Archer’s Midnight aircraft displayed outside Peacock Place. Photo Credit: Archer
Why drive when you can fly? Air taxis are officially coming to LA Live under a multiyear pact between AEG and Archer Aviation, the company behind the Midnight aircraft.
AEG and San Jose-headquartered Archer unveiled their exclusive partnership today, pointing, most immediately, to a forthcoming vertiport at LA Live. Though currently without a Merriam-Webster entry, “vertiport” refers to a landing station for vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft.
Add a lowercase “e” to the beginning of that acronym and you’re evidently left with a term for the new electric VTOLs – like Archer’s aforesaid Midnight, which is “[d]esigned to not be heard from the ground below when flying overhead.”
And it’s Midnight, which last month “completed a piloted round trip journey between Salinas Municipal Airport and Monterey Regional Airport” in about 18 minutes, that’ll be shuttling fans to and from centrally located vertiports.
Now, in addition to a previously announced network spanning Santa Monica, Orange County, Long Beach, and more, one of those vertiports is set to arrive at LA Live.
As for where the plans stand, the involved companies have already wrapped an “initial feasibility study” covering land-use and regulatory considerations; phase two, involving “reviewing operational approach and guest experience,” is already in motion.
While the same parties opted against disclosing a hard completion date, it’s seemingly all systems go for Archer’s broader expansion plans ahead of the 2028 Olympics. The acquisition-minded business is in place as the “Official Air Taxi Provider” for the event as well as Team USA.
“We are thrilled to pursue this endeavor with Archer to enhance the fan experience around the major sports and live-entertainment events we host,” stated Nick Baker, AEG’s president and COO of global partnerships.
“This is an ambitious project and exactly the kind of forward-thinking collaboration that blends infrastructure and technology in service of our fans, visitors, and the broader community around major sports and live-entertainment events hosted at L.A. LIVE,” the multi-decade AEG vet continued.
Back to the initially mentioned question – why drive when you can fly? – cost certainly jumps out as an important consideration here.
With each Midnight aircraft designed to transport “up to four passengers” per trip, logic and evidence suggest that the highly specialized travel option might not come cheap.
On the evidence front, festivals including Maverick Helicopters-partnered EDC offer helicopter fly-in services. Customer experiences appear generally positive, but many have acknowledged the steep price tag at hand.
Nevertheless, said price tag hasn’t stopped convenience-minded fans from upgrading their travel, and more generally, it isn’t as if other premium offerings are without takers at concerts and especially festivals. (Put differently, attendees aren’t expecting any bargains on the festival side.)
Throw in the steep charges associated with upgraded parking – besides surge-pricing-inflated rideshare alternatives – and it’ll be interesting to see how the eVTOL model performs.