- Southwest Airlines and Archer Aviation are developing electric air taxi operations in California.
- Southwest plans to use Archer Midnight eVTOL aircraft to cut customer travel time to the airport.
Southwest Airlines and Archer Aviation plan to develop an electric air taxi network for California airports.
The two companies signed an agreement on Friday that would allow Southwest Airlines customers to use Archer's Midnight electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft as a speedy means of getting to and from airports in the future.
"This is a pretty huge deal for us and the industry," Archer Aviation chief commercial officer Nikhil Goel told Business Insider. "This is the first time Southwest has done anything like this, and so at this point, we're working with two of the biggest airlines in the US and three of the five largest airlines in the world by market cap."
Archer has also been working with United Airlines, which ordered $1 billion worth of the company's Midnight eVTOL aircraft for similar use in 2021.
The firm has inked deals internationally, as well. Interglobe Enterprises, the parent company of India's largest airline, IndiGo, signed an agreement in late 2023 with Archer that includes the purchase of 200 Midnight eVTOL aircraft for air taxi service in India.
The Southwest deal aims to shorten airport commutes for customers flying through any of the 14 California airports where the airline operates.
For example, let's say someone in Los Angeles wants to fly to Napa — but skip traffic to and from the airport.
With Archer, they would go to the Archer Vertaport, under development in Santa Monica, for a short hop to Burbank Airport. There, they would board an 80-minute Southwest flight to San Francisco International Airport and then a 15-minute Archer flight to Napa. (For context, Napa is roughly 60 miles from SFO).
Goel said this route could shave one to two hours off customers' travel time.
Beyond the new partnership with Southwest, Archer said it is focused on completing the development and certification process and building up the manufacturing infrastructure to support the Midnight eVTOL, which is at the heart of the deal.
"For us at Archer, the next 18 months are almost solely dedicated to certifying and manufacturing the aircraft," Goel said.
Archer received FAA certification to commence commercial operations in June, allowing the company to refine its systems before launching customer service.
However, the Midnight eVTOL, a four-seat electric tilt-rotor aircraft, has not been certified.
Archer is also working to complete its 350,000-square-foot production facility in Covington, Georgia, which will be operated in partnership with Stellantis. When fully operational, the factory is expected to be able to produce up to 650 aircraft a year, with room to expand capacity to 2,300 aircraft annually.
Archer isn't the only player in the eVTOL business that's working with major airlines.
Delta and Japan's All Nippon Airways are working with fellow mobility startup Joby Aviation for future air taxi services.