Southwest Airlines and Archer Aviation have penned a preliminary deal the pair hope will give them a slice of the electric vertical takeoff and landing air taxi action* in future California skies.
The eVTOLs are seen as an emissions-free alternative to passenger transportation to and from airports. Given this is just an MoU, the duo propose to collaborate on"a concept of operations" for their shared vision, and said they plan to involve Southwest employees and their respective unions in the process"to maintain and improveIf the MoU ends up leading to a full-fledged air taxi deal, SWAPA would have to be involved, a spokesperson told us, because adding air taxis to SWA's fleet would violate the scope of work in the current contract between the airline and its pilots,...