Anyone who has ever been in a rush trying to reach the airport to catch a flight understands—traffic can make the difference between making it to your gate an hour early or not making it at all. Archer wants to implement a solution for New York City, a city famous for traffic, and of course, it involves more flying.

Archer Aviation, one of the top competitors in the developing electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft sector, has announced a few potential air taxi routes aimed at connecting Manhattan with major New York City area airports. The proposed service, once it launches in the near or far future, wants to use the company’s “Midnight” aircraft to transport passengers between existing Manhattan heliports and John F. Kennedy (JFK), LaGuardia (LGA), and Newark Liberty (EWR) airports in as little as five to 15 minutes.

The Midnight planes are planes that are roughly the size of helicopters and are able to take off vertically from a helipad. Their range isn’t impressive, doing up to 50 miles at most, but they’re electric—making them hopefully not only more environmentally friendly but also cheaper to operate—and they can take up to four passengers first with their respective carry-on luggage.

It should be noted that the announcement comes without a projected start date and faces substantial regulatory obstacles, primarily from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which must approve any such operations. As such, it’s not immediately clear yet when we might start seeing this service. But it could solve a lot of problems.

The good part is that if FAA approval ever happens, it shouldn’t take too long to see commercial service from there. Airlines like Southwest Airlines already have partnerships in place with Archer. Archer is also working with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the region’s major airports, and the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC). And there are also a few collaborations lined up with fixed-base operators (FBOs) like Signature Aviation and Atlantic Aviation, which manage private aviation terminals, and automotive giant Stellantis (formerly Fiat Chrysler). This New York initiative follows previously announced proposals for air taxi networks in other major US metropolitan areas, including San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Chicago.

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Archer has not yet publicly disclosed critical operational details, such as the planned number of daily flights, operating hours, noise levels, or specific flight paths. This information is vital for the FAA’s comprehensive safety assessment, which considers risks to passengers, existing air traffic, and people on the ground.

Archer’s strategy involves integrating these short-haul flights as an “add-on” service for passengers booking traditional airline tickets—you wouldn’t need to take these flights to the airport, but it could shave a lot of time off your ride to the check-in desk. The plan utilizes established Manhattan infrastructure, specifically the East 34th Street Heliport, the Downtown Manhattan Heliport (Wall Street), and the West 30th Street Heliport. From these locations, passengers would fly directly to dedicated landing areas, or “vertiports,” situated at JFK, LGA, EWR, and potentially other regional airports.

Traffic is probably one of the top reasons why people lose flights in New York City, and unless you’re close to the airport you’re departing from, a cab ride to the airport can take a long time—it’s bad enough that people tend to plan ahead for this. This service, if it’s ever launched, could provide considerably shorter times to your airport of choice if you live in Manhattan.

Source: Engadget