The FAA selected eight eIPP projects in March 2026, spanning 26 states. By September, Joby was announcing a Texas flight campaign under the program. The useful shift is from asking who appeared on a selection list to asking what each project is demonstrating.
Selection can create a place to work through operating questions with public partners. It does not certify an aircraft, award a market, or establish that a proposed service has customers.
The selected leads represent different problems. Port Authority work concerns a dense metropolitan region; Texas offers a different mix of routes and operating environments. Other projects address regional connections, medical logistics, offshore missions and automation. Comparing them requires attention to mission and authority, not just the number of company names in each partnership.
The FAA's project descriptions also show that companies can participate across multiple teams. That may create opportunities to learn across settings. It does not guarantee that every listed concept will fly, or that each participant will receive the same operational exposure.
Joby's September Texas announcement is a useful example of the evidentiary distinction. It described a specific campaign. A reader should ask which flights occurred, under what authorization, with what aircraft and with what reported results. A first campaign in a state is not automatically the first national activity under the program.
For the next stage, each project would benefit from a public evidence sheet: the selected concept, responsible partners, intended mission, permissions, completed activities and the next unresolved question. The same sheet should distinguish announced work from observed results.
There is room for a real competitive advantage here, but it should be described as a hypothesis. Teams that turn demonstrations into repeatable procedures may learn faster than teams that stop at announcements. Evidence of that advantage would include usable procedures, credible operating data and progress toward the specific approvals a service needs.
The map shows where to look. The test results should determine what we conclude.