Two Electric Aircraft Cross Tampa Bay, and DeSantis Says the Age of Flying Cars Is Here

Two electric aircraft lifted off from Albert Whitted Airport in St. Petersburg on Friday morning, flew in formation across Tampa Bay and set down at Signature Aviation at Tampa International Airport. Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Florida Department of Transportation billed the trip as Florida's first Advanced Air Mobility demonstration and the opening of a new era in how people get around.

The route was chosen with history in mind. It retraced the 1914 first commercial airline flight across the bay. More than a century later, the aircraft making the crossing were electric.

"This morning, history was made in Tampa Bay with Florida's first Advanced Air Mobility electric aircraft demonstration flights," DeSantis said in a statement from the governor's office, which said thousands of spectators turned out to watch. That crowd figure comes only from the state.

Who Flew and Why It Counts

The aircraft came from Joby Aviation and BETA Technologies, according to Florida Voice News. FOX 13 Tampa reported that the flights were Florida's first under a federal pilot program aimed at working these aircraft into the national airspace. The program's formal name was not confirmed in the reporting reviewed for this story, and neither were details such as which company flew which model, whether pilots were aboard or how long the crossing took.

The governor's office calls them flying cars. They are better described as electric air taxis, known in the industry as eVTOLs. FOX 13 stuck with "air taxi" in its headline. DeSantis, for his part, leaned into the science fiction, borrowing a line from Back to the Future: "Roads? Where we're going, we don't need roads."

The Plan Behind the Show

Friday's crossing was the first in a series of demonstrations the Florida Department of Transportation is leading. CBS12 reported that the flights also serve as a test of Florida's proposed Aerial Highway Network, a set of designated flight corridors that would link major destinations.

The groundwork has been laid in Tallahassee. DeSantis signed legislation this year allowing the transportation department to fund vertiport infrastructure across the state, FOX 13 reported. The department is also developing SunTrax Air along Interstate 4 as a testing site. SunTrax is a 775-acre testing facility in Polk County, and it is being expanded for air mobility work.

"This is going to end up being a global hub for this," DeSantis said of SunTrax, according to Florida Voice News, which also reported that the governor described the state as investing in both infrastructure and workforce development.

Transportation Secretary Jared W. Perdue tied the moment back to the 1914 flight. "More than 100 years ago, Florida helped launch the commercial aviation industry, and now Florida is paving the way for the future of flying cars," he said in the state's release.

What Has Not Been Said Yet

Several plain questions were left unanswered in the coverage available for this story. The state has not said when routine commercial passenger service will begin, and the aircraft remain in testing. No cost figures or funding amounts appeared in the excerpts reviewed. That review was limited to search-result excerpts rather than full articles, and in those excerpts no critics or independent experts were quoted.

What Comes Next

More demonstration flights are planned in the series, though dates have not been given. Testing of the Aerial Highway Network and SunTrax Air will continue. No commercial service date has been announced, so for now the flying car over Tampa Bay remains a test flight rather than a ride anyone can book.