The electric aviation start-up is focused on achieving FAA certification for its conventional CX300 aircraft over the next year, with the A250 eVTOL soon to follow.
Vermont-based Beta Technologies has given the clearest indicator yet as to the maturity of its all-electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) Alia A250 aircraft.
During media events this week that included a 3 June tour of the company’s headquarters and aircraft production centre in Burlington, Beta performed multiple flights of its A250 and its conventional take-off and landing (CTOL) Alia CX300, which has been flying for several years in North America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.
The company performed a formation flyby of four Alias on 3 June, including three CTOLs and one VTOL model. The types share 80% commonality, according to Beta, including nearly identical cockpits and flight controls.
The aircraft took off from Burlington International airport, the A250 in the lead, followed by the CX300s, which took off three abreast. After several passes, the CX300s completed a pass in a three-ship “Vic” formation before landing.
The A250 completed a hybrid landing using both its four vertical-lift rotors and rear-mounted propeller. After cutting from its final approach speed of around 45kt (83km/h), it hovered briefly and turned 90° before touching down and cutting power.
The showcase was something of a tactical shift for Beta, which has typically kept a lower profile than some of its rivals, including fellow US start-ups Archer Aviation and Joby Aviation.
Beta founder and chief executive Kyle Clark says doing so was deliberate, meant to address what he describes as a gap between market perception and the actual maturity of the company’s technology.
“We recognise that the market, the industry and our investors were not clear on how advanced Beta is, both on production, the CTOL aircraft, but most importantly… the VTOL aircraft,” Clark says.
Beta is in a heated contest with Archer, Joby, Brazil’s Eve Air Mobility and the UK’s Vertical Aerospace to certify an all-electric rotorcraft.
Clark now seems to acknowledge that his company’s focus on quietly moving through technical milestones has impacted Beta’s positioning against more hype-centric competitors.
“What unfortunately has happened is that when people talk a lot about their VTOL aircraft, but they don’t do anything with it, they end up (with) the perception of having a more-advanced programme.”
One potential impetus for the new media posture is the lacklustre performance of Beta’s share price in recent months. The company completed an initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange in late 2025 at $36 per share. Within four months, that valuation had been cut in half and currently sits around $18 per share.
Clark and veteran chief financial officer Herman Cueto are unconcerned about the drop, noting confidence from major institutional investors and Beta’s long time horizon. The company signed an 80-year lease on its manufacturing site at Burlington airport.
“I don’t feel any negative tension around the stock price,” Clark says.
While some of the drop can be attributed to Beta’s early venture capital investors exiting their positions after an initial lock-up period, Cueto says institutional investors are not selling.
They’re committed to the stock,” he says. “At $18 they see tremendous upside.”
Founded in 2017, Beta is unique among eVTOL developers in opting to first pursue a conventional take-off and landing variant of its aircraft.
The reasoning, according to Clark, was to work out the tougher engineering challenges of all-electric flight on a more straightforward CTOL aircraft, with a high level of commonality between the two designs.
Though that at first appeared to place Beta behind rivals focusing solely on vertical-flight aircraft, the CTOL-first approach may be paying dividends. Under the FAA’s new eVTOL Integration Pilot Program, Beta has been approved to start limited Alia operations even before receiving full certification.
The initial programme will include cargo and medical flights in Vermont and New York starting in September, with potential to expand into other states.
“We’re ready to go today with cargo CTOL aircraft,” Clark says. “Tomorrow it’s going to be passenger CTOL aircraft, then cargo VTOL aircraft, then passenger VTOL aircraft.”
Clark says Beta expects to achieve certification for the CX300 in the second half of 2027, with the A250 certified in the next several years.
Beta says certificating the CTOL first will give it more time to mature the eVTOL, and to generate revenue from the CTOL programme in the meantime.
Earlier on 3 June, FlightGlobal rode on a demonstration flight of a passenger-configured CX300, which is outwardly similar to the A250, minus lifting rotors on wing-mounted booms.
US secretary of transportation Sean Duffy last week flew in Beta’s CX300, siting in the left cockpit seat.
“This American company is going to fundamentally change the way people and products move,” Duffy said on 1 June.
Beta has demonstrated the CX300 for the US Air Force and flew it at the 2025 Paris air show. The company plans to be present at the upcoming Farnborough international air show in July.
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