For years, companies have been working on developing electric flying machines that are designed to make short hops that bring people or cargo from one spot to another. That vision is getting closer to taking off, as two companies, Joby and Delta, announced today that they will be working together to whisk people to and from airports in a Joby-made aircraft. 

The plan is to begin with two large hubs: New York City and Los Angeles. The companies promise a "premium" experience, although aren't yet sharing how much it will cost or when exactly the service will begin. The general idea is something like this: Someone booking a ticket via Delta to fly from John F. Kennedy International Airport to another city would see an option to add on an air taxi leg to get them from a heliport-like facility somewhere near their home to JFK, and would book it through Delta's app or website. 

Eventually, the air taxi, made by Joby, might even deliver its passengers to a spot at the airport that's located post-security, Ed Bastian, Delta's CEO, said during a press conference on Monday. Delta is also investing $60 million in Joby. 

The main player here is Joby's air taxi, which sports six large tilting propellers. They provide the thrust it needs to get off the ground, and then tilt into a different position to wing it through the air. Four of these propellers, which are all powered by electric motors, are attached to the wing, while two are on the tail. It took some work to arrive at this version: "We built dozens of different configurations," JoeBen Bevirt, Joby's CEO, told PopSci last year when we took a closer look at the aircraft.