Archer Aviation has announced the successful completion of a piloted roundtrip journey with its all-electric Midnight aircraft, which departed from Salinas Municipal Airport before landing at Monterey Regional Airport and making a return flight.
Working closely with the FAA, the piloted, round trip inner city flight marks a major milestone in the company’s long-term journey to launch Midnight operations under the White House’s eIPP program later this year.
Each leg of the journey was completed in roughly nine minutes – a significant reduction from the trip’s usual time of 35 minutes or more by car.
Adam Goldstein, founder and CEO of Archer, said:This roundtrip journey is exactly the kind of route we plan to fly with Midnight under the eIPP and in LA during the Olympic Games.
This mission provides a template for us to replicate with our partners across Texas, Florida and New York as we get ready for eIPP operations later this year.
As part of wider eIPP efforts, Archer has stated it has begun working closely with the FAA, federal, state and local partners to establish the procedures, infrastructure and local operational capabilities needed to support future commercial air taxi operations. This work also supports preparations within Los Angeles, where Archer will serve as the Official Air Taxi Provider for the LA28 Olympic Games.
