Archer Completes Historic Electric Air Taxi Flights Over San Francisco Bay

SILICON VALLEY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct 19, 2026--

Archer Aviation (NYSE: ACHR) today announced that its all-electric Midnight air taxi completed several days of piloted flights in the Bay Area as part of the company’s ‘No Roads’ flight tour. The flights included multiple trips around the San Francisco Bay, taking off and landing at Oakland International Airport.

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Beginning in Salinas, Midnight's multi-city journey to the Bay Area took it to progressively larger cities with more complex airspace — with stops at Hollister, San Martin, San Jose, Mountain View and Hayward before landing in Oakland to complete multiple piloted flights over the San Francisco Bay.

The purpose of the Northern California flights of Archer’s ‘No Roads’ tour was to showcase Midnight’s ability to operate seamlessly in the complex urban airspace surrounding the Bay Area's three international airports — San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose — representing one of the busiest flight corridors in the country.

In addition to demonstrating airspace integration, the flights also gave communities across the Bay Area a chance to see the benefits of electric air taxis firsthand: low noise, zero operating emissions, and the ability to skip over crowded highways — turning drives of an hour or more into 10–20 minute trips.

Midnight completed its flight from Oakland International Airport to San Francisco’s Marina District in ~10 minutes, a trip that can routinely take over an hour by car in traffic. During the multi-city journey, Midnight reached top speeds of 131 mph and flew over 200 miles across the region, flying into seven cities over a three day period.

“The Bay Area is the innovation center of the world, but even here Americans lose multiple weeks a year sitting in traffic on bridges and highways," said Adam Goldstein, founder and CEO of Archer. "Flying Midnight across multiple cities in Northern California shows we can connect communities with no roads, no traffic, and no emissions in minutes instead of hours. That's the future we're working towards bringing to the Bay Area, Los Angeles and cities across the country.”

Building on the close coordination with the FAA and state and local partners that made the Northern California flights possible, these flights have opened the door for Midnight to continue demonstrating its readiness to integrate with commercial air traffic in the world’s largest cities — with plans to fly in Los Angeles next as Archer prepares to operate under the White House’s eVTOL Integration Pilot Program (eIPP).

The Bay Area flights are the latest in a series of "No Roads" tour milestones for Midnight. On Sept. 22, Midnight conducted several piloted flights for tens of thousands of attendees at the 2026 California International Airshow. Before flying for the hometown crowd, Midnight began the tour with multiple city-to-city roundtrip journeys from Salinas to Monterey and Hollister.

Archer’s goal with its Midnight aircraft is to transform urban travel, replacing 60–90 minute commutes with quiet, all-electric flights that dramatically reduce travel times compared to traditional ground transportation. Archer’s all-electric Midnight air taxi is designed around the urban air mobility use case with the ability to conduct rapid back-to-back flights with zero operating emissions.

About Archer

Archer builds the aircraft and core technologies that will define the next era of flight for aerospace and defense. To learn more, visit www.archer.com.

Source: Archer
Text: ArcherIR

Archer's Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements regarding Archer's future business plans, expectations, and opportunities. These statements include those regarding design, target specifications and use cases of its aircraft; timing of Archer's development and commercialization of its aircraft; plans relating to its flight test program, demonstration flights, including the timing and locations of its ‘No Roads’ Tour; infrastructure buildout and operations under the eIPP; plans relating to the LA28 Games; development of its planned lines of business and opportunities; and anticipated benefits of collaborations with third parties. Forward-looking statements are only predictions and may differ materially from actual results due to a variety of factors. The risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from the results predicted are more fully detailed in Archer's filings made with the Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time, available at investors.archer.com and at www.sec.gov. Any forward-looking statements contained herein are based on assumptions that Archer believes to be reasonable as of the date of this press release. Archer undertakes no obligation to update these statements as a result of new information or future events.

Midnight’s golden hour flight to San Francisco

Archer’s Midnight air taxi flying over the San Francisco Bay

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said Sunday the election climate is holding firm for Democrats as he campaigned for Rep. Marcy Kaptur in a heavily contested Ohio congressional district that is crucial for majority control of the House.

Jeffries also slapped back at President Donald Trump’s abrupt decision to waive sanctions on Russia and said there will be a bipartisan effort in the House to pursue a new sanctions package that the president would not have the ability to waive.

“It’s shocking, but not surprising, that an American president would do so much to undermine the cause of democracy, freedom and dignity for the Ukrainian people,” Jeffries told The Associated Press after visiting church services in Toledo.

Jeffries, who is in line to become House speaker if Democrats win back the majority, has traveled to some 50 cities campaigning for Democratic candidates. He said the House Republicans are “divorced from reality” in thinking — as Speaker Mike Johnson recently suggested — that the Nov. 3 election will be a repeat of the 2024 sweep that put Trump in the White House and Republicans in Congress.

“The climate continues to hold firm,” Jeffries said, about the Democrats' chances.

“We are working hard across the country, continuing to make the case that we need dramatic change as opposed to the status quo," he said, "and that Democrats are going to be the only ones to fight to make this country affordable.”

The Buckeye State is being fiercely contested in these midterm elections that will determine control of Congress. While much attention has been on the Senate race between Republican Sen. Jon Husted and Democrat Sherrod Brown, the House races are a district-by-district slog key to unlocking control of that chamber.

The Toldeo-area House seat has been a top priority. Kaptur, who has held office for decades, is the longest-serving woman in the House. But Trump has carried the district and Republicans are trying to flip it. Kaptur defeated GOP candidate Derek Merrin two years ago, but he is making a repeat play for the seat.

“We work very hard,” Kaptur told AP. “We don’t just work at elections. We work to make a difference in the lives of people.”

In August, Kaptur, 80, was heading to church when the vehicle she was riding in as a passenger was struck. She was hospitalized with injuries suffered in the car accident, but said she has since recovered.

Jeffries said Kaptur is a legendary figure in the Great Lakes Region. “Once again, she's going to defy all expectations,” he said.

The area has been home to a large Ukrainian American population, and Kaptur is founder and co-chair of the Congressional Ukraine Caucus, a bipartisan group of lawmakers with particular focus on the country.

She had harsh words for Trump’s decision late Friday to waive provisions of the Russia sanctions bill named for Lindsey Graham, which Congress had passed to help Ukraine as it battles Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion.

“What he did is just un-American,” she said. “He has sided with Putin.”

Members of Congress, Democrats and Republicans, expressed outrage over the weekend at Trump’s decision to waive the sanctions, which were due to take effect Sunday. The president had just signed the bill into law last month.

Johnson said Sunday on Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures” that a number of his colleagues have raised concerns. He said he had yet to talk about it with Trump, but said he knows the president is evaluating the situation.

“We need to talk about it and I think carefully consider the unintended consequences,” Johnson said.

In this photo taken with a smart phone, Rep. Marcy Kaptur, from right, attends church services with House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries as they campaign for the midterm elections, Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026, in battleground Toledo, Ohio. (AP Photo/Lisa Mascaro)

In this photo taken with a smart phone, Rep. Marcy Kaptur, left, and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries walk before a church services as they campaign for the midterm elections, Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026, in battleground Toledo, Ohio. (AP Photo/Lisa Mascaro)