Archer CEO Adam Goldstein on Upcoming Air Taxi Trials In US

Summary

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Bloomberg Businessweek

Episode: Archer CEO Adam Goldstein on Upcoming Air Taxi Trials In US
Date: January 9, 2026
Host(s): Carol Massar, Tim Stenovec
Guest: Adam Goldstein, Founder & CEO of Archer Aviation

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Episode Overview

This episode centers on the rapidly evolving world of electric vertical takeoff and landing (EVTOL) aircraft—specifically, the imminent real-world trials of Archer Aviation’s air taxi services in major US cities. Adam Goldstein, Archer’s CEO, discusses the regulatory process, financial runway, business strategy, and wider market prospects for urban aerial mobility, offering frank insights on timelines, certification hurdles, and what urban air taxis could cost consumers.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. EVTOL Integration Pilot Program (EIPP) and US Trials

• Background:
  The FAA is reviewing applications from Archer and other EVTOL makers in the initial phase of the EIPP, with plans for selected cities to begin air taxi operations as soon as summer 2026.
  • Adam Goldstein (01:36): "It's expected that five cities will ultimately get named and then ultimately will start flying later this year in the summer time period."
• City Partnerships:
  Beyond their exclusivity in Huntington Beach, Archer is focused on major metropolitan areas and aligning efforts with major events such as the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

2. Community Acceptance and Technology Demonstration

• Waymo Analogy:
  The program’s success hinges on public trust in EVTOL safety and reliability, mirroring how autonomous vehicles gradually built acceptance.
  • Adam Goldstein (02:24): "You should think about this as the industry's almost like Waymo moment...get the local communities comfortable, prove they're safe, prove they're quiet, and really show that the technology is here and it's ready."

3. Financial Viability and Cash Burn

• Current Burn & Funding:
  Archer is pre-revenue but claims to have industry-leading cash reserves following the 2025 close, with a strategy focused on surviving the certification period and scaling methodically.
  • Adam Goldstein (05:26): "We finished the year with nearly $2 billion of cash on hand...lower burn than our competitors...We have plenty of cash to last us...into the commercial phase."
• Market Potential:
  Significant analyst optimism exists for this industry, potentially reaching "multitrillion dollar" valuations, but only 2–3 major players are expected to succeed at meaningful scale.

4. Alternate Certification Paths & Defense Sector

• Olympics Contingency:
  Failing US certification before 2028 would see Archer pivot to parallel international and defense avenues.
  • Adam Goldstein (06:30): "We launched last year in Abu Dhabi...we have a secondary path that we're going through in certifying those aircrafts around."
• Defense Collaboration:
  Partnership with Anduril on a hybrid vertical lift aircraft for potential multi-billion-dollar defense applications.
  • Adam Goldstein (07:01): "[We’re] building a new full scale vertical lift hybrid aircraft...for defense applications that we do expect a program to get announced into the many, many billions of dollars."

5. Business Model: Sales vs. Operations

• Initial Focus:
  Archer will primarily sell aircraft in the first decade, viewing direct operation as a future opportunity once autonomy matures and costs fall.
  • Adam Goldstein (07:57): "We will focus primarily on the sales side of things for the, I'll call it, the early...years of this industry."
• Customer Segments:
  Anticipated buyers include hospitals, tourism/VIP providers, and operators for airport transfers (e.g., Manhattan to Newark).

6. Safety & Regulatory Certification

• Perceived vs. Actual Risk:
  EVTOLs are pitched as much safer than helicopters, meeting rigorous FAA safety standards akin to large commercial airliners.
  • Adam Goldstein (09:09): "This is a significantly safer helicopter...That's an FAA statement...certifying at very high levels of safety."

