Archer Bringing Electric Air Taxis to Los Angeles by 2026

The company on Thursday announced it intends to launch a city center-to-airport network in Los Angeles by 2026, building on its plans to fly in New York City and Chicago. The service is meant to replace one-to-two-hour drives by car with more direct aerial routes while remaining cost competitive with ground-based rideshare options such as Uber and Lyft.

Archer in July also struck a deal with Southwest Airlines to connect Southwest terminals across California, where it is in the process of building a network of hubs linking South San Francisco, Napa, San Jose, Oakland, and Livermore.

The manufacturer’s flagship Midnight air taxi is designed for a pilot to fly as many as four passengers on back-to-back, 20-to-50 sm, 10-to-20-minute trips, with only a few minutes of charge time in between. The company hopes to obtain type certification from the FAA in time for a 2025 commercial rollout in New York and Chicago.

After that, it will set its sights on Los Angeles, where it intends to connect key locations such as Los Angeles International Airport (KLAX), Orange County, Santa Monica, Hollywood Burbank, Long Beach, Van Nuys, and the University of Southern California with vertiports. These takeoff and landing hubs are akin to heliports but will include electric aircraft chargers for Midnight and other electric aircraft to juice up.

Archer also has a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with FBO network Signature Aviation to install electric chargers at more than 200 Signature terminals nationwide, adding to the number of potential takeoff and landing sites for Midnight.

Archer competitor Joby Aviation is also looking to fly in the Los Angeles area in partnership with Delta Air Lines and earlier this year began the process of installing eVTOL infrastructure in California. Boeing air taxi subsidiary Wisk Aero, eVTOL jet manufacturer Lilium, and eVTOL developer Overair are among firms with similar ambitions.

The companies hope to showcase their aircraft on the world stage when the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Los Angeles arrive— an ambitious target but one that is in line with the FAA’s own expectations for the industry. The city will also host men’s soccer games during the 2026 World Cup, which is being jointly held in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.

“Establishing our LA network ahead of the global events that are coming to the region over the next three years is a milestone that will put Midnight on display for the whole world to see,” said Adam Goldstein, CEO of Archer. “LA is known for its horrendous traffic—our goal is to offer a safer, faster, and more sustainable alternative travel option.”

A handful of eVTOL manufacturers, including Germany’s Volocopter and China’s AutoFlight, are supposed to demonstrate their air taxis at the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris, but those flights have yet to take place and may not happen at all.

Aiding Archer, however, is a tight relationship with the FAA and the backing of California state officials such as Governor Gavin Newsom.

“Homegrown companies like Archer Aviation are pioneering the next generation of zero-emission transportation that will help California cut pollution, clean our air, and reduce traffic,” said Newsom.

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