tech in Atlanta, and I met him
	...

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