7. Cost Targets and Consumer Pricing

• Unit Cost:
  Aims to bring per-aircraft production cost down to $2.5 million.
  • Adam Goldstein (09:46): "Our goal is to get the cost of the aircraft down to two and a half million."
• End-User Pricing:
  Goal is for rides to price on par with premium rideshare—think Uber Black—eventually even cheaper with scale.
  • Adam Goldstein (09:46): "You get down to prices...similar to high end of rideshare."
  • Tim Stanovec (10:25): "So you're talking maybe like a ride from Midtown to LaGuardia that would cost maybe under $100, similar to like a..."
  • Adam Goldstein (10:33): "So somewhere around those type of prices."

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Community Acceptance
  Adam Goldstein (02:24):
  "We have to put these aircrafts in the air, get the local communities comfortable with them, prove that they're safe, prove that they're quiet and really show that the technology is here and it's ready."

• On Financial Runway
  Adam Goldstein (05:26):
  "We finished the year with nearly $2 billion of cash on hand...lower burn than our competitors..."

• On Safety Standards
  Adam Goldstein (09:09):
  "This is a significantly safer helicopter...That's...an FAA statement...certifying at very high levels of safety."

• On Long-Term Vision
  Adam Goldstein (07:57):
  "...By selling the aircraft, it enables us to put production through the factory, get the pricing down...ultimately, when autonomy comes...then think about scaling our own internal airline."

• On Pricing Parity with Rideshares
  Tim Stanovec (10:25):
  "A ride from Midtown to LaGuardia that would cost maybe under $100..." Adam Goldstein (10:33):
  "...Uber Black...probably cost you $150, $200. So somewhere around those type of prices."

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Important Timestamps

• 01:36 – Adam Goldstein outlines city selection and trial timeline.
• 02:24 – Discussion on community acceptance and the 'Waymo moment.'
• 05:26 – Details on Archer's cash position and burn rate.
• 06:30 – Plans in case US certification is delayed; international and defense strategies.
• 07:57 – Explanation of Archer’s sales-first model, customer focus, and operational timeline.
• 09:09 – Safety comparisons between EVTOLs and helicopters, certification standards.
• 09:46 – Target production cost and predicted pricing for end users.
• 10:25–10:33 – Real-world ride pricing projections.

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Tone and Style Notes

Adam Goldstein speaks candidly and optimistically about both hurdles and achievements. The conversation is direct but hopeful, with a focus on transparency about Archer’s strategy, financials, and regulatory steps, as well as enthusiasm about redefining urban transportation.

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Summary prepared for those seeking a comprehensive yet concise rundown of Archer Aviation’s 2026 ambitions and the air taxi industry’s next big leaps, as discussed on Bloomberg Businessweek.

Transcript

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[Adam Goldstein]

You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Massar and Tim Stanovec on Bloomberg Radio.

[Carol Massar]

So some news. Back in December, the evtol maker Archer Aviation announced it had partnered with cities across the US to submit multiple applications to launch initial air taxi operations. That FAA set to review applications submitted during this initial phase of what's called the eip, the EVTOL Integration Pilot Program. I'm mentioning this because it's important for a conversation with Adam Goldstein.

[Tim Stanovec]

I appreciate that.

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[Tim Stanovec]

There's a process to all of this, right?

[Carol Massar]

Yeah. Adam's the founder and CEO of Archer Aviation. It's the $5.6 billion market cap EV tall company. He joins us from San Jose, California. You were last on with us in early November. A lot has happened since then, and I want to start with this EIPRO you've mentioned in the past. Plans in California, Texas, Florida, Georgia, and New York, but we don't know much beyond exclusivity in Huntington Beach. So one part of California. Have any more partnerships emerged at this point?

[Adam Goldstein]

Well, the IPP program was put in place from an executive order from President Trump, which really was to ensure that America takes a leading position in this new advanced air mobility space. And so as an industry, we, we had to submit the different cities that we wanted to launch into, and those cities are being reviewed, and there's discussions being had now on where the ultimate launch will take place. It's expected that five cities will ultimately get named and then ultimately will start flying later this year in the summer time period. So it's not that they're new partnerships. It's we all submitted as an industry for these individual cities, and we expect that to launch coming up here soon.

