Electric

Electric air taxi company chooses sleepy Bay Area city for new port

SFGATE contributor Jim Glab rounds up air travel and airport news for our weekly column Routes

By Jim Glab

In this week’s news, an electric air taxi company has outlined plans for the first part of its service network in the Bay Area; JetBlue adds an important perk for purchasers of its basic economy fares; the Federal Aviation Administration proceeds with an effort to revise regulations that could impact public charter operators like JSX; a new study says SFO has the world’s fastest performance on airport public Wi-Fi networks; SFO gets new service to Mexico and Canada; Delta adds more flights from Los Angeles to U.S. ski resorts; Spirit Airlines drops an LAX route; and Alaska Airlines starts operations at its new SFO location in Harvey Milk Terminal 1.

Archer Aviation, the Santa Clara-based electric aircraft manufacturer that is partly owned by United Airlines, has announced more steps to build an air taxi service network — including several San Francisco Bay Area routes it plans to fly in a new partnership with a major developer. Archer recently won certification from the Federal Aviation Administration as an air carrier, clearing a major regulatory hurdle as it hopes to start flying four-passenger electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (eVTOLs) as soon as next year.  

With United as an investor, Archer will work to create local and regional air taxi links to United’s hub airports — including SFO — giving customers an option to fly above the traffic as they connect with United flights. But in a separate announcement this week, Archer said it will also work with Kilroy Realty Corporation, a major commercial developer, to create an “air mobility network” linking five Bay Area locations with its electric aircraft: South San Francisco, Napa, San Jose, Oakland and Livermore.

“Archer’s network is anticipated to provide unprecedented connectivity to communities around the region, allowing people to replace one-to-two-hour drives to cities around the bay with flights that take ~10-20 minutes,” Archer said. The “critical hub” in this proposed network will be Kilroy Oyster Point, a 50-acre development on the waterfront in South San Francisco just north of SFO, where the two companies plan to develop a “vertiport” for eVTOL operations, as well as a sea portal — “a waterfront mobility hub providing electric ferry service and eVTOL operations for all companies at Kilroy Oyster Point,” Archer said.

The two companies said they hope to begin operations at Kilroy Oyster Point by the end of 2025. The air taxis from Oyster Point would connect with Archer vertiports at Napa, San Jose, Oakland and Livermore “where Archer has existing relationships with infrastructure and operations partners,” the company said.

Meanwhile, Archer also announced a new agreement with Signature Aviation to gain access to Signature’s large network of private aviation terminals, supporting Archer’s development of air taxi services to United hubs. That pact calls for the installation of rapid charging systems at selected terminals to allow for quick turnaround of electric air taxis in United hub markets including New York, Los Angeles, the Bay Area and Texas. At San Francisco International, Signature has an operations base on North Access Road, across the runways from the main terminals.

JetBlue’s basic economy fares (i.e., the lowest available fares, which JetBlue brands as Blue Basic) are getting a big new perk: Starting Sept. 6, customers who bought Blue Basic tickets will be allowed to carry on one bag to stow in the overhead bin. The change applies to all Blue Basic travelers, including those who purchased their ticket before the changeover date. Previously, anyone who wanted to carry on a bag to stow in the overhead bin had to purchase a higher fare category. Blue Basic purchasers will still be allowed to carry on one smaller item for under-seat storage. The policy change raises a new question: Since these bargain fare customers are the last to be boarded, will they be able to find space for their carry-on?

“While many of JetBlue’s aircraft are outfitted with larger overhead bins to accommodate more customers, in the event of space constraints, customers may be required to check carry-on bags at the gate for no additional charge,” JetBlue said. Other restrictions on Blue Basic fares remain in place; for example, flight changes (including same-day standby) are not allowed, seat selection incurs an additional fee, and cancellations carry a fee of $100 ($200 for transatlantic flights). The Points Guy noted that following JetBlue’s policy change, “the only major U.S. airline that doesn’t allow full-size carry-on bags for basic economy travelers is United.”

For many months, some major airlines (American and Southwest) and pilots unions have been urging the federal government to crack down on operations like JSX, the public charter company that offers regional scheduled flights on spacious 30-seat jets in several parts of the country, including California. And now that pressure is starting to see some results. The Federal Aviation Administration said this week it will move ahead with a rulemaking proceeding that could change the current rules under which those public charters operate. Noting that public charters “have rapidly expanded in frequency and complexity in recent years,” the FAA said some of those services “appear to operate like scheduled airlines but under less-rigorous safety regulations — a fact that oftentimes is not transparent to the flying public.” So its rulemaking proceeding “will explore new ways to integrate charter flights into the airspace in a manner that provides flexibility and safe options for all flyers.” JSX operates without some restraints that apply to regular scheduled airlines, like the ability to use private terminals (and thus employ private security screening rather than TSA) and to hire co-pilots with fewer than the 1,500 flying hours required at major carriers. 

“If a company is effectively operating as a scheduled airline, the FAA needs to determine whether those operations should follow the same stringent rules as scheduled airlines,” said FAA Administrator Michael Whitaker. The agency first suggested last summer that it would explore the issue and has since received 60,000 public comments. The FAA said any upcoming rule changes would come with an effective date “that would allow for industry to adapt to any change in the regulatory environment.”