A new exclusive collaboration between Archer Aviation Inc. and Anschutz Entertainment Group Inc. may allow concertgoers and sports fans to hail a ride from the sky soon at L.A. Live.
Having bought out the master lease at Hawthorne Airport last November, the San Jose-based air taxi developer is expanding its physical footprint in Los Angeles with a new L.A. Live vertiport ahead of the 2028 Olympic Games. The vertiport will be the first in downtown L.A., adding to Archer’s previously announced network of transportation hubs that includes Orange County, Long Beach, Santa Monica, Hawthorne Airport, Los Angeles International Airport, Van Nuys, Burbank, Woodland Hills and the University of Southern California.
Its sleek Midnight electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, which holds up to four passengers for quick urban travel, has entered the fourth stage of certification from the Federal Aviation Administration and will serve as the exclusive air taxi provider for Team USA.
“This is a multi-year collaboration, and we’ve already kicked off a lot of the diligence on the area,” Archer Chief Marketing Officer Miles Rogers told the Business Journal. “This lays over the Olympic plan perfectly as we look at our strategy for pulling the L.A. network together ahead of the 2028 L.A. Games.”
Besides potentially shortening travel time from hours to mere minutes, the collaboration may also extend beyond L.A. Live to other AEG properties in the future, said Nick Baker, chief operating officer at AEG’s Global Partnerships division. The collaboration does not stop at the games; AEG envisions having the type of impact on fans “for many, many years to come,” he said.
“We embark upon almost every relationship thinking that if and when we deliver a first-class partnership and the collaboration as a success, one of the great value propositions that AEG brings to the table is the ability to grow within our portfolio,” Baker said. “It really creates a great opportunity for growth once we are able to deliver the success of LA Live. That I know we’re all confident will ensue.”
Air taxis: a sci-fi coming true
With multiple highly anticipated sports events down the pipeline, L.A. has become a key market for air taxi companies looking to scale.
Beyond Archer, Santa Cruz-based Joby Aviation Inc. is also building its presence in the City of Angels with a Century City vertiport. Other local players, such as Long Beach-based Odys Aviation Inc., offer mixed engines and more long-distance travel to fill niches of the market.
Massive investment has flown into the market from venture capital and major transportation players, from United Airlines Inc. to Uber Technologies Inc. The federal government is also aggressively backing air taxi development with a large-scale testing program that demonstrates flights across the country.
The technology itself offers numerous boons to travelers, including lower noise levels, faster transit time and less carbon emission. Ernst & Young consultant Colleen Reiche told the Business Journal earlier this month that the industry is at an “inflection point.” While power capacity and basic infrastructure still need to be built, the Olympics will focus capital, certification, and infrastructure investment in a global showcase.
Baker and Rogers, who have been long-term friends since their time at Arizona State University, said they were thrilled about contributing to a lasting ecosystem for years to come.
“One of the exciting things about the LA28 Olympics is that it’s really been a ‘flagpole’ that people are driving towards in terms of showing this world the technology,” Rogers said. “We’re really looking at leaving a legacy behind for Los Angeles.”