[Carol Massar]

Okay, can you talk about a little more about, like, partnerships that you're working on or, or the structure of them, what they look, the opportunities are.

[Adam Goldstein]

Sure, you should think about this as the industry's almost like Waymo Moment. Right. So we have to put these aircrafts in the air, get the local communities comfortable with them, prove that they're safe, prove that they're quiet, and really show that the technology is here and it's ready. That's really what this is all about. It's giving everybody comfort so we can have the community acceptance so we can really launch this thing forward. So, of course, we're looking at some of the biggest cities that make sense, the New York cities, the Los Angeles, those type of cities, but also cities that are really leaned in that might have some, you know, practical type of, you know, situation coming up. So, for example, the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics, where Archer was named the exclusive air taxi partner, was really in our sights. And so we did that by partnering with Huntington as a way to really put us close to the area, allow us start flying it, to know that environment, that airspace, really, really well, start to set up all the infrastructure and then ultimately scale as we get into and closer to the Olympics.

[Tim Stanovec]

All right, so let's talk a little bit about finances and money because, you know, we certainly like to do that kind of stuff. Talk to us. The operations are generating from what we understand, little or no revenue. What would that mean from a cash burn point of view? Because that's certainly important in terms of viability.

[Adam Goldstein]

Yeah. So if you look at the whole industry, the industry, according to pretty much any analyst, expects it to be very, very big. I think Morgan Stanley is probably the most bullish. They had a multitrillion dollar valuation on the industry. Now, it's different than autos in the. There are only a few players. Like in aviation, you typically will have like a Boeing and an Airbus type of situation. So there's a couple of leading companies in the evtol industry, and it's likely that there's only a few companies that ultimately end up getting to market and ultimately scale to some very, very large numbers. And my guess would be larger than any one individual automaker has been excluding. Tesla, which is more of a, you know, a pure AI company in my view. So you have this kind of scenario here where it's all about surviving to get through certification and then scaling into a business that's economically attractive. So that's really the goal in the game that we're playing. So we have an aircraft we've built that's become very mature. We're taking it through the certification process and ultimately going to launch it. So how are we going to launch that? We start very slowly and methodically. That's what the EIPP is about. It's a slow, methodical launch. Very similar to what Waymo did, was a slow launch into these cities, gaining the acceptance. So it's really about Proving those points today rather than generating revenue today, the revenue will come. There has been an overwhelming amount of inbound interest from countries all over the world that want these aircrafts there. And there's very few OEMs that actually can deliver against that. Right. So the focus really is about the certification side.

[Tim Stanovec]

No, I get it. I get it. And I'm looking, though, and I get it why you guys have a free cash flow that's negative by a lot. But I'm just, I guess I'm just trying to understand from a perspective, though, as everybody's jockeying for position, what is your cash burn? And just, is it manageable?

[Adam Goldstein]

Sure. So Archer is in a fortunate position where, you know, we finished the year with nearly $2 billion of cash on hand. So I think the most in the industry, you know, by a long shot. We also had lower burn than our competitors. But as we've been ramping up into, you know, closer into the certification production phase, you know, that burn does go up as we're building materials. And so we are at a very comfortable position today. But it's not something that we're sitting back and getting, you know, you know, lazy about or getting too excited about. We are still driving every single day to make sure we can hit our timelines and actually get these aircrafts to market. So if I look at, you know, the EIP starting in 2026, and then I look at the Olympics in 2028, we'll get certified hopefully sometime in between that time period. And we have plenty of cash to last us, you know, through that time period, into the commerc phase. And then ultimately, as the aircrafts are getting sold and deployed, we can start kind of reducing our cash burn and becoming, I think, a, you know, a long term viable business.

[Carol Massar]

What happens if you're not certified by the Olympics?

[Adam Goldstein]

Well, we also do have an international strategy as well. And so we launched last year in Abu Dhabi. We have a great relationship with, with the uae. Two of the sovereign wealth funds are investors in Archer. And so we have a secondary path that we're going through in certifying those aircrafts around. And so it gives us sort of an alternate as. But then there's the other side of the business, which is the defense business. And so we announced a partnership with Anduril. We've been working on new vertical lift aircraft with them designed for defense.

