Archer Aviation and United Airlines announced plans to launch the first eVTOL air taxi route in Chicago between O’Hare International Airport (ORD) and Vertiport Chicago, the North America’s largest vertical aircraft take off and landing facility, located in the Illinois Medical District.
This site was selected as the takeoff and landing site for this airport to city center route because of its convenience, access and service. From there, passengers will be able to travel to and from ORD via Archer’s Midnight aircraft in approximately 10 minutes. A similar trip by car can take upwards of an hour or more during rush hour traffic.
United and Archer’s goal for its UAM network is to provide residents and visitors in the Chicago Metropolitan Area with a safe, sustainable, low noise, and cost-competitive alternative to ground transportation beginning in 2025.
The early launch routes will focus in on airport to city center transportation service, which are referred to as “trunk” routes. Once the trunk routes have been established, the next step will be to build out “branch” routes to connect to surrounding communities.
The Midnight has capacity for four passengers and one pilot, has 12 motors and can reach 150 mph. The eVTOL has recently completed the Preliminary Project Review (PDR) phase and is now advancing into the development stages.