A three-year Texas Department of Transportation initiative is examining how electric aircraft could eventually carry passengers in North Texas. Dallas is about 31 miles east of Fort Worth.
Project Nexus began its first phase Sept. 10 at Perot Field Fort Worth Alliance Airport, with demonstrations by BETA Technologies and Joby Aviation. Joby’s aircraft is vertically capable and electrically powered. The initial flights did not include passengers.
The early work involves helicopters and fixed-wing airplanes to assess possible routes and collect information for future advanced-air-mobility operations. Under TxDOT’s proposal for the federal eVTOL Integration Pilot Program, Joby also planned seven days of piloted flights.
Proposed missions included a direct flight into Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, a round trip to Arlington and a connection between Alliance Airport and Toyota Motor North America’s headquarters in Plano. One flight plan involved entering DFW’s controlled airspace and landing at DFW Corporate Aviation, an operating setting shared with a large commercial airport.
NASA and the Federal Aviation Administration have studied electric air taxi integration in North Texas since 2018. A 2023 simulation by Joby and NASA examined whether the DFW terminal area could handle as many as 50 electric air taxi operations each hour. The report does not give the simulation’s results or a schedule for commercial passenger service.