[Carol Massar]

This is the Omen autonomous air vehicle. Right.

[Adam Goldstein]

The Omen is a, is not the, the big aircraft that I was talking about. The Omen is a smaller drone project that Anduril has designed, that we are providing the power for, we are building a new full scale vertical lift hybrid aircraft that's designed for defense applications that we do expect a program to get announced into the many, many billions of dollars, tens of billions of dollars type size. We're hopeful that can happen soon. But of course that's, you know, you know, also not within our control.

[Carol Massar]

Hey, Adam, you've. You made a reference earlier in our conversation to sort of the Boeing and Airbus duopoly. And the way those companies of course work is they sell or, you know, they sell aircraft to the airlines and then those airlines then operate the aircraft. Are you going to be, is Archer going to be operating the aircraft in addition to manufacturing the aircraft? Or when you say you're going to sell the aircraft, who do you sell that to?

[Adam Goldstein]

Yeah, we will focus primarily on the sales side of things for the, I'll call it, you know, the early, or maybe even really for the first decade, the early years of this industry. And so I think you have to earn the right to operate, meaning that is going to be a very expensive journey to operate. And so by selling the aircraft, it enables us to put, you know, production through the factory, get the pricing down to something that's very affordable for us. And ultimately over the long term, when autonomy comes, you know, we can really then think about, you know, considering, you know, scaling our own internal airline. We will of course, do things very small on the airlines side of things to begin with, learn that over time and grow that. So I, I really think it's, it's all about sales. Now the question that you asked is who do we sell that to? So there's a couple different categories, but you can think about where vertical lift aircraft exist today. So helicopters, where they're used, hospitals, tourism, VIP is one category. And then the new category that we're going to add is really that the sort of air helicopter, airport transfer. So we've talked a lot about that. So think like a Manhattan to Newark or a San Jose to San Francisco.

[Carol Massar]

Sign us. Sign me up. Maybe, maybe.

[Adam Goldstein]

Really?

[Carol Massar]

Yeah, yeah. If this is this, this thing is approved, I'll get in.

[Adam Goldstein]

There's really like, if you think about it from a safety perspective, this is a significantly safer helicopter. That's the easiest way for you to think about that. And that's not an Adam statement or even an Archer statement. That's an FAA statement. Right. We're certifying them at very high levels of safety. So, you know, from a perception, a consumer perception perspective, you Know, if you were willing to take a helicopter, this is just a safer version of that. In fact we certifying that levels similar to the big commercial airliners.

[Carol Massar]

All right, so I have to first get ready to be willing to take a helicop before we let you go. The, the, the cost that you would get this to once it is certified per unit. What are you thinking?

[Adam Goldstein]

So our goal is to get the cost of the aircraft down to two and a half million. We sell them, that's the target price. And when you do the math and translate that through to the end user cost, where the operator can make money, you get down to prices that are similar to the high end of rideshare. So think like uber black. So that's really what we're, we're targeting. And that can be achieved through volume. Of course that's not going to happen year one. That's going to take several years to get there. And so we think once you sort of get across the 500, 600, 700 aircraft units, you can get these aircrafts to something that becomes very affordable. It even looks cheaper than rideshare and ultimately can become a mass scale product.

[Tim Stanovec]

So you're talking maybe like a ride from Midtown to LaGuardia that would cost maybe under $100, similar to like a.

[Adam Goldstein]

Rideshare type of price. So if you think like Manhattan to JFK, Uber Black, that probably cost you 150, $200. So somewhere around those type of prices.

[Tim Stanovec]

All right, looking forward to it. Good stuff, Adam.

[Marsh Representative]

Stay in touch.

[Tim Stanovec]

We love getting the updates from you. Adam Goldstein, founder and CEO of Archer Aviation, joining us.

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