If electric air-taxi creators have their way, the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles will be the ‘world stage’ for society’s leap into the Jetson’s era.
A handful of California startups in this mini-planemaker space are betting they’ll have customers looking for a fast way around traffic jams when the games come to town in July 2028.
Also see: Coming to Los Angeles: Air taxis that skip the freeways
The jockeying over who grabs the biggest share of the fledgling market is already shaping up.
In recent weeks, San Jose-based Archer Aviation announced it was partnering with the LA Olympic organization to fly athletes and visitors to and from the games. The industry’s leader, Joby Aviation out of Santa Cruz, also has its aircraft aimed at the Olympics.
“I think there is no better world stage than the Olympics,” said David Oord, a policy manager with Mountain View-based Wisk Aero, a subsidiary of aerospace giant Boeing Co., which is working on a pilotless model it hopes to have flying by the end of the decade.
The flying taxi concept brings to mind Hollywood’s science fiction — “The Jetsons” and their flying cars set in 2062 and “Minority Report” and its police-carrying surveillance drones of 2054.
Aviation experts say the Olympics and the 15 million expected visitors are all part of the startups’ gambit.
But several big hurdles could stall the Olympic launch aspirations. These taximakers must first get their crafts certified by the Federal Aviation Administration.
Other challenges also threaten the 2028 deadline, such as funding and finding pilots to train and getting flight routes approved, experts say.
Buzzing overhead
Why Los Angeles and why now?
The electric taxi concepts lift off vertically and don’t need a runway, creating a niche for air travel in a crowded urban landscape.
The aircraft under development by Archer, Joby and others would launch from rooftops or other taxi waystations. Once around 100 feet in the air, their engines and propellers tilt, creating a fixed-wing aircraft.
The technology is similar to that used in the military’s tilt-rotor V-22 Osprey, most commonly used for troop transport. One key difference? Their weight. Archer Aviation’s Midnight is roughly five times lighter than the V-22’s 33,140-pound weight.
The electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft, or eVTOL in aerospace vernacular, generally will carry four passengers and a pilot. Some will carry cargo or emergency medical services.
The lineup
Innovators claim their aircraft will buzz the skies at 150 miles per hour, just a few thousand feet overhead in one of the world’s busiest air travel hubs.
Three major players want their electric flying taxis ready for the Olympics in 2028 — though most are looking at partnerships in Dubai or Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.
Here’s a look at the major U.S. ventures:
Wisk: With help from Southwest Airlines and others, Wisk is looking to Houston for its initial launch between a handful of commercial jet and general aviation airports, Wisk’s Oord said.
The company is targeting the 2032 Brisbane summer Olympic Games in Australia to show off its service, said Oord, who got the aviation bug as a child while watching planes land and take off at Chino Airport with his father while eating at Flo’s restaurant.
Like the piloted eVTOLs, the autonomous eVTOL aircraft must still be certified by the FAA for use in the U.S. And the regulatory process still needs to be finalized, he said.
Archer Aviation: The Silicon Valley-based startup announced on May 15 that it would become the “official” air taxi provider to shuttle athletes and visitors for the 2028 Olympic Games.
Adam Goldstein, the chief executive of the publicly traded aviation company, said he’s optimistic about having an aircraft certified by the end of this year or early 2026.
“I think this is an opportunity to make people dream again and get excited about innovation,” Goldstein said. “I think the Olympics is the biggest place to launch.”
The company is working with United Airlines — an investor in Archer — to help with the commercial service between airports in the Los Angeles region.
In the long-term, the company also is eyeing densely populated markets with major airports to use as hubs in San Francisco, Dallas and New York City. Archer has already signed regional partners, including Orange County’s John Wayne Airport and Van Nuys Airport.
Joby Aviation: The publicly traded company is working on a self-operated service as well as one with Delta Air Lines and others. It wants to fly between airports in Southern California, and similarly in New York City as early as 2026, a Joby spokeswoman said.
Beta Technologies: The South Burlington, Vermont-based aerospace manufacturer developing both eVTOL taxis and electric fixed wing aircraft — mostly on the East and Gulf coasts — is working with fixed-based operators like Texas-based Atlantic Aviation and Florida-based Signature Aviation to install 50-plus electric chargers at airports.
