Southwest Airlines and Archer Aviation have announced a partnership to develop plans for electric air taxi networks that will use Archer’s electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft at California airports where Southwest has a presence.
The memorandum of understanding signed by the two companies specifies that the service will utilize Archer’s Midnight eVTOL aircraft, which is currently under development. The Midnight is designed to replace a 60-to-90-minute commute by auto with less polluting and less noisy air taxis.
Archer recently announced that the Midnight air taxi prototype had completed its first transitional flight.
The news follows Archer’s announcement that it plans to build a network of five vertiports—the term for a complex intended to serve vertical takeoff and landing crafts—in the Bay Area, which the company made public on June 20.
The additional vertiports will likely be located in Napa, San Jose, Oakland and Livermore. Southwest Airlines is California’s largest carrier, with operations at 14 airports across the state.
Source: Archer Aviation
