The FAA Picked 8 Cities to Test Air Taxis. One Company Won 7 of the 8 Slots.
BETA Technologies, a Vermont startup, appears in 7 of 8 FAA eIPP pilot projects. Not Joby. Not Archer. And it is not hauling people. It is hauling cargo, organs, and medical supplies. The program's single-point-of-failure problem is hiding in plain sight.
Seven out of eight.
On March 9, 2026, the FAA and the Department of Transportation announced eight pilot projects for the eVTOL Integration Pilot Program, or eIPP, spanning 26 states. Nine companies were selected to participate. One of them appears in seven of the eight projects. It is not Joby Aviation, which has a $10 billion market cap and an Uber partnership. It is not Archer Aviation, which has $2 billion in liquidity and a deal with Anduril. It is BETA Technologies, a company headquartered in South Burlington, Vermont, that went public in November 2025 at $34 per share and is spending its money on cargo routes, organ deliveries, and medical supply flights to rural communities.
What makes the eIPP unusual is scope: it exists to do something the aviation industry has never done before: let electric aircraft that do not yet have FAA type certification operate commercially under Other Transaction Agreements with the government. Operations can begin within 90 days of signing those agreements. It flows from Trump's June 2025 executive order, "Unleashing American Drone Dominance," and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy called it proof that "the future of aviation is here."
The operational data is supposed to inform future regulations. The American public, the FAA says, will "start to see operations begin under this program by summer 2026." That is in roughly three months. When those flights start, most of them will involve BETA aircraft. And that creates a structural vulnerability nobody is talking about.
The Concentration Matrix
I mapped every company's participation across all eight eIPP projects, then cross-referenced their public financial disclosures to compute approximate cash runways. Here is what the data shows.
| Company | eIPP Projects | Strategy | Cash Position | Certification Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BETA Technologies | 7 of 8 | Cargo, medical, organ transport | ~$1B+ (post-IPO Nov 2025) | CX300 fixed-wing cert expected late 2026 |
| Joby Aviation | 4 of 8 | Passenger air taxi | ~$2.6B (Q4 2025 + Feb 2026 raise) | Record 18-pt FAA progress Q4 2025 |
| Archer Aviation | 3 of 8 | OEM + passenger air taxi | ~$2B liquidity (record high) | 100% Means of Compliance accepted |
| Electra | 2 of 8 | eSTOL regional | Private (Lockheed Martin backed) | Early stage |
| Wisk (Boeing) | 1 of 8 | Autonomous eVTOL | Boeing-funded | 2030+ timeline |
| Ampaire | 1 of 8 | Hybrid-electric | Private | Early stage |
| Elroy Air | 1 of 8 | Autonomous cargo drone | Private | Early stage |
| Reliable Robotics | 1 of 8 | Autonomous fixed-wing | Private | Albuquerque project partner |
Sources: FAA eIPP announcement (March 9, 2026). BETA Technologies press release. Joby Aviation Q4 2025 earnings. Archer Aviation Q4 2025 earnings transcript. General Aviation News coverage.
Concentration is visible immediately. BETA is the common thread in projects spanning New York, Texas, Utah, Maryland-Virginia, Louisiana, Florida, and North Carolina. Every other company appears in half or fewer of the projects. Joby is in four. Archer is in three. Everyone else is in one or two.
If BETA hits a wall, seven of eight projects lose their most active manufacturer.
The Strategy Split That Matters
Read BETA's seven project descriptions carefully and notice what is absent. No Manhattan skyport passenger service. No urban air taxi routes. No Uber integration. Every one of BETA's seven selections anchors to cargo, medical logistics, organ transport, or offshore energy support. Partners include UPS, Republic Airways, United Therapeutics (which needs organs moved fast between transplant centers), Bristow Group (offshore helicopter operator), and Metro Aviation (air medical services).
Compare that to Joby and Archer. Joby expects to carry its first passengers in Dubai in 2026 and recently partnered with Uber to let riders book air taxi flights in the Uber app. Archer is targeting U.S. cities and the UAE, with an "unslippable" milestone at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. Both companies are building for the glamour use case: people sitting in electric aircraft flying over traffic.
BETA is building for the boring use case: boxes sitting in electric aircraft flying to rural hospitals.