Beta wants to move cargo first before expanding to passenger taxis. The privately held company has partnered with international shippers like UPS and others in New Zealand and Norway. It is beginning to look westward for expansion, and is having “conversations about the 2028 Olympics,” a spokesman said.
Dropping out
In the past year, two eVTOL developers have fallen out of the marketplace.
Earlier this year, Eviation Aircraft Ltd., an Arlington, Washington, maker of all-electric aircraft with financial roots with Israeli backers, laid off most of its staff and paused work. Overair Inc., which had been developing an eVTOL with $170 million in funding from South Korea’s Hanwha Aerospace, shut down its factories in Santa Ana along South Susan Street.
Overair was an early partner with Clay Lacy, as was Eviation Aircraft.
Last year, Overair laid off its workforce amid reports that progress on its first prototype was moving slower than promised.
Anduril Industries, the Costa Mesa-based defense technology company that specializes in drones, is leasing a 108,858-square-foot factory at 3030 S. Susan St., according to a filing made for facility improvements with the Orange County Clerk-Recorder’s Office.
Overair Chief Executive Officer Ben Tigner and Anduril sources did not return phone calls or emails seeking comment.
The state’s Secretary of State website also notes that Overair’s incorporation as a business was terminated Nov. 19, 2024. A Hanwha spokesman did not respond to an email.
Who will jump in?
Will Californians embrace this new and expensive form of Uber in the sky?
“They are coming, but when?” asked Sergio Cecutta at Irvine-based SMG Consulting, which advises startups and aerospace companies on advanced air mobility strategies.
“These tech companies came in with this mindset that they’re going to disrupt the industry, until they met the regulators and the regulations,” he said. “The FAA and others are not there to impede progress. They’re there to make sure that when you set foot on one of these airplanes, that they’re no less safe than if you just step out of your house.”
Cecutta thinks it could be late 2026 or 2027 before any of these electric flying taxis get FAA certification — which will have the same level of safety as commercial passenger jets.
Ubers in the sky
To fly these futuristic craft during the Olympics, companies will need FAA approval for the type of commercial service they want to operate — like a self-owned and operated service or partnerships with an airline.
None of the manufacturers with an electric-powered aircraft have gotten so far as submitting planned routes to fly during the Olympic Games.
Aviation experts say they’re looking to fly routes from John Wayne Airport, Los Angeles International Airport and general aviation airports in Santa Monica and Van Nuys, or from a Downtown L.A. skyscraper, to SoFi Stadium in Inglewood or to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
These mechanical birds and their 50-foot long wings will likely follow paths already approved for helicopters.
Much like electric vehicles that need a charger, the flying taxis also need a specially built filling station to supercharge their batteries to travel up to 100 miles in distance before recharging again. They also will be nearly silent, making “the same level of noise as a quiet conversation,” Cecutta described. “You will see them, but not hear them.”
JoeBen Bevirt, founder and chief executive officer of Joby Aviation, says that the all-electric flying shuttle that his company is developing is “1,000 times quieter” than a helicopter’s “wop wop” when taking off, and produces a decibel level comparable to a normal conversation or the rustling of leaves.
So, how will passengers connect with their flying taxis?
So-called “vertiports” will connect superchargers to the taxis, providing a takeoff and landing pad at an airport, on top of a building, or in a newly constructed structure in an urban or suburban area.
A ground-level charging station is under construction at Clay Lacy Aviation at John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana. The fixed-based operator is spending $100 million on a new jet fuel and electric-fueling area, maintenance and hangar space and lounge for passengers.
Clay Lacy executives say their new FBO won’t be completed until 2026 or 2027.
“We put fuel in airplanes. This is just putting in a new type of fuel in a new type of airplane,” said Scott Cutshall, president of real estate and sustainability at Clay Lacy.
Also see: Joby Aviation electric air taxi charger coming to John Wayne Airport
For sure, getting all the infrastructure in place before the Olympics will be daunting.
“The regulations are in place and have been approved. The comments have been filed. What you see now is these companies going through the certification process, and many times, to cater to investors, they will make statements that are a little bit hyperbolic,” Cecutta said. “So, they get into this discrepancy between when they think the airplane will be available as opposed to when the airplane is really going to be available.
“After aircraft certification, it may take another six months to a year before any of the electric flying taxis are placed in commercial service,” he said. “If you start adding all the numbers together, you see that the 2028 Olympic Games timeframe is kind of like tomorrow, not three years away,” Cecutta said.
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