Archer, one of the most serious players in the air taxi game, just announced his route for potential services in New York City. Its midnight plane will be from Manhattan to Kennedy, LaGuardia and Newark Air Force passengers in five to 15 minutes, and may shave an hour or more from a typical driving time. However, Archer does not provide any dates for the service to begin, all of which can be derailed by regulators, especially the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
Any news about air taxis should bring warnings that even if the startup has tried for a decade or more. That being said, Archer works with many established aviation and other companies as well as others including Fiat Chrysler and United Airlines, as well as fixed base operators (FBOs) such as Signature Airlines and Atlantic. Archer has also previously announced a proposed air taxi network in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Chicago.
Archer's plan is to let you book an air taxi as "Add on" Carry traditional flights. You will launch from the existing Manhattan factory, namely East 34th Street Heliport, downtown Skyport and West 30th Street Heliport. From there, you can fly to "Vertiports" Locations at Kennedy International Airport, LaGuardia and Newark Air Force, and other regional airports. The company will take a midnight flight of the company's humans, four-person passengers, with 12 rotors, six batteries and a range of 20-50 miles.
Archer does own United Airlines, the New York Port Authority and the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC). However, it provides no important details such as the number of potential flights per day, operating hours, etc. This information is crucial to the FAA, which must decide whether the service is safe for passengers, other aircraft and personnel on the ground.
It's a career that can take a lot of time and expense, and Archer's VTOL aircraft still doesn't receive the FAA type certification required for any of its operations. However, the company did get the final airworthiness standard from the FAA, making it one of two air taxi companies that have the certification and rival Joby Aviation. The only air taxi company that has obtained type certification from aviation regulators is Ehang of the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC).
Air taxi games are also risky for startups. In the second half of last year, one of Lilium's Archer VTOL competitors stopped operations and laid off 1,000 employees.
This article originally appeared on Engadget