This distinction matters for three reasons. First, cargo certification faces a lower regulatory bar than carrying passengers. Second, BETA's customers already exist: UPS moves packages, United Therapeutics moves organs, Bristow moves people and supplies to oil rigs. These are operational businesses paying for flights today using helicopters and conventional aircraft. BETA is competing for budget that already gets spent. Third, the path from cargo to passengers is far easier than the path from zero to passengers. Airlines started with airmail.
The Cash Runway Problem
Being in seven projects does not matter if you cannot fund seven projects.
BETA Technologies raised over $1 billion in its IPO in November 2025 at $34 per share. Full-year 2025 revenue was approximately $23 million. Trailing twelve-month net losses were approximately $352 million. At that burn rate, the IPO cash provides roughly three years of runway, landing somewhere around late 2028.
Three years sounds comfortable until you consider the scope: seven simultaneous eIPP programs across ten states, a fixed-wing certification campaign targeting late 2026, a VTOL certification campaign behind that, a charging infrastructure network with 50+ sites already deployed, and a production facility that needs to deliver aircraft for all of these commitments.
By comparison, Joby Aviation holds roughly $2.6 billion after a Q4 2025 cash position of $1.4 billion plus an additional $1.2 billion received in February 2026. Joby is also burning heavily, but with more cash on hand and four eIPP commitments instead of seven. Archer Aviation reported approximately $2 billion in liquidity at the end of Q4 2025, with $730 million in 2025 operating expenses, giving it roughly 2.7 years of runway on current spending.
I computed an approximate "cash per eIPP commitment" ratio to measure how thinly each public company is spread.
| Company | Approx. Cash | eIPP Projects | Cash per Project | Annual Burn | Runway (years) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joby Aviation | ~$2.6B | 4 | ~$650M | ~$650-700M | ~3.7-4.0 |
| Archer Aviation | ~$2.0B | 3 | ~$667M | ~$730M | ~2.7 |
| BETA Technologies | ~$1.0B+ | 7 | ~$143M | ~$350M | ~3.0 |
Sources: Cash figures from Q4 2025 earnings reports (Joby, Archer) and IPO filing (BETA). Burn rates from trailing twelve-month operating expenses. Runway assumes constant burn with no additional fundraising, which is unlikely but provides a floor estimate. The "cash per project" metric assumes roughly equal cost per eIPP commitment, which oversimplifies: a cargo route in North Carolina probably costs less to stand up than a multi-partner medical logistics network across several states. But it illustrates relative exposure.
BETA has roughly $143 million per eIPP commitment. Joby has $650 million. Archer has $667 million. The company that won the most slots has the thinnest resources per slot by a factor of 4.5x.
What The FAA Actually Created
The eIPP is not a shortcut to certification. Aviation Week Network's analysis is direct: the program "will not meaningfully shorten the path to type certification." What it can do is shrink the gap between certification and entry-into-service by establishing operational procedures, training programs, and infrastructure partnerships before the type certificate arrives.
Participants fly under SFAR-PL, the Special Federal Aviation Regulation for Powered-Lift Operations. This is new legal ground. Pre-certified aircraft conducting commercial operations under government agreements. More than 30 proposals were submitted; the FAA selected eight. Each participant signs an Other Transaction Agreement defining exactly what they can and cannot do.
FAA Deputy Administrator Chris Rocheleau framed it carefully: the program "will provide valuable operational experience that will inform the standards needed to enable safe Advanced Air Mobility operations." That is regulator language for "we're collecting data, not granting permissions."
Here is the timeline problem. BETA plans to start with its ALIA CX300, a conventional fixed-wing electric aircraft certified under Part 23 (small aircraft regulations), not a VTOL. BETA expects the CX300 to receive its type certificate by late 2026. Its ALIA A250 VTOL comes later, under the powered-lift framework. Low Altitude Economy, one of the most credible specialized outlets covering this sector, maintains an editorial position that no U.S. eVTOL will receive FAA type certification in 2026. Because the CX300 is not technically an eVTOL, it may slip through. But the VTOL aircraft that most people imagine when they hear "air taxi" are further out.
