A three-year Texas Department of Transportation initiative is examining potential passenger uses for electric aircraft across North Texas. Dallas is about 31 miles south of McKinney.
Project Nexus began its first phase Sept. 10 at Perot Field Fort Worth Alliance Airport, with aircraft demonstrations by BETA Technologies and Joby Aviation. Joby’s aircraft uses electric propulsion and is designed for vertical takeoffs, but no passengers flew in the opening tests. The initial work uses 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 North Texas flights. Proposed missions included a direct trip to Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, a round trip involving Arlington and service connecting Alliance Airport with Toyota Motor North America’s Plano headquarters. One test would take a Joby aircraft through DFW’s controlled airspace to DFW Corporate Aviation.
NASA and the Federal Aviation Administration have studied integrating electric air taxis into North Texas aviation since 2018. A 2023 Joby-NASA simulation examined whether the DFW terminal area could handle as many as 50 such operations each hour. The available report gives neither the simulation’s results nor a schedule for commercial passenger service.
