One of the more serious players in the air taxi game, Archer, has just unveiled routes for a potential service in New York City. Its Midnight aircraft would shuttle passengers from Manhattan to JFK, LaGuardia and Newark airpots in five to 15 minutes, potentially shaving an hour or more from typical driving times. However, Archer didn’t provide any dates for the start of the service and all of this could be derailed by regulatory bodies, particularly the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
Any news about air taxis should come with the caveat that no such services are operating yet, even though startups have been trying for a decade or more. With that said, Archer has partnered with a number of established aviation and other companies including Fiat Chrysler and United Airlines, along with fixed base operators (FBOs) like Signature Aviation and Atlantic Aviation. Archer also previously announced proposed air taxi networks in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Chicago.
Archer’s plan is to have you book air taxi rides as an “add-on” to traditional flights. You’d launch from existing Manhattan facilities, namely the East 34th Street Heliport, Downtown Skyport and West 30th Street Heliport. From there, you’d be able to fly to “vertiports” at JFK, LaGuardia and Newark airpots, along with locations at other regional airports. Flights would be aboard the company’s human-piloted, four-passenger Midnight aircraft with 12 rotors, six batteries and a range of 20-50 miles.
Archer does have United Airlines, New York’s Port Authority and the New York City Economic Development Corportation (NYCEDC) all on board. However, it hasn’t provided important details like the number of potential flights per day, operating hours and more. That information would be vital to the FAA, which must decide if the service is safe for passengers, other aircraft and people on the ground.
That’s an undertaking that could require a lot of time and cost, and Archer’s VTOL aircraft still hasn’t received its FAA type certification required for any operations. The company did receive the FAA’s final airworthiness criteria, though, making it one of only two air taxi companies with that certification along with rival Joby Aviation. The only air taxi company to obtain type certification from an aviation regulator is EHang from China’s Civil Aviation Administration (CAAC).
The air taxi game is risky for startups, too. Late last year one of Archer’s VTOL rivals, Lilium ceased operations, laying off 1,000 people, despite successful flight tests.