SANTA MONICA—The city of Santa Monica may soon witness the future of transportation, as air taxi company Archer Aviation eyes the city as a key destination in an electric flight network built for the 2028 Olympics. The company’s all-electric “Midnight” aircraft is designed to take off and land vertically in urban settings. At first glance, it looks like a hybrid of a drone, a plane, and a helicopter combined into a single aircraft.
The “Midnight” can carry four passengers and one pilot at speeds of up to 150 miles per hour. Archer notes the aircraft produces significantly less noise than a conventional helicopter. The company wants to use the air taxi to shuttle residents and visitors between Santa Monica and destinations across Southern California, such as LAX, downtown Los Angeles, and Orange County, in trips as short as 10 to 20 minutes.
The aircraft is electric; they operate with zero operating emissions. The city of Santa Monica has been named in Archer’s network plans since 2024, ahead of what is expected to be the biggest global event the region has ever hosted.
For a city that has fought for decades to reduce noise levels and aviation-related emissions, the timing of this announcement could be significant. Santa Monica could help pioneer clean urban flight at a moment when the world’s attention is turned to Los Angeles.
Santa Monica is listed as a possible site, nothing is finalized, and no agreement between Archer and the city of Santa Monica has been made public.
By Milan Manesh