Archer developments accelerate Midnight eVTOL path to market

Archer Aviation Inc. (Santa Clara, Calif., U.S.) has made a series of announcements that reinforce its path to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certification and commercial operations in 2025. In tandem, the company issued a shareholder letter providing additional details on these updates along with its second quarter operating and financial results and third quarter 2023 estimates, which can be accessed here.

“Over the last quarter, we’ve seen the U.S. government make an unwavering commitment that America will lead the way in commercializing eVTOL [electric vertical takeoff and landing] aircraft, the FAA validated the timeline for eVTOL aircraft to begin operations in the U.S. in 2025 and leaders in the mobility industry, Stellantis, United Airlines and Boeing, have come together to invest in Archer’s future,” Adam Goldstein, Archer’s founder and CEO, says. “The pace at which our industry is advancing is unprecedented. Our team’s hard work and dedication have brought us to this exciting moment, and we can’t wait to see Midnight soar.”

Led by Stellantis (Amsterdam, Netherlands), Archer’s long-term strategic partner, Archer says it has further strengthened its liquidity position with a $215 million equity investment round. This investment round includes an acceleration of $70 million from Stellantis under the strategic funding agreement entered into in January 2023, with $55 million remaining available under that facility. Stellantis has provided the manufacturing expertise and capital needed to accelerate Archer’s business objectives, as well as the strategic vision and steadfast support from CEO Carlos Tavares and chief engineering and technology officer Ned Curic.

Archer continues to make strong progress on Midnight’s certification program with the FAA in support of the company’s planned entry into service in 2025.

The roster of investors from this latest funding round also includes United Airlines and industry giant Boeing, as well as other financial institutions, including ARK Invest. The funds from this round are intended to be used for working capital and general corporate purposes, including Archer’s continued development of its aircraft and related technology, as well as the build out of its manufacturing and test facilities.

Archer and Wisk Aero (Mountain View, Calif., U.S.), along with The Boeing Company (Arlington, Va., U.S.), have also announced a collaboration that looks forward to the growth and development of the advanced air mobility (AAM) industry. Simultaneously, the parties reached a settlement to resolve the federal and state court litigation between them. This collaboration is said to puts Archer in a unique position to be able to source autonomy technology from a leader in the industry. Over the long term, autonomy is seen as one of the keys to achieving scale across all AAM applications, from passenger to cargo and beyond. 

This strategic relationship will leverage each company’s respective strengths and competencies with the goal of accelerating the commercialization of autonomous flight. This approach is a natural extension of Archer’s overall strategy of focusing its in-house R&D on the key enabling technologies that cannot be sourced from the existing aerospace supply base, thereby helping Archer potentially avoid hundreds of millions of dollars of spending. 

In addition, Archer announces that its Midnight aircraft has received its special airworthiness certificate from the FAA. This certification signals that Archer’s aircraft has successfully met all FAA safety requirements enabling it to begin flight test operations, which Archer expects to commence in the coming weeks.

Archer continues to make strong progress on Midnight’s certification program with the FAA in support of the company’s planned entry into service in 2025. This is an important step as Archer readies to begin its piloted “for credit” testing of the aircraft with the FAA in early 2024 and bring online the company’s high-volume eVTOL production facility in Covington, Ga., U.S. in mid-2024 alongside Stellantis. 

As part of Archer’s recently announced landmark agreements with the Department of Defense valued at up to $142 million, the company is on track to deliver the Midnight aircraft to the U.S. Air Force later this year or early next year. Archer believes this would make Midnight the first ever eVTOL aircraft delivered to a customer.