What once seemed like fantastic luxury could be a little more affordable.
Sofia Coppola’s daughter recently went viral for a TikTok in which she made vodka pasta sauce and casually revealed that she was grounded for trying to use her father’s credit card to rent a helicopter to see a friend.
Jokes about the lives of the rich and privileged abounded. After all, charting a helicopter for travel is something the obscenely rich (and usually just plain obscene) characters of “Succession” do.
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But air travel could become more mainstream
But in the next few years, even people who don’t have Logan Roy levels of money might be able to charter their own helicopters, or at least the next best thing.
So-called “air taxes,” which are basically a combination of a drone and a mini-helicopter, have been in the works for several years, as companies ranging from Joby (JOB) – Get a free reportan “Electric Shared Airlift” and Archer have been recruiting top Silicon Valley talent to put working prototypes in order.
If all goes well, it looks like air taxis could start hitting the market in 2025, like Archer and United Airlines. (UAL) – Get a free reporthave announced plans to launch the first air taxi route in Chicago.
So far, the plan is for Archer’s electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicle, dubbed eVTOL, to travel between O’Hare International Airport (ORD) and downtown Vertiport Chicago.
The trip is expected to take 10 minutes. Archer’s Midnight plane can carry up to four United customers at a time, at speeds of 150 miles per hour. A fare should cost $100, which is about the cost of an Uber Black ride from the same distance.
“Both Archer and United are committed to decarbonizing air travel and leveraging innovative technologies to deliver on the promise of electrifying the aviation industry,” said Michael Leskinen, President of United Airlines Ventures. “Once operational, we are excited to offer our customers a more sustainable, convenient and cost-effective mode of transportation during their daily commutes to the airport.”
Are there more air taxis on the way?
United has indicated that Chicago was chosen because it is the company’s headquarters, as well as a center of business, innovation and investment.
Once the airport to downtown route is established, United intends to build “branch” routes to surrounding communities in the Chicago metropolitan area, notes Fox Business.
One can only assume that if all goes well in Chicago, the service will expand to other major cities. JOBY and Archer have faced a host of obstacles on their way to bringing air travel to the masses, as the US Federal Aviation Administration has been extremely slow and deliberate in its actions following the failed certification of the fatal airplane boeing 737max accidents in 2018 and 2019, which were related to automatic control system problems.
There have been outstanding technology issues to be resolved, including the development of an air traffic framework that will manage multiple small aircraft in crowded skies over large cities. But once everything has been resolved, Morgan Stanley has estimated that the urban air mobility market could be worth up to $1.5 trillion by 2040.
