MIAMI — In a near century-old airplane hangar near Biscayne Bay that once hosted Sikorsky flying boats operated by Pan American World Airways in the 1930s and ’40s, a sleek six-engine, battery-powered aircraft dubbed “Midnight” stood poised Wednesday to write its own chapter of commercial aviation history.
The four-passenger electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing (eVTOL) aircraft, developed by Archer Aviation of California, is likely destined to be a workhorse for an air taxi service the company envisions for South Florida, with a dozen stops at the region’s three international airports, as well as secondary airports and vertiports located in downtown West Palm Beach and Hard Rock Stadium among other venues.
The network would be the product of a unique business alliance that includes Archer, the Related Ross real estate development firm led by billionaire developer and Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross, multiple public airports and Dragon Global, a lead investment firm in the Magic City Innovation District in Miami’s Little Haiti.
Archer, which has already announced networks for Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago and Newark, N.J., says the South Florida network would connect Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton, West Palm Beach and Stuart with “low-noise” electric air taxi flights.
Vertiports would be developed at Related Ross properties, including its mixed-use development in downtown West Palm Beach, Hard Rock Stadium, the home of the Dolphins in North Miami-Dade County, and at the Apogee golf course in Martin County. Dragon Global would build a site in the Miami innovation district.
“The goal of Archer’s planned network is to connect major population and business centers, including Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton and West Palm Beach, via 10- to 20-minute electric flights, bypassing ground-based traffic and unlocking a new mobility ecosystem in the air that is safe and efficient,” Archer said.
“The network is also intended to offer efficient travel options between the region’s three major international airports: Miami International Airport, Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, and Palm Beach International Airport, as well as several strategic general aviation airports in the area,” the company said.
A route map displaying a dozen destinations shows Archer using Fixed Base Operation terminals belonging to Atlantic Aviation and Signature Aviation. Last year, Archer signed agreements with both companies to install electric aircraft chargers at their facilities.
Archer Aviation is working throughout South Florida with infrastructure and real estate partners, and the region’s airports, to help prepare existing helipads and build new vertiports. (Archer Aviation/Courtesy)
Flights above gridlock
As South Florida has emerged over the years as a major center of domestic and international commerce populated by 6 million people, inter-county transportation has become a nightmare of extended commutes and daily gridlock on Interstate 95 and Florida’s Turnpike. Cross-county commuters are also plagued by similar experiences between the western suburbs and coastal downtown areas.
Passenger railroad solutions such as Brightline along the Florida East Coast Railway and Tri-Rail along a state-owned line west of I-95 offer a modicum of relief to some travelers. And county bus systems offer significant coverage for mainly lower-income riders in need of transportation. But despite large numbers of riders on the rail and bus lines, private automobiles remain the chief method of transportation for most South Floridians.
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, who has encouraged initiatives that position the city as a center for technology and innovation, welcomed the company’s prospective entry into the region.
“Miami has never been afraid to bet on the future,” he said in a statement Wednesday. “We’re a city that attracts visionaries, embraces breakthrough technology, and turns bold ideas into real impact. For years, I’ve worked with Archer as they’ve advanced a vision for an air-taxi network that will elevate Miami’s position as a global capital for innovation and mobility.”
In a statement, Stephen Ross, CEO and chairman of Related Ross, said his company’s partnership with Archer “marks a pivotal step in expanding South Florida’s regional connectivity through cutting-edge technology.”
“We are integrating Archer’s electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft into our flagship locations across South Florida, including the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Related Ross developments in West Palm Beach, and Apogee Club in Hobe Sound,” he confirmed. “We’re excited to embrace a forward-thinking vision that transforms how people and businesses move across the region.”
In a telephone interview, Jordan Rathley, executive vice president at Related Ross, said the stadium and golf course “have existing infrastructure for a helicopter that can accommodate the eVTOL model.
“So we think it’s obviously great to have that connectivity between assets that Stephen’s involved with along the South Florida region,” Rathley added. “Downtown we are working closely with Archer to develop an actual vertiport within our mixed-use development.”
“We’re thinking about what we’re doing, not just in West Palm Beach and Palm Beach County,” he added. “It’s just not the physical buildings but the infrastructure that supports that growth.”
He said the tie-ins between the Related Ross properties and other proposed Archer network locations “create a very unique proposition — not just for West Palm Beach and what Related Ross is doing, but for the region as a whole as we look at innovative and forward-thinking technologies relative to mobility.”
Gradual development
In an interview Wednesday outside the Coconut Grove hangar, which these days is used by the U.S. Coast Guard, Archer CEO Adam Goldstein acknowledged that the company has a long runup before the service becomes operational. But he said he is encouraged by the support of the Trump Administration for the concept. In June, President Donald Trump signed an executive order designed to expedite the integration of electric-powered aircraft into the aviation system through a pilot program.
