A Silicon Valley-based company wants to bring its air taxi network to North Texas and other parts of the state.
San Jose-based Archer Aviation Inc. announced Oct. 23 plans to launch a network of electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, or eVTOLs, in the Dallas-Fort Worth, Austin and Houston metros.
In DFW, the company said this network of air taxis would connect passengers at major airports including Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, Dallas Love Field, Addison Airport, Arlington Municipal Airport, Fort Worth Meacham International Airport and Perot Field Fort Worth Alliance Airport with major business hubs, such as the mixed-use Frisco Station.
Of the three major markets in the Texas Triangle, a region of about 20 million people, DFW is expected to have the largest network, Archer Chief Commercial Officer Nikhil Goel said.
Archer has not set a date for commercial service to start. Goel said that the company’s initial flying in DFW would begin in June, with one or two aircraft used to test integration with airports, airlines and the region’s airspace before the company scales up to commercial service. He said the aircraft are in the final stages of federal certification. However, Archer has been selected as the official air taxi provider of the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
“The focus is going to be on safely and efficiently integrating it with the airspace for the first little bit, and then as soon as we’re ready to launch into commercial service, we’ll be able to scale up rather quickly because we’ll have all of that practice and trust with the regulators,” he said.
