Archer Aviation, partnered with the LA28 and Team USA, will use air taxis to shuttle people between venues across the city.

Traffic is already a headache for many Southern Californians. With the Olympic Games coming to L.A., concerns of traffic issues and gridlock have been growing among residents and locals.

However, Archer Aviation has a plan to reduce traffic congestion in the next Olympic city: bring taxis to the skies. During the 2028 Games, the aviation company will use air taxis to shuttle staff, fans, VIPs, and others across Olympic venues.

“You don’t get too many opportunities to really shape what the future of aviation could look like and we’re just getting started,” said Eric Lentell, chief legal and strategy officer at Archer Aviation. 

The company shared photos of the ‘Midnight’ aircraft, the model that will be used during the 2028 Olympics, via Instagram last week. Archer plans to begin demonstration flights in L.A in early 2026.

The company also celebrated its Quarter 3 2025 results, highlighting the company’s recent acquisition of an L.A. airport for $126 million. The airport will serve as Archer’s new “operational hub” for its growing air taxi network.

Archer announced the acquisition of Hawthorne Airport on November 6th. The company said it is “strategically located less than three miles from LAX” and “is the closest airport to some of the city’s biggest attractions — SoFi Stadium, The Forum, Intuit Dome, and Downtown L.A.”

SoFi Stadium and Kia Forum are among the venues hosting Olympic events, making Hawthorne Airport a prime location for the new aircraft hub. In an Instagram post, Archer Aviation celebrated the acquisition of historic Hawthorne and discussed its future as a “test bed” for AI aviation technology.

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Archer Aviation will use its electric, four-passenger ‘Midnight’ eVTOL to conduct transport during the Games. The acronym stands for electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft.

With the goal of creating a more sustainable future for the Games, air taxis will provide efficient, 10-20 minute flights in between key locations and venues during the Olympics. The Midnight aircraft can reach speeds of up to 150 MPH, turning hour-long ground commutes into quick flights.

The service aims to avoid gridlock, reduce ground traffic during the event, and minimize travel time between venues.

To ensure safety in L.A.’s airspace, Archer is working with the Federal Aviation Administration to develop rules and design extra safeguards for integrating air taxis into traffic with traditional planes and helicopters.

The FAA is calling them ‘Advanced Air Mobility‘ aircraft, or AAM. This is an umbrella term referring to air taxis and other aircraft or eVTOLs like Midnight. Both the FAA and Archer are focused on creating safe, sustainable, and innovative travel.

“This isn’t about going from zero to 100,000 aircraft within a month,” Lentell said. “This is about ramping safely into that, building community trust.”