The Strongest Case Against Worrying
The concentration could be a feature, not a bug. Having one company in seven projects means consistent data collection methodology, standardized charging infrastructure across sites, and a single point of coordination for the FAA's learning objectives. The FAA may have intentionally favored the company most ready to fly conventional aircraft first, because collecting operational data from actual flights matters more than spreading participation evenly across startups that are not yet ready to operate.
BETA has logged over 125,000 nautical miles in its ALIA aircraft as of late 2025, including cross-country flights and international demonstrations in Europe, Norway, and New Zealand. That operational track record is unmatched in the sector. The company already has 50+ charging sites deployed across the U.S. and Canada. Its cargo-first strategy aligns with customers who pay for flights today, which positions BETA to generate revenue earlier than pure-play air taxi companies waiting for consumer demand that does not yet exist.
Kyle Clark, BETA's founder and CEO, put it directly: "Being selected for more applications than any other OEM is a testament to our safe and reliable operations and this team's ability to deliver." The company's production facility is already online. It claims to be positioned to manufacture and deploy aircraft now, not at some future certification milestone.
And there is a historical argument: the companies that win in regulated aviation are not the ones with the flashiest consumer pitch. They are the ones that move cargo first, accumulate flight hours, build relationships with regulators through actual operations, and then extend into passengers. FedEx did not start by flying people. Amazon did not start by same-day-delivering birthday presents. The boring wedge is how capital-intensive logistics businesses survive long enough to reach their real ambitions.
Limitations
BETA's precise post-IPO cash balance has not been disclosed in a level of detail sufficient for exact runway calculation. BETA's $1 billion-plus IPO figure and $352 million annual burn rate yield an approximate three-year runway, but operational spending on seven simultaneous eIPP programs could accelerate the burn beyond trailing figures.
Four of the nine eIPP participants are private companies (Electra, Ampaire, Elroy Air, Reliable Robotics) with no public financial data, making a complete survival analysis impossible. The table above covers only the three publicly traded participants.
We do not know the specific financial terms of Other Transaction Agreements. Some may include government funding that offsets participant costs. Others may require significant private investment. The distribution of financial burden between the FAA and the companies is not public.
Wisk's participation comes through Boeing, which has its own significant financial constraints ($30+ billion in debt as of late 2025) and may deprioritize Wisk in favor of its next-generation narrow-body aircraft program.
What You Can Do
If you work in city or regional transportation planning: Identify which eIPP project covers your area and which companies are listed as partners. If BETA is your primary participant, understand that your program's data collection timeline depends on one company's certification progress and financial health. Build backup relationships with secondary participants now. The FAA's eIPP information page lists all eight projects and their partners.
If you invest in aviation or eVTOL stocks: The market prices Joby at $10 billion and Archer at $4 billion. BETA trades at a fraction of those valuations despite holding more eIPP slots than both combined. The cash-per-commitment ratio tells a more useful story than market capitalization alone. Monitor BETA's CX300 certification timeline as the leading indicator for the entire program.
If you work in logistics or medical transport: BETA's partner list reads like a directory of potential early customers: UPS for cargo, United Therapeutics for organ delivery, Bristow for offshore energy, Metro Aviation for air medical. If your organization moves time-sensitive goods by air, the eIPP creates a framework for testing electric aircraft on your routes before full certification. Contact the relevant state DOT for participation details.
If you follow aviation regulation: Watch for the Other Transaction Agreement terms, which will define what "pre-certified commercial operations" actually look like in practice. The SFAR-PL framework is new legal territory. How the FAA structures these agreements will set precedent for the entire powered-lift category.
The Bottom Line
The FAA's eIPP is the most ambitious regulatory experiment in American aviation in decades. Eight projects, 26 states, nine companies, and the explicit goal of putting uncertified electric aircraft into commercial operation by summer 2026. One company won seven of the eight slots, not because it builds the most exciting aircraft, but because it builds aircraft that can carry things people already pay to move. BETA Technologies bet that the path to passenger air taxis runs through cargo bays and organ coolers, not Uber apps and Manhattan skyports. The eIPP data will tell us if that bet is right. But the program's structural dependence on a single company with the thinnest per-project resources among the three public participants is a risk that regulators, investors, and city planners should understand before the first flights begin.