Why an unproven air taxi company is spending $126 million to take over an L.A. airport

Hollywood movies have featured flying taxis for decades, but it wasn’t until this month that a Silicon Valley company invested in a real-world hub for futuristic flying machines in Los Angeles.

Archer Aviation is building electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, or eVTOL, to shuttle small groups over dense urban areas. The company is buying control of the Hawthorne Municipal Airport for more than $125 million. That’s more than four times the budget of the original “Blade Runner.”

“We’ve always viewed Los Angeles as a cornerstone market for launch of air taxis, both in the U.S. and globally,” said Eric Lentell, chief strategy officer at Archer, in an interview.

“We were already looking at infrastructure in and around L.A., so when the airport became an option, we knew we had to pounce on it,” he said.

The acquisition is Archer’s latest move in the race to make air travel more local and affordable. California has become a hotbed for developing the technology. Optimists hope that combining the latest electric vehicle and battery tech with artificial intelligence can finally enable commuters to use flying cars like Ubers.

https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2025-11-24/california-air-taxi

Hawthorne airport is adjacent to SpaceX -- I'm thinking Archer is looking to attract Musk to join their effort.