Through the FAA and U.S. Department of Transportation's eVTOL Integration Pilot Program (eIPP), BETA will conduct real-world operations with healthcare partners across North Carolina, using its all-electric ALIA CTOL aircraft and established charging network.
Operations will test how lower-cost, all-electric aircraft can speed delivery of critical supplies and care teams between regional medical centers and community hospitals, building toward a repeatable model for expanding rural healthcare access nationwide.
SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. & RALEIGH, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--BETA Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: BETA) ("BETA"), an aerospace and defense company, today announced the launch of flight operations in North Carolina’s eLIFT program under the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (“U.S. DOT”) and Federal Aviation Administration’s (“FAA”) eVTOL Integration Pilot Program (“eIPP”). Since September 17, BETA has conducted all-electric operations, including a historic flyover of the Wright Brothers National Memorial and simulated deliveries of essential healthcare cargo to rural medical access points, including a deployable medical field tent and supplies. The operations will demonstrate how lower-cost, all-electric aviation can reduce the time required to deliver critical supplies, strengthen the resilience of regional healthcare networks, and improve access to care across the state.
“Under President Trump, we are unlocking the future of flight, one test flight at a time,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy. “More than 120 years after the Wright Brothers took to the skies at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina is again leading the charge to transform how Americans move. Thanks to these tests, we are closer than ever to welcoming next-generation aircraft into our skies.”
Working with the North Carolina Department of Transportation (“NCDOT”), Metro Aviation and healthcare partners across the state, including ECU Health and WakeMed, BETA designed the flight campaign to test how electric aviation could strengthen connections between regional medical centers and the rural and coastal communities they serve. The campaign covered more than 1,300 nautical miles and focused on future healthcare missions connecting the Research Triangle, including routes between Raleigh Executive Jetport and Pitt-Greenville Airport, with communities such as those served by Dare County Regional Airport.
“We are supporting North Carolina’s world-class healthcare systems by using cost-effective, electric flight to overcome the distance that can make it difficult to get critical supplies, specialists, and care where they need to go,” said Kyle Clark, founder and chief executive officer of BETA Technologies. “Medical applications have been part of BETA’s DNA from the beginning, and the best way to prove our technology is to put it to work on real missions that deliver for the healthcare community. Alongside our customers and partners, we’re flying and learning from every operation and showing how aviation can extend the reach of healthcare networks to rural and coastal communities across the state.”
The eIPP operations will use BETA’s Charge Cube at Raleigh Executive Jetport, which was installed in 2024. More than 15 additional charging sites are in development across North Carolina, creating the infrastructure needed to test a repeatable model for moving critical supplies and care teams between regional medical centers and community hospitals.
The work also builds on BETA’s broader investment in North Carolina. BETA’s Morrisville facility supports the development and testing of advanced flight-control computers used in its electric aircraft. These onboard systems translate pilot inputs and aircraft data into commands that help the aircraft respond predictably in flight, work that is fundamental to aircraft safety, reliability and certification. Since opening in 2023, the facility has created nearly 70 jobs and is part of BETA’s long-term investment in North Carolina’s aerospace workforce.
“As healthcare becomes increasingly regionalized, large medical centers and community hospitals must work together to ensure rural patients remain connected to timely care,” said Dr. Stuart Ginn, medical director, WakeMed Innovations, and chair of the eLIFT-NC Health Advisory Subcommittee. “Accessible vertical flight gives us an opportunity to treat aviation not simply as transportation, but as part of the healthcare infrastructure, supporting both urgent needs and routine care by moving critical resources and expertise where they are needed. As a physician and lifelong aviator, I see the potential for this technology to become a practical tool that helps us reimagine how care reaches rural communities.”
"For Metro, this is about bringing new technology to an air medical network we already know how to operate," said Todd Stanberry, vice president of Metro Aviation. "North Carolina lets us learn where electric aircraft can complement the services we provide today. The goal is to lower costs, expand access and safely create new options for moving supplies, clinicians and, eventually, patients."
eLIFT-NC’s long-term vision includes bringing specialized care closer to patients rather than requiring every patient to travel to a major medical center, expanding accessibility to residents that otherwise face long commutes to primary or specialty care. The program will also explore how electric aviation can support a resilient statewide network for disaster response, including in North Carolina’s hurricane-prone coastal communities. Future routes are designed to extend toward the Outer Banks, where flooding, storm surge and infrastructure damage can disrupt road and ferry access. The program will evaluate whether aircraft can maintain critical medical supply chains and move healthcare personnel when surface transportation is compromised.
North Carolina represents the latest operational deployment for BETA under eIPP. BETA is participating in seven of the eight programs selected nationwide and has already supported operational missions in Virginia, Maryland, Louisiana, and Texas. Across these programs, BETA is working with customers and state and local partners to put electric aircraft into real operating environments and generate the data needed to support safe, scalable commercial adoption.
For more information on BETA’s eIPP operations, please see here.
About BETA Technologies, Inc.
BETA (NYSE: BETA) is an aerospace and defense company designing, manufacturing and selling high-performance electric aircraft, advanced electric propulsion systems, components and charging systems to top operators worldwide. BETA has built and flown its family of ALIA aircraft, consisting of both conventional fixed-wing electric aircraft (the “ALIA CTOL”) and electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (the “ALIA VTOL”), more than 200,000 nautical miles, including multiple trips across the United States. BETA is deploying a network of charging infrastructure to enable the growing industry with more than 130 sites across the United States and internationally. BETA’s intentional approach to developing the enabling technologies necessary to electrify aviation unlocks lucrative aftermarket revenue opportunity over the life of each aircraft. These highly scalable enabling technologies allow BETA to serve a customer base across cargo and logistics, defense, passenger and medical end markets and unlock cost-effective and safe missions. Visit www.beta.team for more information about BETA and its products.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding deployment of BETA aircraft in North Carolina and the impact to the community.
These forward-looking statements are only predictions and may differ materially from actual results due to a variety of factors. The risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially are more fully detailed in BETA’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including BETA’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. Any forward-looking statements contained herein are based on assumptions that BETA believes to be reasonable as of the date hereof. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements. BETA undertakes no obligation and does not expect to update these statements as a result of new information or future events, except as required by law.
Contacts
Media Contacts:
BETA Technologies
Press: Nat Bol, press@beta.team
Investors: Devon Rothman, investors@beta.team
Federal Aviation Administration
Press: Hillary Heintz, pressoffice@faa.gov
