Episode summary
Archer CEO Adam Goldstein on Upcoming Air Taxi Trials In US | Bloomberg Businessweek
Bloomberg Businessweek Daily
· · 10 min · Hosts: Carol Massar, Tim Stenovec · Guests: Adam Goldstein
Summary
Archer Aviation is positioning its air taxi rollout around the White House’s eVTOL Integration Pilot Program, with Adam Goldstein saying the company and other industry players have already submitted candidate cities and expect five cities to be selected. He framed the program as a slow, methodical launch meant to win community acceptance by proving the aircraft are safe, quiet, and ready before broader commercialization begins.
Goldstein said Archer is targeting major markets like New York and Los Angeles, while also leaning into practical near-term opportunities such as Huntington Beach and the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, where Archer has been named an exclusive air taxi partner. He argued the company is focused first on certification and manufacturing, not near-term revenue, and said Archer ended the year with nearly $2 billion of cash on hand, giving it room to keep investing through the launch phase.
He also pointed to international and defense opportunities as backup paths. Goldstein said Archer launched in Abu Dhabi last year and has support from UAE sovereign wealth funds, while its partnership with Anduril could lead to a large defense program. On pricing, he said the target is to sell aircraft at $2.5 million and eventually bring consumer ride costs down toward Uber Black levels.
Key takeaways
- Goldstein expects five cities to be selected for the eIPP and says Archer could start flying later this year in the summer time period.
- He says Archer finished the year with nearly $2 billion in cash, which he believes is enough to fund the company through certification and into commercialization.
- Goldstein frames the launch as a safety-and-acceptance test, not a revenue event, comparing the rollout to a slow Waymo-style entry into cities.
- He says Archer’s target aircraft price is $2.5 million, with end-user trips eventually priced around Uber Black levels after volume scales.
- If U.S. certification slips past the Olympics, Goldstein says Archer has fallback paths in Abu Dhabi and in defense programs with Anduril.
Notable quotes
“It's expected that five cities will ultimately get named and then ultimately we'll start flying um later this year in the summer time period”
“So, it's really about proving those points today rather than generating revenue today”
“we finished the year with nearly $2 billion of cash on hand”
“the cost of the aircraft down to 2.5 million. we sell them the that that's the target price”
“this is a significantly safer helicopter. That's the easiest way for you to think about that”
How the episode opens
Bloomberg Audio Studios podcasts, radio news. — You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Masser and Tim Stenc on Bloomberg Radio. So, some news. Back in December, the EV tall maker Archer Aviation announced it had partnered with cities across the US to submit multiple applications to launch initial air taxi operations. The FAA set to review applications submitted during this initial phase of what's called the EIP, the EV tall integration pilot program. I'm mentioning this because it's important for a conversation with Adam Goldstein.
I appreciate that. Right. There's a process to all of this, right?
Yeah. Adam's the founder and CEO of Archer Aviation. It's the $5.6 billion market cap EV tall company.
He joins us from San Jose, California. You were last on with us in early November. A lot has happened since then.
And I want to start with this EIP. You've mentioned in the past plans in California, Texas, Florida, Georgia, and New York, but we don't know much beyond exclusivity in Huntington Beach, so one part of California. Have any more partnerships emerged at this point?
Well, the EIP program was put in place from uh an executive order from President Trump, which really was to, you know, ensure that America takes a leading position in this new advanced air mobility space. And so as an industry, we had to submit the different cities that we wanted to launch into. And those cities are being reviewed and there's discussions being had now on where um the ultimate launch will take place.
It's expected that five cities will ultimately get named and then ultimately we'll start flying um later this year in the summer time period. So it's not that they're new partnerships, it's we all submitted as an industry um for these individual cities and we expect that to launch uh coming up here soon.
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- evtol rollout
- air taxi trials
- urban air mobility
- aviation regulation
- public-private aviation integration
Companies and tickers mentioned
- ACHR
- Archer Aviation
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Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
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