“The administration has been extremely supportive — top down, all the way through,” Goldstein said.
“They’re going to pick five cities in the first quarter of next year, and we’re hopeful South Florida gets picked as one of those cities,” he said. “They by the summertime are going to start flying those cities. What we’re going to do is showcase the aircraft to the public.”
“This is the first new category created by the FAA in 60 years,” he added.
A large fleet of four-passenger air taxis probably wouldn’t play an immediate role in reducing traffic. But it could be an option for on-the-run businesspeople traveling to meetings, lawyers headed for court hearings and depositions, sports fans headed to athletic events, or travelers seeking a quick ride to and from an airport.
Various public and private sector interests have all toyed with the idea of using the tri-county’s air corridors to offer relief to drivers. The state of Florida has offered a site near Orlando to test aircraft under development.
Another firm, UrbanLink Air Mobility, a South Florida-based advanced air and maritime mobility operator, has teamed with Signature Aviation, operator of private aviation terminals worldwide, to explore scalable all-electric air operations across Florida using electric conventional takeoff and landing (eCTOL) aircraft. The two are also pursuing the establishment of an operations and maintenance base for UrbanLink at an unnamed South Florida airport.
Previously, the development of networks for electric-powered aircraft has been slow to unfold amid federal regulatory challenges and other factors such as finding landing spots for vertiports and creating the right kind of aircraft to safely and efficiently fly above congested urban areas.
Archer Aviation unveils its Midnight prototype aircraft for use as part of a planned Miami Air Taxi Network in Coconut Grove south of Miami, Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025. (Joe Cavaretta/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Archer Aviation unveils its Midnight prototype aircraft for use as part of a planned Miami Air Taxi Network in Coconut Grove south of Miami, Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025. (Joe Cavaretta/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Technicians work on the prototype Midnight aircraft by Archer Aviation during a preview in Coconut Grove, Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025. (Joe Cavaretta/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
A technician works on the prototype Midnight aircraft by Archer Aviation during a preview in Coconut Grove, Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025. (Joe Cavaretta/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
A technician works on the prototype Midnight aircraft by Archer Aviation during a preview in Coconut Grove, Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025. (Joe Cavaretta/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
A technician works on the prototype Midnight aircraft by Archer Aviation during a preview in Coconut Grove on Wednesday. (Joe Cavaretta/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
A technician works on the prototype Midnight aircraft by Archer Aviation during a preview in Coconut Grove, Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025. (Joe Cavaretta/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Archer Aviation’s Midnight prototype aircraft is shown during a preview in Coconut Grove, Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025. (Joe Cavaretta/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
A technician works on the prototype Midnight aircraft by Archer Aviation during a preview in Coconut Grove, Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025. (Joe Cavaretta/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Archer Aviation’s prototype Midnight aircraft is shown in a former Coast Guard Seaplane hangar during a preview in Coconut Grove, Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025. (Joe Cavaretta/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Adam Goldstein, CEO and founder of Archer Aviation, with the prototype Midnight aircraft during a preview in Coconut Grove on Wednesday. (Joe Cavaretta/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Adam Goldstein, CEO and founder of Archer Aviation, with the prototype Midnight aircraft during a preview in Coconut Grove, Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025. (Joe Cavaretta/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
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Archer Aviation unveils its Midnight prototype aircraft for use as part of a planned Miami Air Taxi Network in Coconut Grove south of Miami, Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025. (Joe Cavaretta/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
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Flights by ‘Midnight’
Archer believes it has developed the right model, which is designed to carry four passengers and “has the potential to replace 60- to 90-minute commutes by car with 10- to 20-minute electric air taxi flights that are safe, sustainable, low-noise and cost-competitive with ground transportation.”
Based in Santa Clara, Calif., Archer, a public company whose shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange, started in business in 2018, according to its website. It collaborated with the automaker Stellantis “on bringing advanced manufacturing techniques to aerospace,” and United Airlines became a flagship customer with a $1.5 billion order for “hundreds of our aircraft.”
In 2022, the firm “completed the transition from hover to full wing-borne flight with our first full-scale aircraft.” United later announced what Archer calls the “first commercial electric air taxi route in the U.S.” between Manhattan and Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey.
In 2023, Archer started construction on a “high-volume manufacturing facility” in Georgia, and started a flight testing program for the Midnight.
Archer and United have since announced their intention to launch an air taxi service in Chicago; Archer also announced the United Arab Emirates and India as its “first planned international launch markets.”
The company says it built an initial fleet of air taxis “to be used in ‘for credit’ flight testing with the Federal Aviation Administration; it has received Part 145 and Part 135 certifications from the agency, which has also issued Midnight’s “final airworthiness criteria.”