Archer Aviation has completed test flights of its all-electric Midnight air taxi around the San Francisco Bay as part of the company’s No Roads Tour.
The month-long Northern California leg of the tour included stops in Hollister, San Martin, San Jose, Mountain View, and Hayward before arriving in Oakland, Archer Aviation announced on Oct. 19.
The test flights aimed to “showcase Midnight’s ability to operate seamlessly in the complex urban airspace surrounding the Bay Area’s three international airports—San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose—representing one of the busiest flight corridors in the country,” according to the San Jose-based company.
The Midnight air taxi completed flights between Oakland International Airport and San Francisco’s Marina District. By car, that trip often takes an hour or more in traffic. An air taxi, however, can skip the highways and reduce travel time to 10 to 20 minutes.
During a three-day period of test flights, Midnight reached speeds of 131 mph, flying over 200 miles into seven cities around the San Francisco Bay Area, Archer Aviation stated.
“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,” Adam Goldstein, founder and CEO of Archer, said in a statement. “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. That’s the future we’re working towards bringing to the Bay Area, Los Angeles and cities across the country.”
Before arriving in the Bay Area, the No Roads Tour kicked off in early September with a piloted round-trip journey between Salinas Municipal Airport and Hollister Municipal Airport.
Archer Aviation also showcased Midnight at the 2026 California International Airshow in Salinas, where tens of thousands of attendees saw the air taxi complete multiple piloted flights.
Archer Aviation said the goal for its Midnight air taxi is to “transform urban travel” by replacing hour-long commutes with “quiet, all-electric flights.”
The air taxi has four passenger seats, a max range of 100 miles, and a max speed of 150 miles per hour, according to the company’s website. The aircraft has 12 electric motors and six tilting propellers. This allows vertical takeoffs and landings similar to a helicopter. The aircraft can then transition into horizontal flight just like that of an airplane.
The Midnight air taxi now heads south to Los Angeles, where test flights will continue as part of the process to obtain certification for commercial passenger operations under the White House’s eVTOL Integration Pilot Program.
The program, led by the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), focuses on electric-powered “futuristic aircraft” with vertical takeoff and landing capabilities.
The FAA’s certification process includes five phases: conceptual design, requirements definition, compliance planning, implementation, and post-certification, according to guidelines published by the FAA.
Companies, such as Archer Aviation, that are part of the pilot program must first create design concepts with guidance from the FAA. Next, the companies work with the FAA to determine the type of certification needed. The third phase requires companies to develop the necessary steps for complying with and meeting certification requirements.
The fourth phase involves implementing plans, such as test flights. The final phase involves continuous operational safety, product support, and upgrades.
Archer Aviation is currently in the fourth phase of its certification process with its Midnight air taxis. It plans to participate in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games as the official air taxi provider.
