eVTOL

Wisk Aero’s Autonomous Air Taxi Flew, But $2 Billion Question Remains

On December 16, 2025, a four-seat electric aircraft lifted off autonomously at Wisk Aero’s test facility in Hollister, California. The Generation 6 aircraft hovered, maneuvered through stabilized flight sequences, and returned to the ground. No pilot aboard. No remote control from the ground beyond supervisory monitoring. This marks Wisk’s first flight of the aircraft they plan to certify for commercial passenger service by 2030. The company, wholly owned by Boeing, positions the Generation 6 as the first-ever candidate for FAA-certified autonomous commercial passenger flight in the United States. First flights represent critical early milestones in aircraft development while simultaneously representing the easiest phase of a process stretching years and costing hundreds of millions of dollars. Wisk completed the straightforward portion. The challenging