New York’s First Air Taxi Network Is Coming—Here’s What to Know

Archer Aviation plans to introduce New York City to the eVTOL world with its first air-taxi hub. The Silicon Valley firm made the announcement at a press conference in Manhattan, noting that its five-person Midnight air taxi would be able to travel from Manhattan to New York’s largest airports in five to 10 minutes. The network will be part of a partnership with United Airlines.

The company did not say when it expects this network to become operational, but did say that the infrastructure would include three existing heliports in Manhattan, the three major New York area airports and smaller regional airports in Long Island, Westchester, and New Jersey.

“We’ll start really small, with sort of a gradual replacement of helicopters,” Nikhil Goel, Archer’s chief commercial officer, told Robb Report at the press event. “Over time as demand grows and we get more integrated into the community, then we’d expand.” Goel expects that a one-way trip to a major airport will initially cost $200, but the goal is to get that cost to eventually fall to $100 or less.

Archer CEO Adam Goldstein pointed out that the distance between lower Manhattan and Newark Airport is just a few miles, but that it takes 60 to 90 minutes with existing transportation networks. The company’s goal, he said, is to get that down to five to 10 minutes. “We will be able to work in the city, live out in upstate New York, and fly in no problem,” Goldstein said.

Archer’s Midnight has been built with multiple redundancies, including 12 motors and propellers, for safety—and also to be very quiet. “If you’re going to be flying over cities, these things can’t make a lot of noise . . . [and] it has to be very, very safe, as safe as the big commercial airlines. And so that’s the level of safety we’ve built to,” said Goldstein. He acknowledged widespread doubts about the electric air-taxi concept and general safety concerns. “There’s never been a time when you’ve had a new piece of hardware enter and it wasn’t met with extreme skepticism,” he said. And the company has an idea of where travel is headed, too: “In 10 years or in 20 years, there will be highways in the sky . . . That is the world that I want to live in, and I think that’s the world all of you want to live in as well,” Goldstein said.

United Airlines was cited as a valuable partner for the Midnight’s evolution. “They took a huge bet on us,” said Goldstein. The airline put down deposits on Midnight pre-orders and helped to “force this thing into the real world,” he explains. The CEO also said private aviationPrivate AviationAir travel by privately owned, chartered, or fractionally owned aircraft, offering fully customized schedules, privacy, and access to smaller airports. Private aviation saves time and enables flexible itineraries, and interestGo to Private Aviation Glossary operators like Signature and Atlantica would assist with developing infrastructure. Archer is building the Midnight at its facilities in San Jose, Calif., and Covington, Ga.

The New York air-taxi network’s start date is still a question mark. Archer is working with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Type Certification for the Midnight, which is currently being tested, with the goal of starting sometime after certification. Archer expects to start commercial service in a limited capacity in Dubai by the end of this year. It has previously announced plans for air-taxi networks in San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Archer won’t be the only eVTOL manufacturer eyeing the Big Apple. Joby Aviation flew one of its aircraft over the city in November 2023, with its founder and CEO JoeBen Bevirt announcing that it would eventually stake out a presence for its S4 electric aircraft with partner Delta Airlines. It has also slated 2025 for its first year of commercial service.

Photos courtesy of Archer.

This article originally appeared in Robb Report US.