Imagine landing at JFK or LaGuardia after a fun but taxing vacation, and instead of hailing a two-hour cab ride or asking your brother-in-law to come and get you, you take to the skies in an eVTOL. You’re back on the ground in 15 minutes for a short trip back home to bed. What a time to be alive. eVTOL developer Archer Aviation is making this dream a reality alongside its business partner, United Airlines, offering travelers to NYC a new map of air taxi routes to travel to and from NYC airports.
As you may or may not already know, Archer Aviation ($ACHR) is a Santa Clara, California-based aviation developer specializing in designing and developing electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, particularly for use in urban air mobility (UAM) networks such as air taxi services.
Archer remains one of the more exciting eVTOL developers we follow and stays relevant on our news beat with steady announcements of new partnerships with companies worldwide to develop and implement networks of sustainable air travel using its flagship Midnight eVTOL aircraft.
One of Archer’s long-standing partners has been Stellantis, which signed an agreement to become the exclusive manufacturer of Archer’s eVTOL technology at a new facility in the US, specifically Covington, Georgia. Last summer, Archer announced that a new US facility had completed construction, and Midnight eVTOL production was scheduled to begin in early 2025.
In addition to Stellantis, plenty of other big names have invested in Archer and/or signed agreements with the eVTOL specialist, including Boeing and ARK Invest. Aviation companies like Southwest and Soracle in Japan have signed ventures to establish eVTOL air taxi networks in major metropolitan areas like Tokyo, Los Angeles, and Chicago – the latter of which comes via a landmark agreement with Signature Airlines signed in June 2024.
Another partner is United Airlines, which is working alongside Archer to establish a new eVTOL air taxi network around the NYC metropolitan area, connecting Manhattan to several nearby airports. You can see the NYC air taxi route map below:
Archer unveils eVTOL air taxi routes coming to NYC
Archer Aviation unveiled the initial route map for air taxi operations in NYC this morning alongside details of its ongoing partnership with United Airlines. The pending air taxi network includes vertiports at JFK, LaGuardia, and Newark Airports around NYC and a presence at regional airports and three helipads in the city itself.
Per Archer, the goal is to provide travelers with a new, safe, and sustainable method of transportation in which they can visit a nearby heliport and fly 5 to 15 minutes in a Midnight eVTOL to their destination as opposed to potentially sitting in hours of NYC traffic. Archer founder and CEO Adam Goldstein elaborated:
The New York region is home to three of the world’s preeminent airports, serving upwards of 150 million passengers annually. But the drive from Manhattan to any of these airports can be painful, taking one, sometimes two hours. We want to change that by giving residents and visitors the option to complete trips in mere minutes. With its existing helicopter infrastructure, regulatory support and strong demand, I believe New York could be one of the first markets for air taxis in the United States.
Thanks to its partnership with United, Archer said its future passengers can book air taxi flights in NYC as an “add-on” to their existing itinerary. As an example, the eVTOL developer said a customer would be able to take a Midnight eVTOL, which is designed to transport four passengers plus a pilot, from a vertiport downtown to the Newark Airport in less than ten minutes, then go through security and board their commercial flight as normal, saving tons of time along the way.
As a long-term investor and customer in Archer’s eVTOL technology, United Airlines intends to work alongside its partner to help make these air taxi routes around NYC a reality. Andrew Chang, Head of United Airlines Ventures, also spoke:
At United, our focus is on driving innovation, reimagining the future of air travel and enhancing the customer experience every step of the journey. Our strategic collaboration with Archer will be key to our efforts to build and optimize the infrastructure – such as real estate development, air space management, and safety and security protocols – necessary to bring advanced air mobility to our customers.
Here is the full list of planned vertiports for air taxi travel around the NYC metropolitan area:
- Major Airports: John F. Kennedy International Airport, LaGuardia Airport, Newark Airport
- NYC Helipads: East 34th Street Heliport, Downtown Skyport, West 30th Street Heliport
- Regional Airports: Westchester County Airport, Teterboro Airport, Republic Airport
The NYC network is a part of Archer’s more extensive plans to establish eVTOL air taxi travel across populated and traffic-dense areas in the US, including additional networks in San Francisco and Los Angeles. Archer shared it is currently working through the final stages of FAA approval to get those routes up and running.
A representative for the company shared the following update when asked when we might see Archer air taxi operations in the New York City area:
We’re taking a step by step approach for any new market we’re launching in, starting with a few aircraft on a few routes. We’ll ramp commercial operations upon receiving Type Certification from the FAA. We’re in the final stages of FAA type certification for Midnight, and once complete, we’ll be ready to begin commercial operations. We will start slowly, with a “crawl, walk, run” approach with Midnight’s roll-out. In the U.S., we’ve identified New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco as our initial markets.
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