Skift Take
Amid heightened concerns about U.S. aviation infrastructure, several startups are bullish that they will significantly disrupt the travel experience in the next few years.
“Every other industry has innovated. We've just added baggage fees.”
Archer Aviation CEO and founder Adam Goldstein was complaining to me in the middle of a swanky lounge at Casa Cipriani, with a view of the Downtown Manhattan Heliport just blocks away.
Goldstein is looking to launch eVTOLs, short for electric vertical takeoff and landing, in the U.S. within the next couple years, with the hopes of turning the company into the Uber of the skies and eventually replacing helicopters. The company recently announced that it is building an air taxi network in the New York area as part of a partnership with United Airlines, a major investor in the company.
He is also one of the many founders and executives of startups I spoke to who are looking to drastically alter the aviation landscape, one that is notorious for its lack of innovation. “We still are flying a tube and wing that was designed in the Cold War,” Goldstein told me.
