Archer Electric Air Taxi Completes Piloted Flights Over San Francisco Bay: Seven-City Tour, Oakland Crossing in About 10 Minutes
Silicon Valley, Santa Clara County, California: Archer Aviation (NYSE: ACHR) announced on October 19 that its all-electric Midnight air taxi has completed several days of piloted flights in the San Francisco Bay Area. Beginning in Salinas, the route ran north through Hollister and San Martin to San Jose and Mountain View, both in Santa Clara County, then via Hayward to Oakland International Airport, with multiple flights over San Francisco Bay, as part of the company's 'No Roads' flight tour.
Archer said the Northern California flights were meant to showcase Midnight's ability to operate seamlessly in the complex airspace surrounding the Bay Area's three international airports, San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose, one of the busiest flight corridors in the country. The flights also let communities across the Bay Area see the benefits of electric air taxis firsthand: low noise, zero operating emissions, and the ability to skip over crowded highways, turning drives of an hour or more into 10- to 20-minute trips.
According to the company, Midnight completed its flight from Oakland International Airport to San Francisco's Marina District in about 10 minutes, a trip that routinely takes over an hour by car in traffic. During the multi-city journey, Midnight flew into seven cities over three days, covered more than 200 miles and reached a top speed of 131 mph. On September 22, Midnight had conducted piloted flights before tens of thousands of attendees at the 2026 California International Airshow.
'The Bay Area is the innovation center of the world, but even here Americans lose multiple weeks a year sitting in traffic on bridges and highways,' said Adam Goldstein, Archer's founder and CEO. 'Flying Midnight across multiple cities in Northern California shows we can connect communities with no roads, no traffic, and no emissions in minutes instead of hours.' Archer said the flights were made possible by close coordination with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and state and local partners.
Archer said that after the Bay Area, Midnight will head to Los Angeles next as the company prepares to operate under the White House's eVTOL Integration Pilot Program (eIPP). The all-electric Midnight is designed to replace 60- to 90-minute ground commutes with quiet, short flights, conducting rapid back-to-back trips with zero operating emissions.
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Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：Archer 全电动 Midnight 空中出租车（注册号 N703AX）飞越旧金山湾，背景为 Alcatraz 岛与旧金山天际线。Archer Aviation 官方发布图片。Photo: Archer Aviation's all-electric Midnight air taxi (N703AX) flying over San Francisco Bay, with Alcatraz Island and the San Francisco skyline behind it. Official photo released by Archer Aviation.
