Imagine that you could travel from Miami to Boca or Fort Lauderdale to West Palm Beach in under 20 minutes. Now imagine it’s rush hour and it’s still under 20 minutes. Sign us up, and wave to the gridlock from above.
That dream of electic air taxi service is inching along to reality, and a lot of activity is going on behind the scenes to make it happen over the next few years.
The latest: Archer Aviation today revealed its plans for a South Florida-based air taxi network. The publicly traded San Jose, CA-based company, which also developed and builds the aircraft, has been on a mission since its founding in 2018 to transform how residents and visitors move across the nation’s most congested, traffic-clogged regions. Yea, that’s Miami, which is also one of the fast-growing urban markets, too.
Archer’s eVTOL (electric vehicle takeoff and landing) aircraft are designed to provide fast, low-noise hops between various points, high above the gridlock. The all-electric vehicles take off and land vertically like a helicopter and then flies forward like a plane. Archer’s model, Midnight, is undergoing final certifications from the FAA.
The goal of Archer’s planned network is to connect major population and business centers including Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton and West Palm Beach via 10 minute to 20 minute flights that are safe, quiet and efficient with zero emissions. Indeed, Miami is one the first four US markets that Archer plans to initially roll out. The others are New York City, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, where Archer will be the official air taxi partner for the 2028 Olympics. Archer’s first air taxi service is expected to launch in Abu Dhabi in 2026.
Archer’s South Florida air taxi network announced today will also serve and connect Miami International Airport (MIA), Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL), and Palm Beach International Airport (PBI), as well as several strategic general aviation airports.
“For years, I’ve worked with Archer as they’ve advanced a vision for an air-taxi network that will elevate Miami’s position as a global capital for innovation and mobility. What they’re building isn’t just transformational transportation, it embodies the Miami mindset: we lead, we innovate, and we redefine what’s possible,” said Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, in a statement.
Who’s involved in developing this network? A pioneering group of infrastructure and real estate partners have joined Archer to ready existing helipad infrastructure, and in other cases, they will stand up new-build vertiports.
These partners include Hard Rock Stadium, home of the Miami Dolphins, the University of Miami Hurricanes and the Formula 1 Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix, and Apogee Golf Club in Martin County. In both cases, existing helipads that will be readied for electric operations.
There’s more: Related Ross plans to partner with Archer to develop a vertiport hub within its West Palm Beach downtown development. And Dragon Global’s Magic City Innovation District in Miami’s Little Haiti plans to develop a vertiport site to bring air taxis to its planned mixed-use technology and innovation community.
“We are integrating Archer’s electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft into our flagship locations across South Florida, including the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Related Ross developments in West Palm Beach, and Apogee Club in Hobe Sound. We’re excited to embrace a forward-thinking vision that transforms how people and businesses move across the region,” said Stephen Ross, CEO and Chairman of Related Ross, In a statement.
For the Magic City Innovation District, Plaza Equity Partners, the project’s developer, is partnering with Archer “to integrate an entirely new layer of transportation … that advances a multimodal, future-ready transportation ecosystem for South Florida,” added Dragon Global founder Bob Zangrillo.
Archer’s piloted Midnight eVTOL will carry four passengers and their luggage and was built to perform rapid back-to-back trips with minimal charge time between flights. Midnight has the potential to replace one or two hour commutes by car with 10-20-minute electric air taxi flights that are cost-competitive with ground transportation such as a premium Uber service, the company has said.
Midnight, which sports Archer’s ticker symbol ACHR near its tail, was on display this week in a hanger by the Coconut Grove waterfront, and Melissa McCaffrey, head of government affairs for Archer, was on hand to provide more details. She would not give an estimate on when Archer’s air taxi service could begin – eVTOLs are a whole new class of aircraft – but said that the certification process with the FAA is going well.
2027? 2028? “It’s hard to say. We look to the FAA to take the lead on it, but we have done all the right things,” said McCaffrey, in an interview with Refresh Miami. “We’re very optimistic. It’s the final stretch.” For Archer, which was named after Archer Road in Gainesville where Archer’s co-founders, including current CEO Adam Goldstein, first incubated the concept, that final stretch has been years in the making.
As for the Miami air taxi network, the announcement today is just the beginning of what Archer envisions for the South Florida service, she said. “Over time, I’m sure that things will expand from our first-use cases. I think people are going to love it, and it will only grow from there. Nobody likes sitting in traffic,” McCaffrey said.
“There’s so much uniqueness to what we have to offer, especially for communities,” she continued. “It’s super quiet, super safe and zero emissions, so that’s a major unlock. There’s absolutely a lot of really good energy around the industry right now.”
To be sure, Archer is not the only eVTOL company with eyes on the Miami market. Earlier this year, Wisk Aero announced it is planning to bring an all-electric, self-flying air taxi service to Miami, and is working with the Miami-Dade Aviation Department and the University of Miami’s Engineering Autonomy Mobility Initiative to establish an infrastructure for eVTOL aircraft. It’s among a handful of companies that have announced Miami will be one of their initial launch sites, including Miami-based UrbanLink and California-based Joby Aviation.
Like Archer, none of the companies have been approved to operate their air taxi services yet. Timelines vary, but most say they are hoping to launch between 2026 and 2030. In Miami, all-electric seaplanes and eVTOL cargo service are also in the mix of potential offerings.
