Los Angeles is notorious for its congested streets and perpetual traffic jams, with tourists often finding themselves stuck in endless queues of brake lights and honking horns. As three global events – the 2026 World Cup, Super Bowl in 2027, and 2028 Olympics – promise to attract tens of millions of spectators from around the world to Los Angeles, city officials are seeking a range of innovative mobility solutions to address its chronic congestion woes. Despite being late, many deliberate transportation infrastructure initiatives for the Olympics will remain unfulfilled.
On this hole lies a chance.
The startup is poised to revolutionize transportation by developing electrical vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (eVTOLs), seizing on the general public sector’s slow pace with a private sector solution: an air taxi network in LA that will transform a two- to three-hour drive into a 10- to 20-minute air taxi ride, set to launch in 2026.
The company announced the locations for its network of vertiports, including LA International Airport, University of Southern California, Santa Monica, Hollywood Burbank, Van Nuys and Long Beach in Los Angeles County, as well as Orange County, prior to its second-quarter earnings name on Thursday.
Archer can be constructing a brand new vertiport at SoFi Stadium — which can host the World Cup, Tremendous Bowl and a number of the Olympics video games — in partnership with Kroenke Sports activities & Leisure and the LA Rams soccer workforce. While Archer’s planned vertiport won’t be ready by 2026, they aim to complete it just in time for the Olympics.
After announcing plans to establish a significant presence in the LA area, Archer signed a memorandum of understanding with Kilroy Realty Company to develop a 50-acre waterfront campus, dubbed Oyster Level, in South San Francisco, which will serve as a crucial hub for the firm’s planned city air mobility community in the SF Bay Area.
Archer’s Chief Industrial Officer, Nikhil Goel, has revealed to TechCrunch that a significant portion of the vertiports unveiled by the company in Los Angeles on Thursday are already operational.
With Los Angeles boasting one of the most underutilized aviation infrastructures nationwide, it’s no surprise that the city is home to numerous airports scattered throughout its metropolitan area. Helipads, numerous on rooftop highs, currently lie idle,” remarks Goel, highlighting that every Archer must prepare, including the installation of charging infrastructure and amenities for passengers.
Archers’ workforce chose the areas primarily based on data regarding how people navigate Los Angeles today. Archer has recently partnered with an airline, securing access to its buyer data and insights that will inform the selection of optimal locations for vertiports in their network.
Will the 2026 LA launch be a gradual roll-out, as per Goel’s guidance? During the initial 12 months, Archer’s focus will likely be on establishing a solid foundation by concentrating on a few key routes that offer the greatest value, allowing us to refine our technology implementation, develop strong customer relationships, and integrate effectively with local communities where we operate.
By 2025, Archer aims to initiate commercial operations in six select cities: San Francisco, Miami, Los Angeles, New York City, Abu Dhabi, and Dubai, with restricted pilots as the starting point. As the timeline tightens, the corporation is working diligently to complete construction on its Midnight aircraft, with the ultimate goal of launching a new service while simultaneously securing the necessary certifications from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
The Midnight eVTOL is a piloted, electrically powered aircraft capable of transporting four passengers at speeds of up to 150 miles per hour, with the ability to complete multiple short flights of 20 to 50 miles in succession. The corporation notes that recharging between trips typically occurs within a timeframe of under 10 minutes.
Archer is collaborating with Stellantis to build out its Georgia manufacturing facility, which is poised to produce 650 aircraft annually starting in the fourth quarter of 2024. The startup is currently constructing six pre-production planes within the confines of its modest manufacturing facility in California.
Before Archer can take its eVTOL aircraft to market, the company needs to obtain both Sort Certification and Manufacturing Certification from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The preceding verification confirms that the eVTOL’s design satisfies all regulatory security specifications, whereas the subsequent step guarantees that Archer’s production methods consistently generate planes adhering to the certified design and are capable of functioning as intended.
That’s becoming increasingly tangible. “The airliner operates nearly daily,” quoted Goel. “Notably, our team has achieved a significant milestone: not only have we successfully completed our first transition flight, but we’ve also accumulated an impressive total of 233 flights so far, putting us firmly on track to surpass 400 flights by year’s end.” Everything is finally falling into place. This sci-fi classic isn’t a remake of the iconic 1982 film Blade Runner? Is actualized by mid-2026 and scales up afterwards.
