Southwest Airlines Working to Bring Air Taxis to California

Southwest Airlines has officially signed a deal with Archer Aviation to work on bringing electric air taxis to California in the near future, which seems like an exciting concept.

Archer Aviation's Midnight eVTOL aircraft have already received 200 orders from United Airlines, as United and Archer have also formed a partnership and are aiming to bring electric air taxis to Chicago and New York City in the coming years.

eVTOLs, or electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, are said to be the future of short-distance air travel. Archer's designs allow for the cabin of one Midnight to seat four people, and it can travel up to 60 miles on one charge. It takes about 10 minutes to fully charge, and it can fly at up to 150 mph.

If vertiports are constructed across cities, using these Midnight aircraft could help citizens travel from place to place much quicker than it would take to drive through busy city traffic. A vertiport is a vertical landing port, similar to a helipad, that can be constructed on the ground or on top of buildings. Small aircraft with the capability to make a vertical landing, such as the Midnight, would touch down and then taxi to a gate, where they would charge before being ready to take off again. Southwest's plan is to connect multiple airports across California with these air taxis, allowing for quick transportation, zero emissions, and low-noise level.

United has already invested $10 million into the new technology to be used across Chicago and New York City, and Southwest is expected to make some purchases from Archer in the coming months. The Midnights are expected to enter service in 2025, and since Archer has already obtained an air carrier and operator certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), they will operate the flights in the place of United.

Meanwhile, Delta has invested $60 million into Joby Aviation (a 2 percent stake in the company), another business offering to produce air taxis, and they hope to provide short-distance transportation from Los Angeles and New York City airports in the near future. Joby has also been working with German-based H2Fly on a hydrogen-powered eVTOL, which could also be used for Delta's air taxi plans.

Similar development is also happening all over the world-- China Southern Airlines is working with local maker EHuang to operate eVTOLs, and the United Kingdom's Vertical Aerospace is almost finished testing their new eVTOLs.