The market for electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, or eVTOL, is gaining altitude as some big manufacturing and aerospace companies get involved.
Thursday,
Archer Aviation
(ticker: ACHR) and
Boeing
(BA) announced they had settled litigation. Most of the settlement terms were undisclosed, according to the companies. What’s more, Boeing is investing in
Archer
and Archer is going to incorporate some autonomous flying tech from Boeing eVTOL subsidiary Wisk.
More capital for Archer is coming in from other big companies as well, a positive sign for the adoption of eVTOL, a technology investors sometimes refer to simply as flying cars. They are quieter than traditional helicopters and run on batteries, opening up the potential for quiet air-taxi services in cities.
Wisk and Archer had been caught up in litigation for a couple of years before Boeing bought all of Wisk in 2023. As part of the settlement, Wisk will receive warrants to purchase about 13 million shares of Archer’s common stock. Archer has about 250 million shares outstanding.
Separately, Archer announced it received new investments from automaker
Stellantis
(STLA),
United Airlines
(UAL), and Boeing, bringing the total in new capital Archer raised Thursday to $215 million.
The settlement is a positive for everyone involved. Archer gets cash, Boeing has another stake in a start-up, Archer, and a legal headache is resolved for both parties.
“We are pleased to have reached a mutually agreeable settlement. We’re focused on supporting Wisk and are excited by their continued progress toward certifying and bringing to market the first all-electric, self-flying air taxi in the U.S.,” said a Boeing spokesperson in an emailed statement. “We’re also pleased our investment in Archer will support the potential integration of Wisk’s autonomous technology in future variants of Archer’s aircraft”
Archer didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Archer shares opened Friday at $6.86, up almost 18%, but then slid back for a 3.3% gain to $6.02 by late morning. Boeing stock was down 0.5%, while the
S&P 500
and
Nasdaq Composite
had lost 0.1% and 0.4%, respectively.
Also Thursday, Archer announced that the Federal Aviation Administration issued a special airworthiness certificate that allows for flight testing of Midnight, a six tilt-rotor eVTOL the company has produced. Midnight eVTOLs could see commercial service as soon as 2025.
Big companies in manufacturing and aerospace are backing the flying-car trend because they want to be in the game if new technology shakes up the world. Their investments make it more likely that flying cars will be coming to a city near you someday.
Write to Al Root at [email protected]
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