The next venture into air travel innovation is beginning to take off with United Airlines’s investment into flying taxis.
The company paid a deposit of $10 million to Archer Aviation for 100 electric flying taxis, fulfilling part of a preliminary agreement United and a regional airline it partners with made last year with Archer to buy up to 200 of the flying taxis from the company. United and Archer said the airlines will be the launch customer for the four-passenger aircraft that Archer is working on, according to the Wall Street Journal.
“I am incredibly proud of the entire Archer team as we reach this milestone in our partnership with United Airlines,” Adam Goldstein, Archer’s CEO, said in a press release. “To receive a cash deposit is validation of Archer’s achievements to date, not only with flight testing and product development, but also a great signal of confidence in our roadmap to commercialization. We’re thankful to United for their continued partnership as we usher in this new era in air travel.”
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Archer’s aircraft it is developing, along with similar taxis being developed by rival companies, take off and land vertically like helicopters. Airlines such as United hope the flying taxis will be able to transport customers around cities and allow them to bypass heavy traffic or roadway accidents.
Electric-flying taxi companies have been developing and testing vehicles, but they need to secure approval from regulators before they launch commercial service for customers to use. Leaders at the Federal Aviation Administration have said the agency is committed to meeting timelines that would allow some companies to gain certification for their vehicles as early as 2024.
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Archer expects to gain certification by the end of 2024 and start commercial operations afterward. The company’s technology, funding, and the regulatory framework for the industry have matured to the point that airlines such as United are ready to lock in orders for the vehicles, according to Goldstein.
