Flying taxis ready to take off here in New Jersey
Last year I wrote on flying taxis and how United Airlines was ready to place a billion-dollar order in for air taxis/personal helicopters that will get you to Newark in minutes. Well, that market has exploded as entrepreneurs have doled out billions to air taxi manufacturers like Joby Aviation, Archer Aviation, Lilium, and Britain’s Vertical Aerospace. According to the Financial Times, industry analysts believe the air taxi market will be worth over $1.5 trillion each year by the year 2040. Those are incredible numbers.
Imagine being at Newark Airport and your flight to your very important meeting or your family vacation destination has been canceled and there’s no other flight at Newark that you can take. You look it up and see that JFK Airport in New York has a flight in 2 hours. How are you going to make it? Well, air taxis will take you to JFK with a trip that will take less than 20 minutes. This Air Taxi or helicopter is an electric chopper that can go up to 150 miles an hour and serves a radius of 60 miles. You can park at Newark take a flight out of JFK without the hassle of driving there. The same goes with LaGuardia airport. If you get stranded out of town and your Newark flight is canceled and your car is at Newark. Hop on a JFK or LaGuardia flight and take the air taxi to Newark when you land.
The driving distance between Newark and JFK is close to 40 miles, with light traffic you can make it in about 1 hour and 15 minutes, with heavy rush hour traffic you’re looking at close to 2 hours. These new air taxis put you at the airport in less than 20minutes. Looks like a great alternative.
United Airlines has placed a 1 billion dollar order with Archer, the manufacturer of the air taxis and it looks like production will begin in 2023 with delivery and operation in late 2024 early 2025. There’s no word on what the passenger cost will be. The air taxi industry is getting a major injection of cash to make them a reality. Get ready to be moved quickly.
The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 weekend host Big Joe Henry. Any opinions expressed are Big Joe’s own.